Please, No More Surprises!
by AlexzAndi
Summary: SEQUEL to MORE SURPRISESout of school,Hermione and Krys have to try and cope with the new girls in Ron and Ares' lives. Will Ron forgive Hermione for stringing him along in Hogwarts?Will Ares forgive Krys,for dumping him again,before they left for school?
1. More Surprises

Two years later…

"Dude, can you believe that they didn't even come to pick us up?" asked Krys. Hermione shrugged.

"That's _your _cousin. Thanks for coming to the ceremony, Professors." said Hermione. Lupin and McGonagall shook their heads.

"There's no thanks needed. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your best students graduate, from a prominent and prestigious program." said McGonagall. Krys smiled.

"Oh Minnie, try saying that three times fast." she said. The whole group looked at her. "What? Hey, hey- none of that."

"I swear, you are your fathers daughter." said Lupin. Krys looked at him.

"Don't start with me, old man." she said jokingly. They walked into the alleyway. "Don't worry- no ones watching."

"And how would- oh yeah. You _should_ know that." said Hermione. Krys looked at her.

"Dude- lets just get to my house, so we can start working. I can't believe that we got the grant." she said. Lupin and McGonagall looked at her, then they all apparated to Krys' house. She started to look around and sniff.

"What grant?" asked Lupin, trying to redirect the thoughts he knew she was having.

"Well-…" she started. Then she started to look around again and sniff. Lupin chuckled. "Something isn't right…" she whispered. Then, she waved it off. "The health department of the Ministry, granted us an _obscene _amount of money for our studies. Cookie and I wrote about a hundred different proposals and made charts to show that it was possible to heal lycanthropic scars." said Krys, as she started to sniff the air again. Lupin and McGonagall looked at her.

"You can do that?" asked McGonagall. Krys nodded and kept looking behind her back.

"Yeah-…" she started to look around again. "That's where Bill's scar went. I've been able to do it since seventh year. The problem is, that there aren't many people that are willing to sacrifice themselves to a twenty year old, and a nineteen year old who are seemingly wet behind the ears. That's where we have a bit of a problem. There aren't any test subjects. There's Bill- he's already agreed to it. We basically have to treat his scars like they're money and we're living on the street. We have to use them wisely." She looked behind her, then started to tie her hair up.

"What's your branch of study? _You _can already do it."

"Teaching Hermione how to do it. That's what this is all about. This is about making it attainable for all healers. And- working with Hermione is the best I'll find. Well- her or Madam Pomphrey. See, if we can get this-" Krys whipped around and a red light came from her hand. The person on the other side of the spell dodged it, then shook it off.

"Then you'll be even more of a geek than you already are." said Harry. Krys gave him the finger.

"I knew it was a mistake to give you a key and the code." she said. He laughed.

"Then why did you?"

"Ginny will wise up one day. When she finally kicks you out, you'll need a place to stay."

"Well- I have a hous-"

"I'm a lonely cat woman! You know why, Prongs." she said. They all laughed, except for Krys. She glared at them. "I knew that I wasn't getting soft. I could smell you the moment I popped in." Harry looked at her.

"Is that why you tied your hair up?" he asked mockingly. She raised her eyebrow, then disapparated. Harry felt himself being pulled backwards, then Krys popped up in front of him.

"Didn't auror training teach you anything, Prongs? Expect the unexpected." she said airily. He playfully glared at her.

"I knew I didn't like you." he said jokingly.

"Oh you love me." said Krys.

"Yeah whatever. Lets go get some chocolate cake." he said. Krys nodded.

"You guys coming?" she asked, as she pulled Hermione along. Lupin and McGonagall followed. As they got closer to the dining room, Krys continued to sniff. "Dude- have you been using my house for parties?" she asked Harry.

"I only graduated a week ago." he said. She nodded and continued to sniff. All of a sudden, she stopped and looked at him.

'_You didn't'_ she thought. He smiled.

'_I did.'_ he replied.

'_Prongsie, you shouldn't have. Dude- you're gonna make me cry.'_ she sent. He took her hand and dragged her and Hermione, to the dining room.

"SURPRISE!" yelled a group of people. There was a banner. It read, 'Congrats Krys and Hermione'. Both girls turned to Harry. Krys said, "Prongs!" at the same time that Hermione squealed, "Harry!" He laughed and shrugged.

"You'd think that you knew, Andromeda." teased Harry. She scowled. "But- I cannot take all of the credit. I had some help. A.J and Gin helped… just a bit." Hermione laughed and Krys punched him on the arm.

"Listen- Dude, I have to go… _change_." she said. Harry nodded, then Krys ran up the stairs to her room. She sat on her bed, throwing Prongsie up in the air. The door knocked. "Come in, Prongs!" Harry walked in and sat on her couch.

"Okay, so- I have to tell you something." he said tentatively.

"No need. I kind of felt it when he proposed. It was awful." she said. Harry nodded.

"Well- if its any consolation, you drove him away." he said. Krys laughed.

"Thanks Prongs."

"No problem. But listen-"

"My powers have been more intact… you know- since the accident. I don't know how, but they have." she said. "I saw the proposal. I was _there_. Can we just cut the party short, so that I can go to sleep?"

"The party is already over. All the people that are here just came to say congratulations." he said. She nodded. "There's more-"

"I know, Prongs. They're here."

"No… he's marrying _Emily's_ daughter." said Harry. Krys' eyes widened, then a tight smile appeared on her face.

"Congratulations to h-" 

"You drove him away." sang Harry.

"That was because… he's going to marry that blonde bitch, whose mother could've been the cause of my nonexistence! Calm down Krys. I haven't met her. I can't judge her." she said calmly.

"There's more." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Don't tell me that they have children. I couldn't really deal with that." she said with a nervous chuckle. Harry shook his head.

"No- but, Ms. Delgado and Mrs. Weasley arranged a dinner for you, Ares, Emily, Ron, Hermione, and Kay. Its tomorrow night at 'Little Miracles'." he said. Krys chuckled.

"I've heard of that place… it sounds familiar. Is it in London?"

"No- Italy." said Harry. Krys squinted, then she nodded.

"A firm that daddy owned designed the restaurant." she said. "They wanted it built from scratch, in Milan, right?" He nodded, then shook his head.

"Krys, your dad _owned _that place. That means-"

"_I_ own that place." she said. He nodded. "Oh yeah- that's one of the checks that goes into the Paris funds."

"Thai, James, and Angel's account?"

"Yeah- I figured that, if anything happens to me, you guys should get everything that I have."

"You guys?"

"You, Gin, Hermione- A.J, Thai, Jamie, Angel, Ron, Jason- even Ares gets something." she said.

"There's more."

"What is it?"

"They're getting married here and… Hermione doesn't know about Ron yet." Krys looked at him.

"Then go tell her." she said. Harry shook his head.

"Hell no. You're more sensitive- no you're not. I'll tell her."

"Tell who, what?" asked Hermione, as she walked in. Krys looked at her.

"Ares is getting married, and Ron has a girlfriend." she said. Hermione nodded slowly.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Krys shrugged.

"I'll live. What about you?" Hermione smiled.

"I drove him away. I can't be that selfish as to be mad at him for that. Although- I wrote him like a hundred letters that he didn't respond to." she said bitterly. "But- I hurt him. So… all I can really do to make amends, is… leave him be." Krys looked at her.

"Same here." she said. "We won't bother our triggers?" Hermione nodded.

"We won't bother our triggers." she said. They shook hands, and heard rain pounding on the roof, and outside the window.

If I hit a reasonable amount of Reviews, I'll update tonight again. A full sized chapter. PS- I might not be able to update that often anymore. I'm moving soon, and I have to get settled in, but- I'll try and get ahead in the story, while the internet and things get settled. I might not move for a while, so keep reviewing- so I can keep updating.


	2. Raincheck

Krys took a shower and washed her hair. She ran to her closet and groaned. A.J, Jason, Ginny, and Harry walked in. Krys looked at all of them.

"What?" she asked. They all shook their heads.

"Listen Krys, I-" started Jason.

"Jason- I love you too. You don't have to say it. Especially not because I'm going to watch Ares and his fiancé. I'm okay." she said. He smiled.

"That's because you're a trooper." he said. She laughed.

"Well- we've come to pick an outfit out for you." said Ginny. A.J nodded and Krys shook her head.

"I'm not dressing up for your brother." she said. A.J looked at Ginny and shrugged. Harry nodded, then he and A.J dragged Ginny out of the room. Jason sat down.

"Krys-"

"What happened?"

"He'll come aro-"

"Why is everyone making it seem like I'm a piece of glass? Its my fault- I know. He's gonna marry someone else and he proposed to her faster than he would've proposed to me. I'm okay. I'm good." she said. Jason smiled.

"I was gonna say that he was gonna show up at eight o'clock. But- you are definitely okay." he said. Krys closed her eyes and chuckled. Jason got up and kissed her forehead. Before he walked out the door, he looked back. "Wear something nice, please." he begged.

"I am… I'm wearing Taz pants." Jason groaned, then walked out the door. Krys got dressed in her Tasmanian Devil pants and matching t-shirt. She looked at herself in the mirror, then pulled her hair into a ponytail.

Krys apparated to the front of Ms. Delgado's house, then knocked on the door. A woman that looked like she was in her late forties opened the door. Her hair was streaked with gray and she had an evil look on her face. Krys smiled when she saw her.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the lady. Krys chuckled.

"I apologize. I'm Krystathai-"

"You're the Krys that everyone talks about?" she asked.

"**Just like you're the infamous _Laurena Ramirez_**." Krys said in Spanish. Tia Laurena nodded, then pulled Krys into a hug. "So- is Ms. Delgado here?" Tia Laurena nodded, then pulled Krys into the house.

"Jadey, Krys is here!" she yelled. Ares' mom ran out into the hallway, and pulled Krys into a bear hug.

"Oh my God. I'm _so _sorry I missed your ceremony. I wanted to be there, I did. I had to work." she said. Krys shook her head.

"No, it okay, Ms. Delgado."

"Krys- I told you to call me Jules, or anything else that you feel comfortable with." she said. Tia Laurena nodded.

"Yeah- you can call me _Tia Laurena_." she said. Krys laughed.

"So… _Tia Laurena_ and _Tia Julia_?"

"Yeah- then when you and that boy finally get married, you can call her _Mommy Julia_." said Tia Laurena. Krys chuckled nervously.

"Um- am I too early?" she asked. Ms. Delgado stepped back.

"Kryssie, _La Bonita_- what're you wearing?" she asked. Krys laughed. "I have some of A.J's clothes here. We have to get you changed."

"Ms. Del- _Tia Julie_, I'm just me. I'm not here hoping that he'll still be interested- I'm not here hoping that something will rekindle- I'm just here to see him, see you and meet _Tia Laurena_." said Krys. Ms. Delgado smiled and hugged her.

"Sweetie, you're going to wear this." said Tia Laurena, as she walked downstairs with a classic (meet my mom) outfit. Krys looked at the skirt.

"Okay- um, I don't think that's a good idea. Mainly because it would be _me_, in the skirt." she said. Ms. Delgado and Tia Laurena looked at her. "Um- can I at least get a sweater? A scarf- some jewelry?" That's when Harry walked down the stairs. He was carrying a diamond necklace, earrings and a cardigan. Krys looked at him. "Prongsie- you're supposed to be on my side." she whined.

"Padfoot- I am-"

"No. What am I wearing on my feet?" Harry pulled Krys' pink slippers from under the invisibility cloak. "Wait- that's my crap!"

"Yeah- it is. We had to get your crap here." said Jason, walking down the stairs. Krys looked at him.

"Padfoot- just take the stuff. This is a dinner." said Harry. Krys waved her hand and all the stuff led her up the stairs. She looked back at them.

"Thank you, for trying to chang-"

"Padfoot- shut up." said Harry. Krys glared at him, then walked up the stairs, when Harry yelled something else. "I blocked it. You can't disapparate." Krys shrugged, then walked into A.J's room. She put on the outfit and the jewelry. She ran her hand through her hair, and it fell into bouncy Shirley Temple curls. She looked in the full length mirror.

"You look absolutely lovely, darling." complimented the mirror. Krys smiled.

"Thank you." she said. The skirt was pale pink. It reached her calves. The belt was an assortment of different pink ribbons knotted and tied around the top of the skirt. The shirt was a hot pink camisole. Krys' ballet slippers were also hot pink. Her cardigan was white, with vertical pink stripes. Every stripe was a different shade of pink. She didn't wear any make-up, but lip gloss. Krys now only had two rows or regular earring holes. They were both filled with pink diamond studs. The cartilage bar was swirling hot pink and pale pink. The necklace was a simple thin white gold chain, with a pink diamond hanging off the end. It accentuated the beauty mark on her collarbone. It was visible with the shirt and cardigan. Krys groaned, thinking about how much Ares had said about the beauty mark. '_I think I strive to be that mark. It seems like it has the best job in the world. It gets to hang out with you all day, Bunny.' _She remembered the first time he said that to her. She sighed, then walked out of the room. A surprise was waiting for her in the hallway. There stood a tall blonde, with a red dress on. Her eyes were light blue and she was leaning into the chest of Ares. Her nose was long and resembled Uncle Touc's, from the Fruit Loops commercial. Krys waved her hand over her face, and she changed into A.J. She walked by quickly. Ms. Delgado and Tia Lauren were visible, but Krys got pulled by an invisible force. "What Prongs?" He pulled the cloak off. Harry looked at her.

"Don't worry about her. Don't even worry about him. Be you. Do what Padfoot does." he said. Then he kissed her on the cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too, Prongs." she said.

"By the way, nice skirt." he teased, before he disapparated. Krys walked into the dining room. Tia Laurena and Ms. Delgado were doing everything by magic. Trays were whizzing through the air. Krys held up her hand, then snapped her fingers. Everything placed itself in an appealing manner. Tia Laurena looked at Krys.

"Your face." she said.

"What about it?" asked Krys.

"Apolla Jade." said Tia Laurena. Krys shrugged, then turned back into herself. "You look so cute."

"Thank you." said Krys, as she sat down and looked at the empty plate. There was creaking on the stairs, but Krys continued to look down.

"Mi hijo!" yelled Ms. Delgado. Ares smiled, and hugged his mom.

"Mommy." he chuckled. She kissed his cheek, then let go of him. "Aunt Lauren." he said. His Aunt Laurena smiled.

"_Papi Chulo_." she said, before she kissed his cheek. He laughed then walked over to the table.

"A.J- I thought you were into dying your hair, wore tight ass pants and short skirts." he said, looking from Krys to his mother. Krys looked up.

"Uh- _Dude_, not A.J." she said. He turned around, and the smile was wiped right off his face. His mouth hung open and he stared wide eyed. "So- are you gonna say hi, or do-"

"Hey Krys." he said. She smiled and waved awkwardly. All of a sudden, all the awkwardness washed away. "So- are _you_ going to greet _me_?" Krys groaned, then got up.

"Mmm." she sang.

"We two we're friends to the end

Aint we my friend

We kind of blend together" he sang, as he spun her around.

"Coffee and cream

Boy, what a team" she sang.

"You'll never find two other guys

Compatible as steak and fries" they sang together.

"We're two o-" started Ares.

"Um- hello." came a voice from the doorway. Krys pulled away from Ares, then sat back down.

"Um- Mommy, this is Emily. Emily, this is my mom." introduced Ares.

"Its nice to meet you, Ms. Delgado." said Emily.

"You too, Emily." said Ms. Delgado.

"Um- Tia Laurena, this is Emily." said Ares. Tia Laurena looked at Emily.

"Hi." she said curtly.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Ramirez."

"Mrs. Lopez." said Tia Laurena.

"Oh- I'm sorry, Mrs. Lopez." corrected Emily.

"Emily, this is Krystathaili." introduced Ares. "Krystathaili, Emily is my…fiancé."

"Hi Emily. Its nice to meet you." said Krys.

"Its nice to meet you too. So- Ares, who is _Crystalthailee _to you?" asked Emily, with her sickening voice. She was wearing a phony smile. Krys smiled, then looked at Ares with her eyebrow raised.

"Oh- Em, this is Krys." said Ares, as he slung his arm over Krys' shoulder.

"This is _Krys_? _The _Krys. The person that you and Ron talked about? I thought Krys was a guy." said Emily, as her smile got more tight.

"Believe me, so did he." said Krys. Ares laughed. "Um… its nice to meet you. So- Tia Julie, is it time to eat, because I have to take my medication." Ms. Delgado smiled.

"Its time sweetie." she said.

"Honey- why don't you sit between us." said Tia Laurena. Emily smiled and walked over to her. Tia Laurena looked at her, then looked at Krys. "Its okay honey- we'll come to you." she said, as she got up and sat next to Krys. "Jadey- aren't you coming?" Ms. Delgado smiled and sat next to Krys. Krys got out her wand and food appeared on everyone's plate. She looked at her chocolate cake.

"Thank you for the cake, Ms. Delgado." said Krys.

"What did I tell you, _Krystathaili_?" asked Ms. Delgado. Krys grimaced, then smiled slightly.

"**_Tia Julie_, thank you for the cake**." she said in Spanish. Ms. Delgado smiled.

"So honey, when is the wedding?" she asked Ares. He shrugged and looked at Emily.

"Em, when are we getting married?" he asked. She dabbed the napkin in the corners of her mouth then, put her hand on her mouth, before she spoke.

"Well- I wanted to book the French Gardens. But- its overbooked. If I can find a garden that'll take us, I can have the wedding moving in a few weeks." said Emily. Ares smiled.

"I can't believe that you guys are getting married. You must be really psyched." said Krys eating a spoonful of cake. Ares wore an amused look.

"I am." he said.

"Dude- that's so cool."

"Um- _Crystalania_-" started Emily.

"Its Krystathaili." said Krys.

"Oh- sorry. Krys-_ta_- _thai_-lee. Do you know where I can get nice dresses?"

"Oh- Em, you're talking to Krys here." said Ares. Krys gave a fake laugh then stopped suddenly.

"Funny." she said dryly, then she turned to Emily. Ares chuckled and shook his head. "Well- that depends on the price range. Are you looking for reason-"

"I want elegance. Something that'll make Kay and I look the like princesses that we are."

"Kay?" asked Krys, feigning obliviousness.

"Ar_chae_las George. She's my best friend and maid of honor."

"Well- we're supposed to have dinner in Milan tonight. I'll ask around." said Krys. "So… Emma, what do you-"

"Its Emily."

"Oh- sorry- _Emily_. What do you do?"

"Well- me and Kay own a beauty shop." said Emily. Krys nodded. "What about you?"

"Well- I don't work." said Krys. Emily laughed.

"What do your parents think of that?" she asked rudely.

"They don't think much of it."

"What- _they _don't work either?" Krys put on a tight smile, and looked at her plate.

"No- actually, they're dead." she said. "Then- the man that adopted me died, so- you know, there isn't much that anyone can say about it. You know- except for strange bitches, that I meet on a whim. And- you know, they're usually people who know nothing about me." Krys said viciously. Then she closed her eyes and started to breathe deeply. "Listen- I'm _really _sorry. I have a date with Jamie and Angel. I'm supposed to take them toy shopping. I'm sorry _Tia_- can I change upstairs?" Ms. Delgado nodded.

"I'm sorry." she whispered. Krys shook her head, the walked up the stairs. She changed her clothes and sent her skirt and accessories home. She shook her hair out and it went into its regular ringlets, then she ran downstairs. Ares laughed.

"That looks like Krystathaili Rodriguez." he said, as he got up.

"I go by Krystathaili Rodriguez Black, now." she said. Emily looked up. "Listen- I have to go. So… I'm gonna go." said Krys. Ares smiled and opened his arms. She took his hand and shook it. He laughed and pulled her in. She pulled back immediately. "See you tomorrow. Bye everyone. It was nice meeting you." she said to Emily. Then she disapparated. She sat on her couch and groaned. She wasn't in the room for two minutes before Hermione popped in.

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Hermione stood in front of the Burrow, wearing creamy silver tank top and white skirt that reached her lower calves. She wore a classic white cardigan over the tank top, and white and silver ballet slippers that she tied up. Her hair was in elegant curls and it was in her original brown. Her bangs fell over her left eye and her lips were glossy pink. She took a deep breath, then walked in the house. The sight and smell of everything brought back old memories. Memories of she and Ron. Ron, the love of her life. The guy she let slip away.

"Hey everyone." said Hermione, as she walked into the kitchen of the Weasley's. She walked up to Mrs. Weasley and hugged her, then Mr. Weasley and shook his hand. Charlie and a very pregnant Veronica, were sitting there and talking about baby names. Hermione kissed Ronnie on the cheek, and hugged Charlie. They all looked at her.

"Hermione dear, you look darling." said Mrs. Weasley. Hermione smiled.

"Thank you." she said, as she sat down. She looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Ginny, Bill and the twins didn't want to come." said Charlie. Hermione looked at him. "They don't want to meet the new girl."

"So… how is everything at Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.

"Well- obviously, I'm not going to be teaching anymore." said Ronnie. Charlie nodded. "But- everything's been nice. McGonagall has been a great Headmistress and- Lupin is doing wonderfully." Hermione nodded.

"Remus and Tonks are so happy together." said Mrs. Weasley.

"Is she still stationed at Hogwarts, just in case?" asked Hermione. They all nodded. "So, Mr. Weasley- how's work?" Mr. Weasley smiled.

"Um, work is going jus-" he started.

"Hey everyone. I'm here!" said a redhead, with a more muscular body. The bleach blonde he was with was so close to him, that it looked like they were attached at the hip. Ron basically looked the same. He was wearing a dark blue muggle suit. The blonde on him was wearing a tight royal blue dress. It brought out her crystal blue eyes. She was very pretty- she just had the essence of every wicked woman in the movies. Her lipstick was blood red, and she had a devious look in her eyes. Everyone looked at them.

"Hey." said Hermione. Ron looked at her, smiled, then detached himself from the blonde.

"Hey Hermione." he said, wearing a lopsided grin. "Everyone that is Kay. Kay- this is… _not_ everyone. Where're the twins, Gin, and Bill?" Everyone looked around. It was Hermione who came up with a lie.

"The twins had to run the shop, and Gin- she and A.J offered to baby sit Jamie and Angel for Krys." she said. Ron nodded.

"Oh well- everyone this is Kay. She's my- um, well, we're- she's my friend." said Ron. Kay stomped on his foot. "Girlfriend." amended Ron.

"Soon to be fiancé ." said Kay. Everyone looked at her. "So- let me guess. This is your mother and your father." she said, shaking Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's hands. "And this is your brother, Charlie, and his wife, Veronica." Ron nodded. Kay looked at Hermione. "And this is…?" Hermione stuck out her hand.

"Hermione Granger, I'm a friend of the family." she said. Kay looked at it, and shook it like you would hold a subway railing. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh- I have to go check on dinner." said Mrs. Weasley as she got up.

"Mrs. Weasley, do you need any help around the kitchen?" asked Hermione. Mrs. Weasley smiled at her.

"Of course, Hermione dear." she said. Hermione got up and followed her into the kitchen. "So- how are you?"

"I'm okay, Mrs. Weasley."

"How's Andromeda?"

"Krys is good. She's being Krys about everything."

"That usually helps." said Mrs. Weasley. Hermione laughed. "I want you to know that… I'll always think of you as a daughter, even if- well… you know." Hermione smiled.

"Mrs. Weasley- I feel the same way." said Hermione. Mrs. Weasley took out her wand.

"Well- lets get this food on these plates." she said, as she waved her wand. Food whizzed through the air and landed on the dining room table. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley sat at the table. Ron, Charlie and Mr. Weasley were the first to dig into the food.

"Ah- so I see the bottomless pit for a stomach hasn't changed, has it Weasley?" asked Hermione. Ron smiled.

"Nope." he said, with a mouthful of chicken. Hermione laughed, while Kay looked at him in disgust. Hermione shared herself a small amount of food. "And I see, you still don't eat."

"Of course I eat. I just don't scarf down food, like you." said Hermione. Ron laughed, swallowed his food, then leaned into Hermione.

"Neither did Ronnie. And look at her." he whispered. Hermione started to snicker.

"So Ronald, who is _Hermione _to you?" asked Kay.

"We were in Hogwarts together." said Ron. "We were heads together, also. She was one of my best mates."

"How nice." said Kay, as she wore a plastered smile. Hermione smiled genuinely. "So- Charlie, what do you do?"

"I used to work in Romania with Dragons. But- now I work in Hogwarts." said Charlie.

"Yeah- he was a really good Care of Magical Creatures Professor." said Hermione.

"What about you, Hermione?" asked Kay. Hermione looked at her and smiled.

"What _about_ me?" she asked.

"What do you do?"

"Oh- I'm not working. I'm still in school." said Hermione.

"Oh- wow. Well what do your parents think of that? I don't know what mine would think of me, if I didn't earn a living." said Kay. Hermione chuckled.

"Well- they don't have anything to say about it." she said.

"Hermione, you don't have to explain _anything_." said Ronnie, as she glared at Kay.

"No- its okay Ronnie." Hermione said softly. She looked at Kay. "My parents died two months ago. So- they didn't really get a chance to say anything about it." Everyone looked at her.

"Hermione- I'm so sorry." said Mrs. Weasley. A chorus of "Me too, Hermione" filled the dining room. Hermione smiled.

"No- its okay. I mean- I've been with Krys. She's helped me forget all about the pain." said Hermione. "Oh- I have a bit of a headache. Do you think I can take a rain check on dinner?"

"Of course dear." said Mrs. Weasley. Hermione got up.

"Well- I'm sorry guys. Bye." she said before she disapparated.

When she got there, Krys was sitting laying down on the couch, with an icepack on her head. Hermione sat down next to her.

"Cookie… Ron is beyond gorgeous. To the point that you just want to touch him- you know, to make sure he's real." she said in a sad voice.

"Bon-bon, remember how Ares used to look?" asked Krys. Hermione nodded. "Imagine that, like, a thousand times better, with a big nosed bitch attached to him." Hermione laughed.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Of course I am. As long as he's happy… I can live with it."

"Yeah, me too. Or at least I hope I can." Hermione looked at Krys. "We're gonna end up home wreckers aren't we?" Krys shook her head.

"He'll be happier without me." she said. Hermione looked at Krys.

"Krys, you guys spent an entire summer together. And… if I remember… the amount of times I called you, and the amount of times you picked up, showed that you two were having a lot of fun." Krys smiled and blushed.

"Hermione, if he's happy, then… that's what I want for him. I _want_ him to be happy… even if its with that… _woman_." she said, then she rolled he eyes. "Maybe she's just…"

"A bitch?" offered Hermione. Krys looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "What the hell are we going to do tonight?" Hermione looked at her.

"What's going on tonight?"

"Tonight we have to have dinner with them again." Hermione groaned, then started to bang her head on the arm of Krys' couch. When she finally stopped, she looked at Krys.

"Where are we staying today? The new apartment?" Krys shrugged.

"You go if you want. I just want to think." Hermione nodded, then looked at Krys.

"You want to go shopping with Thai, when she gets here? Just a full shopping trip… the works?" Krys looked at Hermione and nodded.

"Of course. I'll see you later. Come over here to get dressed."

"Okay Cookie." Hermione said, before she disapparated.

If I hit fifteen reviews, I'll update a full chapter tonight. All I have to do is make revisions for the dinner. Only 12 reviews. That's a bargain.


	3. Dinner In Hell

Krys looked in the closet and smiled. She picked up her Tweety outfit and put it on. She kept her hair in fuzzy ringlets. When she got back into her room, Hermione was sitting on her bed, wearing a long frock.

"Well don't you look cute?" she said. Krys laughed.

"Ditto. I'm liking the dress. Fortunately- I feel no need to dress up for the bitch that Ares intends to marry."

"I'm not dressing up for _Archaelas_. I'm dressing up for Ron. You should do the same." Hermione suggested.

"Sorry, home wrecker. I dressed up enough yesterday."

"Yeah- you looked amazing in that outfit." said Hermione. Krys shook her head.

"Thank you, but- I couldn't compare to you in that classic, dude."

That's when A.J and Gin walked in.

"Okay- you guys have to dress a little better because, I was looking forward to finally being related to you, Krys- and I know Gin feels the same about Hermione." said A.J. Krys smiled.

"Your brother has my blessing. If he wants to marry a bitch- let him marry a bitch."

"How are we getting there?" asked Hermione. Krys looked at her. "If it isn't a magical restaurant and-"

"My house. My dad bought a house down there. He lent it out to employees when they did wonderful work, but- I've never really been up there."

"You speak Italian?" asked Hermione. Krys shrugged. "How don't you know?"

"Well- when I met Prongs, I just picked all these other languages up. Its like- it just clicked." she said.

"Well- we've come here to pick out your outfits." said A.J. Krys looked down at her outfit.

"I'm just fine, thank you." she said. All the others laughed.

"Krys-"

"Hello ladies." said Jason, as he walked in. Krys looked at him.

"Dude." she greeted.

"Dudette." he replied. She laughed.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"Harry and I picked out your outfits." he said. Krys looked at him.

"You know-"

"I just chose something that I'd want to see A.J in. And Harry did the same for Ginny. Come to think of it, you'll mess up the fantasies, if you two wear the outfits. It's really disgusting picturing _you _two in those outfits, but- it worked." he said.

"Gee- thank you." said Krys sarcastically. Jason smiled, then tossed something to her.

"Here." he said. She looked at it.

"Dude- where did you get this?" she asked, as she held up a piece of cloth with many holes in it.

"Your closet." he said.

"Do you know how many of my tattoos would be seen?" she asked. He shrugged. "Like- all of them." They all laughed at the look on her face.

"Well- he always seemed to love those tattoos." said Jason, as he tossed her another dress. She looked at it.

"This is my custom Donna." she said softly, as she touched the fabric.

"Where'd you buy that? Its so beautiful." said A.J.

"I didn't. Supposedly- my dad custom ordered it for me. I was supposed to wear it on my eighteenth birthday. She just dropped it by the house… the summer he died. Just a few days before my birthday."

"Who?"

"Donna Karen." Hermione's eyes widened.

"You _know _Donna Karen?" Krys shook her head.

"I've spoken to her a few times. I've met her, had dinner with her even. I just- I don't _know _her. She was a friend of my dad's. She even showed up for one of my more formal birthday parties, and his funeral. She was supposed to be at this big party that my dad wanted to throw me for my eighteenth birthday." she said. "I've never actually worn the dress. I always wanted to. I just- I never found a reason."

"Well- now you have a chance. What are we gonna do about that hair of yours?" asked Jason. They all looked at him. A.J was wearing an amused look and Krys was chuckling.

"Jason- leave while you're still a man." said Krys. He laughed.

"That's fucked up." he said. She gave him the rock on sign. He flipped her off, kissed A.J, then left the room.

"Jason does bring up an interesting point." said A.J. Krys looked at her. "What _are_ we going to do with your hair?" Krys raised her eyebrow. "Honestly- what happened? I used to love your hair. It was always silky no matter how curly it was. Now- its just…dry and frizzy. You've let yourself go."

"Ouch." said Krys. "Imagine my heart wasn't bouncy."

"Its not." said a voice from the door. She whipped around. Harry stood in the doorway, holding something. Krys raised an eyebrow. "Its made of thin glass that can't be cut."

"What's the name of that damn glass again?" asked Krys.

"What glass?" asked A.J.

"Its this glass- it has to be made precisely. If you try and cut it, it'll shatter. Its really expensive." said Krys. "You saying that I'm fragile?" Harry nodded.

"Yeah." he said simply.

"Oh- ouch. Here I was- thinking that I was like Hulk Hogan."

"That Hulkamania bloke that you love so much?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah." Harry looked at the two, and laughed.

"Well- as interesting as this conversation is, I don't want to have it. I figured that stealing things from Padfoot's closet would be beneficial to you, Hermione. And it was. Here." he said, as he threw something at her.

"Where am I getting the shoes to wear this?" she asked. Harry grinned.

"That's the beauty of it. Everything that Padfoot has- has something to match it." he said to her. Then he turned to Krys. "You know, for such a big tomboy- you have the most shoes I've ever seen anyone have." Krys laughed. "What's with the stiletto heels? You can't even walk in those."

"Those are for my ever wonderful dresses." she said. Harry laughed, then waved his hand again. Two bags flew in front of Krys and Hermione. "What's this?"

"Ah- this is that purse thing that girls like so much. You know- these dresses don't have pockets- no other place to put your wallet." said Harry.

"Oh- so I put my wallet in here. Cool." she said. Harry and the others laughed.

"I know. See you guys later." he said, before he walked out the door.

"The story about the dress." said A.J.

"Yeah… it was horrible when it came. It was in the gift box when she brought it by. It had a card written by him and everything. But- after a while, it wasn't so bad. I just- its not like I'm not used to it."

"You shouldn't be used to it. But- we're leaving so you guys can put your crap on-" started A.J. Krys snapped her finger and the dresses were put on her and Hermione. "That was fast. Those dresses look amazing on you guys."

"Dude- thanks." said Krys. She waved her hand and two pairs of shoes whizzed through the air. A black pair set itself in front of Hermione and a white pair in front of Krys. Krys put on the shoes and started to walk around. "Damn, damn, damn." she said. They all looked at her. "I just learned the key to walking in heels. Its just like with ballet."

"You just got that? I've been able to walk in heels, since I was six." said A.J. "What about your hair?"

"Okay- the problem is that I switched conditioners… and I stopped using my leave in conditioner. Not to mention my texture kit from Pantene Pro-V, you know- on special occasions." said Krys. A.J looked at her.

"What'd you use before?"

"It was a mix… it had Pantene, Thermasilk, VO5, and Dove."

"What'd you start using?"

"I stopped caring, so I started to use some store brand. I think it was Rite Aid." said Krys.

"Oh- yeah, that happens." said Ginny. "I remember using some weird store brand… big mistake. I looked like a ball of cotton." They all laughed.

"Okay- how about this." Krys waved her hand, and her hair fell into _sleek, _shiny and silky ringlets. Then her bangs pinned themselves to the left side, with a beautiful diamond encrusted hair pin. It had a single diamond in it. A.J nodded.

"Cute." she said.

"Really cute, Krys. You kept cutting your hair." said Ginny. Krys nodded. "Yeah- I figured because, even before, your hair was down to your ass."

"What about me?" asked Hermione. Krys looked at her, then waved her hand. Hermione's hair fell into soft elegant curls. Her hair pulled itself back, by a black pearl hair pin.

"I'm loving it." said A.J. Gin nodded.

"Too true. Way cool." she said. Then she shook her head.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"Oh- nothing. I just realized that I'm starting to sound like Krys." said Ginny. They all laughed.

"Dude- did you know that this dress sort of shows my belly button ring?" asked Krys. "My dad would've had a fit."

"It also shows your tattoos- when did you get the names?" asked A.J. Krys looked thoughtful.

"The day I got out of the hospital. The day that I said I was going to get a tattoo." she said. A.J nodded.

"Where's Thai?" she asked.

"I'm picking her up tomorrow." said Krys. "I've missed them. I realized that they each have a special thing with me. With Thai, its her powers. And- I'm pretty damn sure that the other two are going to Acklemeyers too. But- that girl is brilliant. Angel- is smart too. Like- I can have these real conversations with her, and she's only four. But- our connection is, she's so far from both of them. She's four years old and she's already distant. Since she's- they're so far in age, its difficult. And Jamie, he's the first real baby that I ever gave a damn about. I hated kids. But- him and Angel are so…great. And Thai- she's my homey."

"That's so cute." said A.J. "Kryssie loves the babies." Krys laughed.

"Are you guys ready?" asked Harry as he walked in the room. Krys looked at him. "You don't change in your room. You change in your closet. Please- I don't want to see you guys." Krys laughed.

"No-its not that. I just- I don't wanna go." she said.

"Just go to the house in Milan- get it over with." said Gin.

"Okay- imagine you and Harry break up… again. Then he starts dating some next bitch. You get to see his proposal to her. Then you have to be at the dinner where she finally meets… me. Because we're friends- I already like you. I treat you better than her through the whole dinner. Then- she insults you. You find an excuse to leave then have to have dinner with her… again. Imagine." said Krys.

"Okay- I understand that. I went through a similar thing with Harry and Ronn-"

"No you didn't. When it was Harry and Ronnie, it was your choice. You knew that Harry wanted to be with you. He's with someone else now. He doesn't love me anymore. And- I can deal with that… I just don't wanna see him with her."

"This is Ares that we're talking about. His first letter to me from Levebons, was about you. He wrote about how perfect you were and how wonderful you were, how beautiful you were, and how funny you were. He used a whole paragraph talking about your _eyes_. Me and Jezzie teased him the entire summer." said A.J.

"That was about nine years ago." said Krys. "Things have changed. Dude- he's over it."

"You ready?" asked Hermione. Krys nodded.

"Yeah- I just have to send the image to Ron- Prongs send it to Red?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"They're already there. I sent it ten minutes ago." he said.

"Those bitches are in my house, touching my shit?" asked Krys. Harry nodded.

"Most likely." he said. Krys grabbed Hermione's hand and with a pop, they were gone. When they popped in the house, Ron and Ares stood up.

"Hey dudes." said Krys, holding up the rock on sign. Ares looked at her. "What?" He shook his head mindlessly. "Okay."

"Hey guys." said Hermione. Ron waved at her, then looked away.

"Krys!" said Ron, as he hugged her. "What's with the dress?" he whispered.

"Talk to your friends about that." she said. She looked at Emily and Kay. They were sitting down, with their arms folded and their legs crossed. "Give us a minute, please."

"Yeah- we didn't spend enough time waiting on you." said Kay. Krys chuckled, then her face got serious.

"Well- I guess you'll spend some _more _time waiting on me." she said curtly. Kay rolled her eyes. "Bon-bon, my room."

"I thought you've never been here." said Hermione.

"I haven't. But- I send some stuff here, just in case. And- I got the things from some photo shoot- lets just go." said Krys as she pulled Hermione up the stairs. The room was more beautiful and elegant than her room in California. She walked over to the vanity and opened her jewelry boy. She pulled out a few pairs of diamond studs. She put them in. Then she looked in the box again and pulled something out. She handed them to Hermione. "Black Pearls."

"No- its okay." said Hermione.

"Dude- wear the goddamn pearls." said Krys. Hermione smiled and put them in. That's when Krys handed her something else. It was a simple black pearl necklace, and a black pearl cartilage piece. "Here."

"Why do you have all of this?" asked Hermione. Krys smiled.

"I like clothes. I like accessories." she said, as she put on a diamond necklace. Then she started to look around. She finally took down a wall painting, and unveiled a safe. She opened it and took out a wad of cash. She put it in her purse, then closed the safe. Hermione looked at her.

"Was I _supposed_ to see that?" she asked. Krys laughed.

"Can I trust you?" she asked. Hermione nodded. "Then it doesn't matter." She ran to her closet again. She came out with an elegant white coat, and an identical black coat. She handed the black coat to Hermione.

"Thanks." she said. Krys shook her head.

"No problem. Lets go fuck up our moods." she said, as she walked down the stairs.

Krys wore a creamy white dress made of silk. The dress had thin straps and clung to every curve perfectly. The skirt flared out slightly and just covered her knees. The straps of the dress made a simple crisscross down the back, while the rest of the torso was backless. The dress exposed all of her back tattoos. Her shoes were high heeled and open toed. The straps tied together and created a white swerve below her toes. White ribbons tied the shoes around her ankles. Around her neck was a platinum diamond necklace. As usual, she wore her 'Daddy's little Girl' bracelet on her wrist. Her bag was a silk clutch purse. Her hair out in silky sleek ringlets, with her bangs pinned to the side by a diamond encrusted hair pin, and her lips were pink and glossy. She wore diamond studs in only pierced one row, except for the cartilage bar that was white gold. Krys put on the white coat and held her bag tightly.

Hermione's dress was solid black. It was also a silky material. The dress was a wrap around. The ribbon tied on the left side, before the skirt began. The sleeves were short and cut down the middle, so that her shoulder was exposed. The neckline plunged slightly and the skirt flared out and reached the middle of her knee. Her shoes were black, suede knee high boots. Her hair was curled and pulled back by a black pearl hairpin. Around her neck was a black pearl necklace. She had simple black pearl studs and a matching cartilage bar. Her bag was silky and black, with a faux black pearl clutch. She put on the black coat and started to breathe deeply. "I guess its now or never." she said. Krys laughed.

"Don't worry- I have it all planned out. If Emily insults me, you insult Emily. If Kay insults you, I'll insult Kay. And visa versa. You know." said Krys. Hermione looked thoughtful, then nodded.

"I knew there was a reason that we hung out." she said. Krys laughed, then they walked out the room. When they got downstairs, Ares, Emily, Kay and Ron were sitting down.

"Dude- I had to search for my piggy bank. Why do _you _guys look so exasperated? _You _didn't have to look for a little Yoda holding a lightsaber." said Krys. Ron, Hermione and Ares laughed. "So- um… the restaurant isn't that far from here, but- I'm too damn lazy to walk, so- Escalade, here we come."

"You have an Escalade here?" asked Ares. Krys nodded. "When's the reservation for?" Krys looked at him weirdly.

"You set this up- shouldn't you guys have made a reservation?" she asked. He shook his head. Krys laughed. "Um… okay- lets just go."

"We cannot get in without a reservation. Trust me, I've tried. This is one of the hottest restaurants in Milan." said Kay. Krys looked at her, with her eyebrow raised.

"You're not me." she said, with a cheesy smile.

"**I understand why you don't like her**. **We'll be thrown out. I want to see how great she thinks she is _then_**." Kay said to Emily, in French. Ares and Ron looked blank. Hermione looked like she was trying to decode, and Krys smiled.

"**Even _if_ we get thrown out, I'll _still_ be pretty damn great**. Believe me." she replied. Kay and Emily huffed, then got up. "Lets go." said Krys, as she dragged Hermione out the backdoor. Krys opened the car door with the code, then started it. Hermione sat in the passenger side. Ares, Ron and their spouses sat in the back. Krys turned on the car iPod. The song 'Rain On Me' by Ashanti played.

'VERSE 1:

I'm looking in the mirror

At this woman down and out

She's internally dying

I know this was not what love's about

I don't wanna be this woman

The second time around

'Cause I'm waking up screaming, no longer believing

That I'm gonna be around

PRE-HOOK:

And over and over I tried

Yet over and over you lied

over and over I cried, yeah

I don't know why

And over and over I tried

Yet over and over you lied

over and over I cried, yeah

I don't know why

CHORUS:

Rain on me

Lord, won't you take this pain from me

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe

Baby, just rain on me

Lord, won't you take this pain from me

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe, tell you just

VERSE 2:

See, I don't want to hug my pillow late at night no more

I'm tossing and turning and thinking 'bout burning down these walls

I-I don't wanna fuel this fire no more, no more, no more

See, I made up my mind 'cause I've wasted my time

Ain't nothing here to keep me warm

PRE-HOOK X2

Rain on me

Lord, won't you take this pain from me

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe

Baby, just rain on me

Lord, won't you take this pain from me

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe, tell you just

BRIDGE:

I'm so tired of the rain

In my life

And I'm so tired of the strain

And now you're gonna lie

'Cause sometimes I can't sleep at night and

This here it just don't seem right and

Sometimes I just wonder why I

Almost let my life go by

'Cause sometimes I can't sleep at night and

This here it just don't seem right and

Sometimes I just wonder why I

Almost let my life go by

Rain on me

Lord, won't you take this pain from me

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe

Baby, just rain on me

Lord, won't you take this pain from me

I don't wanna live, I don't wanna breathe, tell you just'

The next song that played was 'It Ends Tonight, by The All American Rejects.

'Your subtleties

They strangle me

I can't explain myself at all

And all the wants

And all the needs

Oh I don't want to need at all

The walls start breathing

My minds unweaving

Maybe its best you leave me alone

A weight is lifted

On this evening

I give the final blow

When darkness turns to light

It ends tonight

It ends tonight-'

"I love that song. I just can't listen to it right now, because I'm going crazy. I have a lot of things to do." rambled Krys. They were all looking at her.

"That's the type of stuff you listen to?" asked Hermione. Krys laughed. "I've been in a car with you before, but we usually talked, so- I didn't know what you listened to."

"What did you think I listened to?" asked Krys. Hermione shrugged.

"I thought you would listen to songs about killing people and gang violence." she said. Krys laughed.

"Oh- I do. Its just that, when I'm in the car- basically, if I listen to that, I'd go crazy and my mellow driving would be tainted." Hermione scoffed.

"Mellow? Krys- you're a good driver and everything, and I know you wouldn't let anything happen to us, but- you're scary." said Hermione. Krys laughed, and stepped a little harder on the gas.

"Dude- you'd better hope that my shoes don't affect the driving." she said jokingly. They all looked at her. "I was just kidding. I wouldn't let anything happen to you guys. It'd make my insurance skyrocket." The song 'Superman' by Eminem came on.

'I know you want me baby

I think I want you too

I think I love you baby

I think I love you too

I'm here to save you girl

Come here in Shady's world

I want to grow together

Lets let our love unfurl

You know you want me baby

You know I want you too

They call me superman

I'm wanna rescue you

I'm here to save you girl

Come here in Shady's world

Ooh boy you drive me crazy

Bitch you make me hurl

They call me Superman

Retard hoes in a single bound

I'm single now

Got no ring on this finger now

I'll never let another chick bring me down

In a relationship

Save it bitch

Baby sit?

You make me sick

Superman aint saving shit

Girl you can jump on Shady's dick

Straight from the hip

Butt to the chase

I'll tell a mother fucking slut to her face

Play no games

Say no names

Ever since I broke up with what's her face

I'm a different man

Kiss my ass

Kiss my lips

Bitch why ask

Kiss my dick

Bring my cash

I'd rather have you lick my ass

Don't put out

I'll put you out

Wont get out

I'll push you out

Puss blew out

Poppin shit

Wouldn't piss on fire to put you out

Am I too nice

To buy you ice

Bitch if you died

Wouldn't buy you life

What you tryna be my new wife

Bitch you Mariah

Fly through twice

But I do know one thing though

Bitches they come they go

Saturday through Sunday Monday

Monday through Sunday yo

Maybe I'll love you one day

Maybe we'll someday grow

Till then just sit your drunk ass on that fucking runway ho

Cause I can't be your superman

can't be your superman

can't be your superman

can't be your superman

can't be your superman

I can't be your superman

can't be your superman

can't be your superman

Your superman

Your superman

Don't get me wrong

I love these hoes

No secret

Everybody know

Yeah we fucked

Bitch so what

That's about as far as your buddy goes

We'll be fiends

I'll call you again

I'll chase you around every bar you attend

Never know what kind of car I'll be in

We'll see how much you'll be partying then

You don't want that

Neither do I

I don't want to flip when I see you with guys

Too much pride

Between you and I

Not a jealous man but females lie

But I guess that that's just what sluts do

How can it ever be just us two

I'll never love you enough to trust you

We just met and I just fucked you

But I do know one thing though

Bitches they come they go

Saturday through Sunday Monday

Monday through Sunday yo

Maybe I'll love you one day

Maybe we'll someday grow

Till then just sit your drunk ass on that fucking runway ho

I know you want me baby

I think I want you too

I think I love you baby

I think I love you too

I'm here to save you girl

Come here in Shady's world

I want to grow together

Lets let our love unfurl

You know you want me baby

You know I want you too

They call me superman

I'm here to rescue you

I'm here to save you girl

Come here in Shady's world

Ooh boy you drive me crazy

Bitch you make me hurl

First thing you say

_I'm not fazed_

_I hang around big stars all day_

_I don't see what the big deal is anyway_

_You're just plain old Marshall to me_

Ooh yeah girl run that game

_Haley Jade_

_I love that name_

_Love that tattoo, what's that say?_

_Rotten pieces, oh, that's great_

First off you don't know Marshall

Ad also don't grow partial

That's ammo for my arsenal

I slap you off that barstool

There goes another lawsuit

Leave handprints all across you

Good lordey whoadey

You must be gone off that water bottle

You want what you can't have

Ooh girl that's too damn bad

Don't touch what you can't grab

End up with two back hands

Put anthrax on a Tampax and slap you till you can't stand

Girl you just blew your chance

Don't mean to ruin your plans

But I do know one thing though

Bitches they come they go

Saturday through Sunday Monday

Monday through Sunday yo

Maybe I'll love you one day

Maybe we'll someday grow

Till then just sit your drunk ass on that fucking runway ho

I know you want me baby

I think I want you too

I think I love you baby

I think I love you too

I'm here to save you girl

Come here in Shady's world

I want to grow together

Lets let our love unfurl

You know you want me baby

You know I want you too

They call me superman

I'm here to rescue you

I wanna save you girl

Come here in Shady's world

Ooh boy you drive me crazy

Bitch you make me hurl'

"That's the shit that she listens to when she's in her depression mode." said Ares. Hermione and Ron laughed.

"Hey hey, I am never depressed. I'm either happy or just… I'm not. And- is it my fault that I like Eminem?" she asked. Ares shook his head.

"No- its just that you get into that weird mode. You know, when you do that _thing_." he said. She laughed.

"What thing? I don't do any particular thing. I just-" she started.

"You argue and curse out anyone who gets on your nerves." said Hermione.

"Yeah- and sometimes you hit." said Ron. Ares nodded.

"I have never hit either one of yo- okay, that was an accident, Ares. And the other time… you deserved it." said Krys. He nodded.

"I probably did, but- you're a boxer. You weren't supposed to punch me. I could've handled a simple slap." he said. She laughed.

"Well- if it means anything to you… I apologize." she said.

"I'll think about accepting it." he said. She laughed.

"Dude- don't make me punch you again."

"You wouldn't dare." he said. She laughed.

"Wow- you've _already _forgotten who I am." she said. "You don't think I'll punch you… try me."

The song that played after that was 'My Paper Heart' by The All-American Rejects.

'Please just don't play with me

My paper heart will bleed

This wait for destiny wont do

Be with me please

I beseech you simple things that make you run away

Catch you if I can

Tears fall down your face

The taste is something new

Something that

I know moving on its

Easiest if I am around you

So bottle up old love

And throw it out to sea

Watch it away as you cry

A year has passed

The seasons go

Please just don't play with me

My paper heart will bleed

This wait for destiny wont do

Be with me please I beseech

You simple things that make you run away

Catch you if I can

Waiting

Day to day goes through

My lips are sealed for her

My tongue is tied to a dream of being with you

Settle for less

Its not what I prefer

So bottle up old love

And throw it out to sea

Watch it away as you cry

The year has passed

The seasons go

Please just don't play with me

My paper heart will bleed

This wait for destiny wont do

Be with me please I beseech

You simple things that make you run away

Catch you if I can

La la la la

La la la la

La la la la

La la la la

Summertime

The nights are so long

The leaves fall down

So do I into the arms of a friend

Winter nights

My bedside is cold

For I am gone

The spring blossoms you to me

Summertime

The nights are so long

The leaves fall down

So do I to the arms of a friend

Winter nights

My bedside is cold

For I am gone

The spring blossoms you to me' Krys was singing along with the end part lightly. She caught Ares smiling at her, in her rear view mirror, and smiled back.

"Krys, remember Henry Brookes?" asked Hermione. Krys nodded.

"My ever lovely friend." she said. "Now that I think about it, if he would've acted the way he did when he asked me to the Graduation Ball and that other time, I would've went out with him in the first week of September. Okay- not really, I just would've been nicer about saying no. But- what _about _him?"

"I saw him in Diagon Alley two days ago. He asked for your number."

"Did you give him my number?" asked Krys. Hermione chuckled nervously.

"Okay- I don't know the right answer to that. I don't know what'll make you mad." she said. Krys laughed.

"The truth is good." said Krys.

"Okay- I kinda gave it to him."

"Which phone?" she asked. "Oh no. No- you didn't."

"What?" asked Ron. Krys groaned.

"I gave him your Sidekick number. He just- he seemed so desperate. He actually looked pathetic." said Hermione. Krys stopped at the light and started to bang her head on the steering wheel.

"Dude- I swear, if I _ever_ see Jonathan, or that Robert dude… every number that you have." said Krys. Ron and Ares laughed. "_Why Hermione_?"

"He looked like he's been thinking about you since we left school." she answered. Krys groaned, then drove at full speed again.

"That is the epitome of a psycho stalker dude, that watches your ass from a balcony, with night vision goggles." They all laughed. "You're gonna be the death of me." she said.

"I'm sorry." whined Hermione. Ares and Ron laughed. Krys looked back at them and they shut up.

"Its okay. I'll get over it." she said. Hermione laughed. "Dude- you can't laugh at me yet. Give me a minute to settle. Okay- back to the music." The song 'Officially Missing You', by Tamia played.

'It's been five months since you went away

You left without a word and nothing to say

When I was the one who gave you my heart and soul

But it wasn't good enough for you, no

So I asked God

God send me an angel

From the heavens above

Send me an angel to heal my broken heart

From being in love

'Cause all I do is cry

God send me an angel

To wipe the tears from my eyes

And I know it might sound crazy

But after all that I still love you

You wanna come back in my life

But now there is something I have to do

I have to tell the one that I once adored

That they can't have my love no more

Cause my heart can't take no more lies

And my eyes are all out of cries

So, God

God send me an angel

From the heavens above

Send me an angel to heal my broken heart

From being in love

'Cause all I do is cry

God send me an angel

To wipe the tears from my eyes

Now you had me on my knees

Begging God please to send you back to me

I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep

You made me feel like I could not breathe

Now all I wanted to do was to feel your touch

And give you all my love

But you took my love for granted

Want my lovin' now

But you can't have it

So, God

God send me an angel

From the heavens above

Send me an angel to heal my broken heart

From being in love-' Krys cut it off. The next song that played, was 'One Mic' by Nas.

'Yo, all I need is one mic, one beat, one stage

One nigga front, my face on the front page

Only if I had one gun, one girl and one crib

One God to show me how to do things his son did

Pure, like a cup of virgin blood; mixed with

151, one sip'll make a nigga flip

Writin names on my hollow tips, plottin shit

Mad violence who I'm gon' body, this hood politics

Ackowledge it, leave bodies chopped in garbages

Seeds watch us, grow up and try to follow us

Police watch us siren roll up and try knockin us

One knee I ducked, could it be my time is up

But my luck, I got up, the cop shot again

Bus stop glass bursts, a fiend drops his Heineken

Richochetin between the spots that I'm hidin in

Blackin out as I shoot back, fuck gettin hit! more sirens

This is my hood I'ma rep, to the death of it

'til everybody come home, little niggaz is grown

Hoodrats, don't abortion your womb, we need more warriors soon

Sip from the star sun and the moon

In this life of police chases street sweepers and coppers

Stick-up kids with no conscience, leavin victims with doctors

IF YOU REALLY THINK YOU READY TO DIE, WITH NINES OUT

THIS IS WHAT NAS IS BOUT, NIGGA THE TIME IS NOW!

whispering again

Yo, all I need is one mic..

All I need is one mic.. that's all I need

All I need is one mic.. all I need niggaz

All I need is one mic.. yeah

gradually getting louder

All I need is one blunt, one page, and one pen

One prayer - tell God forgive for one sin

Matter fact maybe more than one, look back

at all the hatred against me, fuck alla them

Jesus died at age 33, there's thirty-three shots

from twin glocks there's sixteen apiece, that's thirty-two

Which means, one of my guns was holdin 17

Twenty-seven hit your crew, six went into you

Everybody gotta die sometime; hope your funeral

never gets shot up, bullets tear through the innocent

Nothin is fair, niggaz roll up, shootin from wheelchairs

My heart is racin, tastin revenge in the air

I let the shit slide for too many years, too many times

Now I'm strapped with a couple of macs, too many nines

If y'all niggaz really wit me get busy load up the semis

Do more than just hold it explode the clip until you empty

There's nothin in our way - they bust, we bust, they rust, we rust

Led flyin, feel it? I feel it in my gut

THAT WE TAKE THESE BITCHES TO WAR, LIE 'EM DOWN

CAUSE WE STRONGER NOW MY NIGGA THE TIME IS NOW!!

whispering again

All I need is one mic.. that's all I need, that's all I need

All I need is one mic.. there's nuttin else in the world

All I need is one mic.. that's all a nigga need to do his thing y'know

All I need is one mic..

starting loud this time, getting quieter

ALL I NEED IS ONE LIFE, ONE TRY, ONE BREATH I'M ONE MAN

WHAT I STAND FOR SPEAKS FOR ITSELF, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND

Or wanna see me on top, too egotistical

Talkin all that slick shit, the same way these bitches do

Wonder what my secrets is, niggaz'll move on you

only if they know, what your weakness is I have none

Too late to grab guns I'm blastin cause I'm a cool nigga

Thought I wouldn't have that ass done? Fooled you niggaz

What you call a infinite brawl, eternal souls clashin

War gets deep, some beef is everlastin

Complete with thick scars, brothers knifin each other

up in prison yards, drama, where does it start?

You know the block was ill as a youngster

Every night it was like a, cop would get killed body found in the dumpster

For real a hustler, purchased my Range, niggaz throwin dirt on my name

Jealous cause fiends got they work and complain

Bitches left me cause they thought I was finished

Shoulda knew she wasn't true she came to me when her man caught a sentence

Diamonds are blindin, I never make the same mistakes

Movin with a change of pace, lighter load, see now the king is straight

Swellin my melon cause none of these niggaz real

Heard he was, tellin police, how can a kingpin squeal?

This is crazy, I'm on the right track I'm finally found

You need some soul searchin, the time is now

All I need is one mic.. yeah, yeah yeah yeah

All I need is one mic.. that's all I ever needed in this world, fuck cash

All I need is one mic.. fuck the cars, the jewelry

All I need is one mic.. to spread my voice to the whole world'

"Oi Vey." said Krys, as she looked at the traffic.

"It seems like we'll be late for the reservations that we _don't _have." said Kay. Krys gave a phony chuckle then stopped.

"Dude, cry me a river, build me a bridge, then get over it. If you don't get to go tonight, make a reservation for tomorrow. Then possibly, you can eat with people who _actually_ wanna be near you." she said. Ron looked at Krys. She caught his eye in the mirror and raised an eyebrow, he smiled slightly.

"You have to make a reservation months in advance." said Emily.

"Then you'll have time to make friends, and find people who _want to be near you_. What made you guys think that _I_ made a reservation?" she asked. Emily looked at her, then looked at Ares. "If we don't get in, is everyone okay with eating cake?" Hermione laughed.

"I've been living with you for about three years. Of course I am." she said.

"Yeah- I've gotten used to cake for dinner." said Ares.

"I'm alright with it." said Ron.

"No." said Emily and Kay simultaneously. Krys looked at Hermione.

"Majority rules." they said in unison. Then Krys groaned. "Listen- I know this kick-ass pizzeria in Manhattan. They have these fucking fire ass cannolis. You know- just in case we don't get in." she said, as she parked in a parking lot. She hopped out the car, then she and Hermione walked arm in arm to the restaurant.

"Dude-" started Krys. "This is how you _know _we're lonely. I'm walking arm in arm with you, I have _no _boyfriend, I have _no _job and I'm like, about to be _twenty_." Hermione laughed.

"Well- what about _me_? I'll be able to drink legally in the states soon. I have no boyfriend, no job, I'm walking arm in arm with _you, and_... I'm _still_ a virgin." she replied. Krys looked thoughtful for a minute.

"Your life sucks a lot more than mine does. But- its good that you're still pure. The bitch that I gave it up to, is walking with Cyrano. But-you know what this means though, right?" Hermione shrugged. "We're losers." sang Krys. Hermione laughed.

"We're not losers." she said. Krys nodded.

"Do you want me to pull your chair out for you tonight, or are you pulling out mine?" she asked. Hermione looked at her and they laughed. They got in front of the restaurant and Krys looked at Ares and the others. She let go of Hermione, and walked up to the door. "The moment of truth." she said gravely. She walked in and the didn't even look at her. There were many people seated, waiting for a table. Krys walked up to the host.

"_Name_?" he asked. His accent was heavy. Krys pulled out her id.

"Krystathaili Rodriguez." she said. He laughed.

"Oh please. She never comes in here. _Name_." he said, as he wrote something down. He didn't even bother looking at her. Krys slid him her drivers license. When he looked at her id, his eyes and his mouth widened. He looked up and shook her hand, then started to kiss it. "It is so nice to meet you. Your pictures do you _no_ justice. Will you be dining in the Room of Miracles?" he asked. She looked back at Ares and the others, then nodded.

"Yeah- six people." she said. "Oh- and can I have the chocolate cake, please?"

"Which one?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well- there are many chocolate cakes. There are allergy safe recipes. Which cake do you want?" Krys nodded.

"Fruit and nut allergies. I want a plain chocolate cake… without any nut products or extra anything. I just want chocolate cake… with a little bit of frosting. And whatever they want, just bring it to them. I'll pay for everything." she said. He nodded, and kissed her hand and cheeks. She chuckled and walked outside.

"We're in. We have the special Miracles Room." she said.

"**But that only for the owner and his friends**." Kay said to Emily in French. Krys looked at Hermione.

"Lets go." she said, as she dragged Hermione inside. The maître d'hôtel looked at them, then led them to the back room. When they got to the back room, all of them looked around. The Miracles room was decorated with blown up pictures, all of them had one girl in particular in it. It took all of them, with the exception of Ares, to realize that the girl was Krys. They all looked at her shocked and surprised. There were pictures of her from when she was five, to pictures of her with Harry and the others. There was one big picture of her, Ares and Jason. Ares was holding her around the waist and Jason was laughing at them. Another picture that caught her eye was a picture of her with her father. It was her fourteenth birthday. He was hugging her, and they were both smiling. They all looked at her. "What?" she asked as she sat down. She looked up and groaned. "This is embarrassing." she mumbled to herself.

"No its not." said Ares as he sat down. "Its fire. Its like your own _giant_ scrapbook."

"This shit ain't fire. I'm okay with the pictures and everything. I just- I didn't want you guys to know." she said, as she took off her coat.

"I like the picture of you and Snuffles." said Ares, as he stared at her mindlessly. She turned and looked at him.

"How old did I look?"

"You were about five." he said. She laughed. "There's also one where you're dancing. You're wearing a little tutu. You were cute… what happened?" She glared at him.

"I got older. Like Rudy from the Cosby's." He laughed.

"But- I don't understand that. You said that you started doing ballet and gymnastics when your boxing got sloppy."

"I did. But- I took it before, and quit. When my dad adopted me, he said that I should experience everything. He thought that if I tried it all out, I'd be able to choose what I wanted. So, when I was five, I took ballet, piano, ice skating, karate and boxing." Ares whistled. "I pretty much just say that I took ballet for six years, when in reality, it was about four. I neglected to mention the piano playing- I thought it'd make me seem weirder than I already seem."

"You played the piano for me before. Don't you remember?" Krys' eyes widened, and she reddened slightly, as she nodded.

"What are the others doing?"

"They're looking at pictures of us, pictures of you and them, pictures of you and Harry. There's this picture with you and A.J. I think it was the day of the dance in fifth year. A.J is posing on you, and you both smile _exactly _the same." he said.

"What're Archaic and Enema doing?" she asked. He chuckled slightly. "Sorry."

"_Emily _is looking at pictures of you and me. _Archaelas _is looking at pictures of you, Ron and Hermione." said Ares. Krys nodded. "To tell you the truth, I actually figured that this would happen. You have a house in Milan, the restaurant is in Milan. They have a range of hypoallergenic foods. It has the same name as your Dad's nickname for you. You talked to the maître d', and he let you in. I just don't think that Kay likes it."

"Or Emily." she said. "She doesn't like _me_ too much, does she?" asked Krys. Ares laughed.

"I wouldn't say that she _doesn't_ like you." Krys looked at him. "She's just a bit jealous."

"Why?"

"Well- she was looking forward to meeting my mom and Aunt Lauren. I guess she thought that after you left, she'd get to relate to them more. And- the whole time, they talked about you." he said. Krys looked down awkwardly, then she chuckled.

"Good things, I hope." she said. He laughed.

"I don't think she'd have been as mad if they were bad things." he said. "By the way- when did you meet _Tia Laurena_?"

"Yesterday." said Krys. Ares' eyebrows furrowed.

"How did you get her to like you so fast?" he said.

"I spoke to her." she said. "I called her the infamous _Tia Laurena_." Ares smiled.

"I always knew she'd like you." he said.

"You always knew _who_ would like her?" asked Emily, as she sat next to him. She started to fix his tie. Krys looked at him and wiggled her eyebrows. He laughed.

"Are you guys hungry yet?" she asked. Emily looked behind Krys.

"Of course we're hungry. We came to a restaurant." said Kay, as she and Ron walked over. Krys laughed.

"Don't make me punch you in the face." she said sweetly. Hermione sat down next to her and laughed. Krys turned to her. "Bon-bon, can I take your coat?" teased Krys. Hermione chuckled.

"Of course, Cookie." she replied, as she took off her coat. Krys got up and took Hermione's coat.

"What about you guys?" she asked. Ares nodded and took Emily's coat. Ron did the same for Kay. Krys, Ron, and Ares walked to the closet and put the coats in.

"Krys… I hope you don't mind me asking this." said Ron. Krys looked at him. "Are you and Hermione…?" Krys nodded encouragingly. "_Dating_?"

"What do you mean? _Each other_, or _other men_?" she asked.

"Each other." Ares said. Krys looked at him, and laughed. Neither one of them laughed with her.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she asked. Ares gave her a nervous smile. "We're not. Plus- I'd like to think that even so, Hermione could do better."

"Krys, how many tattoos do you have now?" Ron asked, trying to redirect the topic. She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I think I have a visible eight now." she said. Ares looked at them and smiled.

"Nice lily." said Ares. "Visible?"

"They have those club tattoos- when you get into the club light… they glow. You can't see them without the club light."

"How many of those do you have?"

"I have about six."

"Do you actually go to clubs?"

"Nope."

"What's gonna happen when you get old and saggy?" Krys looked at him.

"I'm gonna be a spinster anyway. I'm not gonna have a husband that's disgusted by me, because _I won't have a husband_." she said. "Plus- _Hermione_ still likes them." Ares and Ron laughed at Krys' mocking joke.

"Someone will marry you." said Ares, after his laughter calmed down.

"No, I'm not the marrying type. Plus- other than Jay Hernandez, The Rock, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Morris Chestnut, Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese, Paul Walker, Ryan Reynolds, Will Smith, LL Cool J, Antwon Tanner, Nelly and Ewan McGregor, there isn't anyone that I want." she said, as they walked back to the table. Krys sat down next to Hermione and looked at her. "What's wrong, Peanut?"

"Nothing Honey, I'm good." replied Hermione. Krys laughed.

"We're so stupid." she said. Hermione laughed too.

"I don't like the service." said Kay. Krys shrugged.

"Didn't ask. So- _Archaelas_, what do you do?" she asked. Kay looked at her.

"Me and Emily run a magical salon." she said. Krys nodded.

"Nice. So- is that where all the shit for the wedding is getting done?" Emily looked at her.

"Yes." she said. "So- what do _you_ do?" she asked Hermione.

"I'm not working." said Hermione. Emily smirked, then looked at Kay.

"What do your parents think of that?"

"I don't know."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"Like I told your friend yesterday- _they're dead_. And- I'm really happy not being able to talk to the dead, otherwise I'd swear I was mad." Emily looked at Kay again. "So- how did you and Ron meet?" asked Hermione, as she calmed down.

"We were in auror training together-" started Kay.

"Then why aren't you an auror?" asked Krys. Kay looked at her.

"I didn't want to finish training."

"Didn't want to, or _couldn't_?" asked Krys. Kay's look intensified, and turned into a glare.

"_I didn't want to_." she said seriously. Krys put up her hands defensively.

"And what do _your_ parents think of that?" she asked mockingly. She looked at Hermione, then back at Kay.

"They respect my decision." said Kay.

"Sure they're not just saying that in mock pride,- you know, to hide the fact that they really resent you?" asked Krys.

"I'm sure. See- I talk to them on a regular basis. Do you talk to _yours_?" Kay asked with a devilish smirk. Krys smiled back.

"Actually- yes, I do. See- unlike Hermione, I _am_ crazy… and I take an enormous amount of pride in what I'll do without thinking twice." she said. Kay rolled her eyes.

"So- are you dating anyone?" she asked. Krys laughed.

"Other than Cosmo, Yoda, a little bit of Jay Hernandez in my dreams, a snip of the Rock, some Morris Chestnut, and a delicious slab of Shawn Michaels and John Cena on Mondays, Batista on Tuesdays- _no_. No, I can't say that I am. But that's okay- if I wanted to be dating, I'd just threaten someone into asking me out. It worked in school." she said. Ares chuckled. Kay and Emily looked at him. "Why?"

"I was going to ask, if you wanted us to set you up with someone." said Kay. Krys chuckled.

"That's okay."

"Why not?" asked Emily.

"Look at the guys you chose." said Krys. Ares and Ron playfully glared at her. She smiled her cheesy smile.

"What about you _Hormone_?" asked Kay. She was looking at Hermione. Krys looked at Kay, then Hermione and laughed. She snorted, and all the attention was turned to her. She kept snorting, until she started coughing and had to get her asthma pump, then she finally spoke once she calmed down.

"Your mothers name is Archaelas also, right?" she asked Kay. Kay looked at her weirdly and nodded. "She was a Ravenclaw and your dad was a Slytherin, right?" Kay nodded. "You went to Beauxbatons, and Emily's mom is your godmother. Your mothers were best friends." Kay nodded. "That's just a little something I know. Meaning- I can hunt your ass down if you mess with my Bon-bon." said Krys. Then she chuckled lightly. "Ah- just a little joke." she said airily. Emily and Kay gave phony smiles. That's when the maître d' walked in with a few waiters. They set five different jugs on the table.

"Are you guys interested in any alcoholic beverages?" he asked. Krys shook her head, just as Emily and Kay were ordering.

"No." she said. They all looked at her. "If I can't drink, none of you guys can drink." Ares laughed, and Kay and Emily looked at him again.

"But you're legal in Italy." said Ron.

"Do you really want me driving you guys, while I'm tipsy?" asked Krys. He shook his head frantically. The maître d' took their orders and left with the waiters. A minute later a waiter came back with a cut chocolate cake. He set it in front of Krys. She started eating the cake. They all looked at her.

"That's not good for you." said Kay. "Its terrible for your skin." Krys wiped her mouth, then smiled.

"I've never had a pimple." she said. Hermione looked at her, then Ares.

"Is that true?" she asked him. He looked thoughtful for a minute.

"Yeah- I've never seen her with a pimple." he said.

"How did you manage that?" Krys shrugged.

"I don't know. Its not like I didn't try to get a pimple. I felt abnormal. Especially since _this _one, broke out like a jail run." she said, pointing at Ares. He looked at her. "No- I'm just joking. He's always had that feminine, lady soft skin." He started to chuckle. Hermione and Ron looked at them, then started to laugh too.

"What is so funny?" asked Kay. Krys looked at her.

"So… where are you getting your wedding dress?" she asked Emily.

"Well- Kay, remember when we saw that dress by Donna Karen?" Emily asked Kay, ignoring Krys completely. Krys looked at Ares, who was smiling warmly. "Ares- I want that dress." said Emily. His head snapped in her direction.

"What dress?" he asked.

"Well- I want the dress by Donna Karen. Its 4,798 muggle American dollars- but its worth it." she said. Krys looked at her.

"Does it have _diamonds_ on it?" she asked. Emily looked at her, then looked back at Ares.

"Darling, its _really_ worth it. The top skirt is hand stitched. Don't you want me to look beautiful for our wedding?" she asked. He nodded.

"**You'd need a lot more than a dress for that**." Krys muttered in Spanish. Ares looked at her with his eyebrow raised, then he turned to Emily.

"So- you want a muggle wedding?" he asked.

"No- I just want the dress. I think the whole '_muggle… thing_' is overrated." she said, looking at Hermione.

"You know- _I_ think the whole '_bitchy _Prima Donna… _thing' _is overrated also, but-… no. That's it. There are _no_ _buts _about it. Its _just_ overrated, and _absolutely _done for, so stop acting like you're a princess, _Diva_." said Krys. Hermione looked at her.

"Thank you." she whispered. Krys sucked her teeth.

"You're my _Bon-bon_, its nothing." she said.

"Krys- please." pleaded Ares. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Okay." she said. She got up and walked to the wall, and Hermione followed her.

"Krys, what's wrong?" she asked. Krys shook her head.

"Nothing- its just, I'm thinking about this. I swear this is God's way of punishing me for what I did to him. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that she really _is_ a bitch." she said chuckling slightly. Hermione laughed.

"If it doesn't happen, then it wasn't meant to be. The whole time… everything that we've done, was supposed to lead us to _this _road. It was supposed to lead us to _this _wall, to _this _restaurant- _your _restaurant, to see how much your dad loved you, and to see if we were right to do what we did so long ago. Your reason was completely self_less_, whereas- mine was completely self_ish_. Now- lets go and be Hermie and Kryssie, Dumpling and Muffin, Bon-Bon and Cookie, Peanut and Honey." said Hermione. Krys laughed.

"We're so stupid." she said. Hermione nodded.

"We are… but-"

"_You're _the brightest witch of your age." said Krys.

"Next to you." said Hermione. Krys nodded. "You got higher on the N.E.W.T's."

"Yeah- of course." she said jokingly. Hermione slapped her on the arm playfully, then they laughed and walked over to the table.

"So- are you guys okay?" asked Ares. Krys nodded.

"Yeah- so… you guys all look so nice." she said, looking at them. "Are you wearing a muggle suit?" Ares nodded.

"Yes he is. They make him look _so_ gorgeous." said Emily, as she caressed his jaw. Krys turned up her nose, and Ares laughed.

"Ares knows the truth." said Krys.

"Which is?" asked Emily. Krys smiled.

"That he's _not_ that good looking." she teased. Ares smiled, and chuckled lightly.

"The only women who say things like that, are the women that can _never_ be with him." said Emily, as she pecked Ares on the cheek.

"Yes. That _must_ be it." said Krys, before she winked at Ares, then looked at Ron. "What about you, Red? I thought you preferred ruffles and lace." she teased. Ron and Hermione laughed. Kay looked between the two, then folded her arms. "But- Emily, Kay, you guys look so… _charming_." Emily was wearing a little black dress. It was short and tight, but surprisingly nice. She wore black pumps, and her long blond hair was curled. Her face was punished with blood red lipstick, and black eye shadow. She wore a peach type blush and lip liner. Her earrings were long and thick gold. '_What a damn cliché_.' thought Krys. Kay wore a little red dress. It was the exact same as Emily's, except it was red. Kay wore red pumps, and her blonde hair was straight. She also wore blood red lipstick. Kay wore blush also, but it was a different shade. Kay wore silver hoop earrings. Emily and Kay looked at each other, then smirked.

"We know." they said in unison. Krys looked at Hermione and smiled.

"How narcissistic." said Krys sweetly.

"Oh… and _such _egotism." said Hermione. Her voice sounded like the voice of a proud mother. That's when the maître d' walked in with a crew of waiters. They were carrying everyone's order. They set all the food in front of them and brought the drink orders. Krys went back to eating her cake, when the maître d' walked over to her.

"How is the cake? Is it to your liking?" he asked. Krys wiped her mouth and smiled.

"Yes- I love it." she said. He grinned.

"I am Raymond." he said kissing her hand. She smiled awkwardly, while she pulled her hand away gently.

"You already know who I am." she said. He laughed, then moved back.

"If there is anything that you want, _anything,_ don't hesitate to ask." he said. Krys smiled.

"Thank you." she said.

"Enjoy." said Raymond, as he walked to the door. They all looked at Krys.

"So… you're about to be _Dona _Ares Delgado, you must be happy." Krys said to Emily. They all looked at her.

"Krys, what does _Dona_ mean?" asked Ares. Krys looked at him.

"Oh- in New Zealand it means girlfriend, but I meant it in Portuguese. In Portugal or Brazil, it means 'Mrs.'." she said. Ares nodded.

"Okay." he said. "Not like I asked for the whole explanation." When he said this, he looked at Krys and smiled.

"That sounds familiar."

"That's what you said to me when we first met." said Ares. Krys laughed.

"I remember that. Kinda just wanted to see if you did." she said.

"Where did you get your dress?" asked Emily. Krys smiled.

"Who're you asking?" she asked. Emily looked at her.

"I'm asking you." she said.

"Oh- it was a gift." said Krys.

"Well- where is it from? Its absolutely _darling_." said Kay, as she took out her wand. Krys smiled again.

"Thank you. Its from Donna Karen." Before Krys knew it, then chocolate cake platter moved, and fell into her lap, covering the white dress in chocolate cake. Krys looked at it, and gasped. Before she knew it, involuntary tears were dripping from her eyes. She got up, and walked to the bathroom. Hermione looked at where the cake was, then she ran to the bathroom also. Krys took a deep breath. "How could I mess it up?" she cried. Hermione walked over to her, and grasped her roughly.

"Do not break down. You've never been this sensitive _in your life_… and you are stronger than this. You know how to fix the dress, and you can do it with the snap of your finger. So do it. Don't let Uncle Toucan do this to you. And remember who can have him back in the flash of a second."

"No I can't. Not after what I did to him." Krys said, shaking her head. Hermione shook her head also.

"Krys, you didn't do anything to him, and what you did was what you thought best."

"But I-"

"No. You're the only one who went through something that's unforgettable. Its my fault if anything. So… don't even start on yourself." Krys nodded, then waved her hand over the dress. It almost seemed to glisten more than before.

"It wasn't your fault." Krys said. Hermione took her hand, and dragged her out of the bathroom, and back to the table. When Krys got back to the table, Emily and Kay looked at the dress, and smiled tightly.

"I'm so glad you got it out." said Emily. Krys nodded.

"I'm sure you are." she said sardonically. She sat down and slouched down.

"I really did love your dress. Where did you get it?" asked Emily.

"Donna Karen." said Krys.

"_Where_ did you get it?" asked Kay.

"_Donna Karen_." Krys said slowly.

"I mean- which _shop_?" she said. Krys looked at her.

"I _know_ what you _meant_. But- I got it from Donna Karen, herself."

"You _know _Donna Karen?" asked Emily. "Oh my God." Krys shook her head.

"I don't _know _Donna Karen. I've met her, I've hung out with her- but, I don't _know_ her." she said. Krys looked at Hermione. "You know- _that _was her gift to me, for my thirteenth birthday." she said, pointing at picture of her on her thirteenth birthday. Hermione nodded.

"Wicked. So- she designed it?" she asked.

"Yeah- she sent a card to me, saying that she made it herself and it'd be blue the next year." said Krys. "Every birthday dress that I've had, was made by her."

"Oh- what about the dress for your fifteenth birthday?" asked Hermione. Krys looked thoughtful.

"I didn't get to wear that. We moved to England that year. I can still fit it. But- I got a few tattoos that summer." she said.

"How many tattoos do you have?" asked Kay.

"Five." said Ares, automatically. They all looked at him.

"How do _you _know?" asked Emily, as she glared at Krys. Ares looked at Krys pleadingly.

"Dude, take it down a notch. He's wrong- I have eight- or nine. This one only knew about five because, I used to talk about them all the time." lied Krys. Emily looked at her, then turned to Ares.

"Good." she said. She kissed him, and caressed his jaw. Krys got up.

"I gotta go _gouge _my eyes out, then throw up my cake." she said. Hermione laughed, as Krys walked to the bathroom. When Krys got back, her hair was no longer out and pinned to the left. Her hair was in a low ponytail, and the pin was keeping her bangs to the left.

"You kept cutting your hair." said Ares. Krys looked at him and nodded. "Why?"

"You've been telling me to cut it, since we met. And you're not satisfied when I finally do?" she asked jokingly. "You have some lipstick… all over." Krys motioned to his whole mouth. Ares wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Its not that. Its just that… your hair was your _thing_."

"You sound like a girl." she said. "First the lipstick… now the talk." He laughed. Emily looked between the two, then she looked at Kay.

"How long have you know each other?" asked Kay. Krys looked at Ares.

"_Including _or _excluding _the two years where we didn't speak at all?" asked Krys. Ares looked down. "Dude- it was my fault. Don't get shy on me." Ares looked up and shook his head while chuckling slightly.

"Its been about nine years." he said. Krys looked thoughtful, then nodded.

"So… Emily, Ares, are you guy planning on having children?" asked Hermione.

"No." said Emily. Krys looked at Ares, then looked away.

"So Ronniekins, what's been going on with you and Ares? How was school? How is everything?" she asked. Ron smiled.

"Well- we all missed you at school. It'd have been much more fun with you there. When I remembered that I didn't have anyone to help me, I went mad." he said. Krys and Hermione laughed.

"I missed you guys too. And- I'll miss you guys when I go back." said Krys. Ron, Kay, Emily and Ares looked at her. Ares' eyes bored into her the longest.

"You're going back?" he asked. Krys smiled.

"We have to introduce a study." she said.

"Both of you?" asked Ron. Krys and Hermione nodded.

"Yeah… we're _required _to introduce this study." said Hermione. "We're just taking a bit of a break."

"But you guys graduated already, top of the class- what's the point?" asked Ares.

"To be able to do our jobs. We're helping these people." said Krys.

"I thought you said you didn't work." said Kay. Krys nodded.

"Our job is to study and know all that we can know. This introduction to the study is beneficial to us, as well as the students." said Krys. "I only came back to see you get married, and visit Prongs, the kids, Jason, A.J, Gin- oh and your mom."

"Then we'll have to hurry the wedding up. We wouldn't want to keep you from your studies." said Kay.

"Yeah- we can hurry this wedding up… we just have to find a garden." said Emily.

"Krys can't come if we get married in a garden." said Ares. They all looked at him. "Her allergies. We have to find another place."

"Um- hilltop?" suggested Kay.

"She's allergic to freshly cut grass." said Ares. They all looked at him, then her.

"_What_?" asked Krys. "Why don't you guys get married in a goddamn chapel in Vegas, like any _regular_ young couples? That way, you can get married, then do some gambling. Not that the marriage isn't _enough_ of a gamble." They all looked at her. "How about a beach?"

"That sounds good." said Kay.

"I'm getting married on a beach." said Emily. Krys smiled tightly.

"_Yay_." she said. "So- how do you like A.J and Jason?" Emily looked around.

"Who?" she asked.

"Ares' little sister and brother/soon to be brother in law." said Krys.

"Oh- I haven't had a chance to meet Apolla." said Emily.

"So Ares, Ron is going to be your best man, right?" asked Kay. Ares, Ron, Krys and Hermione all looked at her.

"Yeah, its only right for the best man and maid of honor to have chemistry." said Emily. Krys looked at Ares.

"What about Jason?" she asked.

"Who's that?" asked Emily.

"Ares' best friend. His brother." said Krys. "He was _also_ in auror training."

"It wouldn't look right, if Kay was uncomfortable walking with him." said Emily.

"It doesn't matter what it _looks_ like. What matters is that, Ron and Ares aren't _best_ friends. They're _good_ friends, yeah. They didn't even meet until I introduced them. If Ron was getting married, _Harry _would be best man. Ares is getting married, _Jason should _be the best man." said Krys.

"Well- lets let Ares decide." said Emily. She turned to him. "_Sweetheart_, who is going to be your best man?"

"Um- it really doesn't matter. Ron can be my best man if that's what you want." said Ares. Krys' eyes were boring into his own, so intensely, that he looked down.

"Ares has decided." said Kay. Krys got up and clapped her hands together once.

"Um, well- as _fun _as this was, I have to- who am I kidding?...I'm gonna stop lying. Number one- this is the worst time I've had in my life. And that's not easy. I _can't_ stay, because the stench of _betrayal_ is making me sick to my stomach." she said, as she looked at Ares. He was looking down. That's when Krys turned to Hermione. "You coming, Bon-bon?" Hermione got up and nodded.

"Yeah. Lets go, Cookie." she said, as she and Krys held their hands out and made a grabbing motion. Their coats flew to them, then they walked out of room. Krys walked over to one of the waiters.

"Um… this should cover the meals." said Krys, as she handed him some cash. "I want the names of the waiters who waited on us. Actually - no, just give this to them. That's about… a hundred dollars for each waiter. Keep the excess." she said, handing him a wad of cash. He nodded. Krys and Hermione walked out of the restaurant.

"They don't have an apparation site, Krys." said Hermione. Krys shrugged.

"I don't care." she said. Hermione laughed.

"Yes you do."

"Trust me, I don't." said Krys. She looked at Hermione. "The whole boots and coat thing make you look like a hooker." Hermione laughed.

"They'll be stranded here, Krys." said Hermione as they got to the parking lot. "And as soon as I find a comeback, its on." Krys laughed.

"I don't care if they're stranded here." she said, as she and Hermione ran to the car. Krys put in the code, then started it. Hermione hopped in the passenger side. Krys started to drive back towards the restaurant. They sat in front of the restaurant for a moment.

"They're a bunch of purebloods. Do you think they know, that muggles aren't accustomed to having people disappear in their restaurants?" asked Hermione.

"Ares is really good with muggles. He's gone to regular schools, with Jason." said Krys. Hermione nodded. "And- I hope that he knows me well enough to know, that I'm- there they are." Ares, Ron, Kay and Emily walked out of the restaurant. Krys honked the horn, and opened the doors. They all got in. The song 'White Lines', by Alexz Johnson played.

'I tried to tell you

I've got to get away

I tried to say

I need my space

I got to get some

Distance in between

My heart and my head

I'm on the razors edge

I've been here before

I know the way

White lines

And headlights in my eyes

White lines

I'm ready to drive all night

White lines

How many till I'm in your arms

White lines

Will bring me home

I held you in

My arms last night

I dreamed we were

Riding on a star

I kissed you and

The sun began to shine

In dreams I can do anything

It seems like I'm on my own

It feels like I'm losing it all

White lines

And headlights in my eyes

White lines

I'm ready to drive all night

White lines

How many till I'm in your arms

White lines

Will bring me

Seems like, I've been here before

I know the way

Seems like, I've been on my own

So long

So long

White lines

And headlights in my eyes

White lines

I'm ready to drive all night

White lines

How many till I'm in your arms

White lines

Will bring me home'

"Muffin, are you okay?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, Dumpling. Why wouldn't I be okay?" she asked. Hermione and Krys laughed.

"We are way too close." said Hermione.

"I know… to think I used to hate you." said Krys.

"You used to hate me?" asked Hermione. Krys chuckled.

"I didn't _hate_ you… I just _really _didn't like you." she said. Hermione laughed.

"Ouch." she said.

"Oh please, Bon-bon. You're like my sister." said Krys.

"Okay, Cookie. You better not be lying to me." said Hermione. Krys laughed. The song 'There's Us' by Alexz Johnson played.

'There's me

Looking down at my shoes

The one smiling like the sun

That's you

What were you thinking

What was the song inside your head

There's us

Going on about a band

Working out how we play our hand

I lay there dreaming, Later

All alone in my bed

If I was stupid,

Maybe Careless

So were you

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us

Freeze Frame

I'm not about to cry

Its too late for us to change

Why try

I've got a camera

Tucked away inside my heart

If I'm a loser, or just unlucky

So are you

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us

Somewhere between then and now

I looked away when you said we'll never change

And if you think we might've been you'll lose today

And we've got songs to play

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us'

"I love that song." said Hermione. Krys nodded.

"Me too. I used to like that show." she said. "I like all of her songs." Another song by Alexz Johnson played. It was called 'Natural Disaster'.

'Am I another casualty

In the battle your fighting

You're your worst enemy

At war with yourself, but you can't see

And I can't stand to watch

You're, coming, coming fast

Everywhere you go it seems that lightening strikes and then you crash

I don't know how you do it

It always ends the same

Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes and there's no rain

No rain

Feel like you're moving in slow motion

And you don't know where you're going

You tried it all and its too boring

Tighten up your grip cause it's a long way down

And I can't stand to watch

You're, coming, coming fast

Everywhere you go is seems lightening strikes and then you crash

I don't know how you do it

It always ends the same

Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes but there's no rain

Watching you slip away

Its getting harder everyday

When you're coming down like a hurricane

I can't stand to see you in pain

So I just look away

I can't stand to watch

You're, coming, coming fast

Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes and then you crash

I don't know how you do it

It always ends the same

Everywhere you go it seems lightening strikes and there's no rain

No rain

No rain

No rain

Lightening strikes but there's no rain.'

"I like that one." said Hermione. "I never heard it before."

"I like it too. I have another one for you." said Krys.

"Lets hear it."

The song 'Liar Liar' by Alexz Johnson, played.

'You said I was your everything

You said I was the one

You played me like a radio

You used to love that I had no shame

Put my pain into words

Hold my hand to the flame

Tell me you love me like a star

Tell me you want me wherever you are

Tell me you'll breathe me till your last breath

Liar, Liar

Oh, liar, liar

Bit by bit I feel a drought

Just sit back and watch it bump

Hold your eyes up to my veins

Call out call out my name

Tell me you love me like a star

Tell me you want me wherever you are

Tell me you'll breathe me till your last breath

Liar, Liar

Oh liar, liar

Liar, liar

Oh liar, liar

Tell me you love me like a star

Tell me you want me wherever you are

Tell me you'll breathe me till your last breath

Liar, liar

Oh tell me you love me like a star

Tell me you want me wherever you are

Tell me you'll breathe me till your last breath

Liar, liar

Oh liar, liar'

"Ooh- I like it." said Hermione. Krys laughed.

"There's another one." she said.

"You don't have to tell me." said Hermione.

The next song that played was 'Anyone But You', it was also a song by Alexz Johnson. (A/N- you guys should get these songs. They're all hot as hell. You'll like them, if your into Pop-Rock- and mellow moods.)

'Take off the lines they're fading me

I never know what to believe

In a world that's crushing me

You're the only one I see

I don't change my mind

For anybody

I wont waste my time on

Just anybody

I wont share my life with

Anyone but you

Its such a long way

With anyone but you

I couldn't follow

Anyone but you

Never anyone but you

They put my poster on the wall

They watch and wait for me to fall

They think they made me who I am

But they don't know me at all

I don't change my mind

For anybody

I wont waste my time on

Just anybody

I wont share my life

With anyone but you

Its such a long way

With anyone but you

I couldn't follow

With anyone but you

Never anyone but you

With anyone but you

Its such a long way

With anyone but you

I couldn't follow

With anyone but you

Never anyone but you

They build you up so high

Till you can hardly see the stars beneath your feet

I'm falling through the crowd

There'll be a nest to catch me

Oh, oh

Oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh

With anyone but you

Its such a long way

With anyone but you

I couldn't follow

With anyone but you

Never anyone but

Never anyone but

With anyone but you

Its such a long way

With anyone but you

I couldn't follow

With anyone but you

Never anyone but you'

The next song that played was 'Skin', also by Alexz Johnson.

'I drift away to a place another kind of life

Take away the pain I create my paradise

Everything I've held has hit the wall

What used to be yours isn't yours at all

Falling apart in all that I'm asking

Is it a crime am I overreacting

Oh,

He's under my skin

Just give me something to get rid of him

I've got a reason now to bury this alive

Another little white lie

So what you had didn't fit

Among the pretty things

Never fear, never fear

I now know where you've been

Braids have been untied

These ribbons fall away

Leave the consequence my tears you take

Falling apart in all that I question

Is this a dream

Or this my lesson

Oh,

He's under my skin

Just give me something to get rid of him

I've got a reason now to bury this alive

Another little white lie

I don't believe I'll be alright

I don't believe I'll be okay

I don't believe in how you've thrown me away

I do believe you didn't try

I do blame you for every lie

When I look in your eyes

I don't see mine

Oh,

He's under my skin

Just give me something to get rid of him

I've got a reason now to bury this alive

Another little white lie

Oh,

My permission to sin

You might have my reckoning

I've got a reason now started to him this alive

Another little white lie'

Krys pulled into the driveway. She hopped out the car, and walked into the house. She sat down in the seating area. Hermione walked in, and sat down next to her. Ares and Emily walked in, behind Ron and Kay. They all looked at Krys and Hermione.

"What?" asked Hermione curtly. They didn't say anything. She turned to Krys. "Krys- which house are you going to?"

"The new apartment." said Krys. "Why?"

"Just asking. I wanted to know if you were leaving me."

"Dude, if I was gonna stay at one of the other houses, you'd be coming with me… Well- unless I didn't want you to." said Krys. Hermione laughed.

"Mate, I never know with you." she said. "I mean- you're so weird and unconventional that-"

"I'm not unconventional. And- if I am, its better than being an obsessive compulsive bookworm." retorted Krys.

"Fuck you." Hermione said slowly, as she sticking her middle fingers up, and knocking the fists together, in front of Krys' face. "Plus- you're more obsessive compulsive than I am." Krys laughed.

"I've destroyed you, haven't I?" she said. Hermione nodded.

"Honestly. Two years with you, and I need to be sent to charm school."

"At least you don't take bullshit well. I love that."

"I kinda like that you come up with these fucked up comebacks. It shows how brilliant you are, Cookie."

"If you don't quit complimenting me, I'm gonna start to lock my bedroom door at night." joked Krys. Hermione's eyes widened, then she laughed.

"If I were to ever date a bird- she'd be the extreme contradictory of you." she said. Krys laughed.

"That hurt. Everyone wants me. I'm everyone's type." she said jokingly, in mock sadness. Hermione smiled, then took her hand.

"Everyone's but mine." she said, as she threw Krys' hand back down. Krys laughed.

"That was cold. I'm gonna use that."

"I learned from the master." said Hermione. Krys looked at the others.

"Aren't you guys leaving?" she asked.

"Um… yeah." said Ares. He grabbed Emily's hand, waved with the other, then disapparated. Hermione looked at Ron. He waved, then he and Kay disapparated.

"Those have to be the bitchiest girls I've ever met." said Hermione. "They make me miss Lavender."

"Dude- lets go." said Krys.

When they got to the apartment, Harry and Jason were waiting for them. Krys sat down in between them, and Hermione sat down next to Harry.

"So… no need to ask how it went." said Harry. Krys and Hermione laughed.

"Tonight was worse than this afternoons _brunch_. At brunch- she called my mum and dads deadbeats… tonight- she dropped chocolate cake on my dress. Ares is marrying a bitch." said Krys. Hermione chuckled.

"She started bashing muggleborns." she said. Krys looked at her.

"You should've punched her in the face. Would've given her a reason to fix that Cyrano toucan nose of hers." said Krys. They all laughed.

"That's wrong. She said the same thing about _my_ parents, yesterday. Then- Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were really nice when I told them that they died. It almost became this big thing."

"Your parents died, Hermione?" asked Jason. Hermione looked at him and nodded. "When?"

"Two months ago." she said. His eyes widened. "I didn't tell anyone. I wouldn't be surprised if Ginny and A.J didn't know." Krys got up.

"Your brother is a bitch." she said to Jason. "Now- goodnight to all of you. I love you all- not that much, but enough to tell you. Bon-bon, J.J, Prongsie- I'll see you all tomorrow." Then she walked to her room.

"What was all of that about?" asked Jason. Hermione shook her head.

"Harry, Jason- goodnight." she said, before she walked to her room.

Review. I want to hit 30 reviews. People, please.


	4. Just Like Old Times Part I: Hermione

Hermione woke up at 11 am and went straight to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, then went back to the room. She started to work on the project and lost track of time. When she finished, it was 2 pm. She took a shower, then got dressed in a hot pink sundress that was tight on the bodice. The dress stopped at her knees. Hermione strategically accessorized with a matching hat. She wore hot pink slippers and sunglasses. Her hair was curly and reached past her shoulders. The cartilage bar in her ear swirled hot pink and white gold. She picked up her bag, then left the apartment. When she got to the lobby, she was stopped by her doorman.

"Ms. Granger, do you know that gentleman?" he asked. Hermione looked to where he was pointing. Her doorman was pointing to tall, redheaded figure leaning on the building. Hermione nodded.

"Thank you, Norman. I do know him." she said, as she started to walk out of the building. She walked over to Ron and tapped him twice on the shoulder. He turned to her and smiled. Hermione nodded and started to walk. Ron followed after her.

"Granger, are you ignoring me?" he asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Does it seem like I am?" she asked.

"Yeah." said Ron, as he took her arm. Hermione looked up at him.

"Listen to me." she said. He nodded. "I am not ignoring you. I am talking to you right now."

"Okay- well, do you want to get something to eat?" asked Ron. Hermione looked thoughtful for a minute, before she nodded.

"Sure… where are we going?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Okay- you don't know where you want to go." said Hermione. Ron laughed. "Follow me." Hermione started to walk to the parking lot and got in a small Toyota Camry. She opened the door to the passenger side and Ron got in.

"I thought Krys was the one with the cars."

"She is." said Hermione. "But- I needed one, so I bought one."

"So… what's been happening with you? I mean- we haven't really spoken in a while."

"True. I wrote you a few times… I guess you didn't feel the need to respond." Thunder sounded.

"Hermione-"

"Yeah?" she asked, as she pulled out of the parking lot. The sky was completely black, and it looked like a storm was brewing. Ron sighed.

"I came to apologize for what Kay said."

"What did she say?" asked Hermione. The sky was dark and lightening struck as the thunder got louder.

"Well, last night-"

"_Oh_… you mean- about her insulting my dead parents and then her little friend doing the same?" Her voice was sardonic. "No need to apologize about that. Listen- when you and Kay get married are you gonna sell Harry out also, or is that just Ares?"

"Hermione-"

"I'm just asking. Just wanna have a heads up- you know, so that I can prepare."

"Wow- I can tell that you've been hanging out with Krys for a while." said Ron, attempting to make a joke.

"You know… Krys was the person that got me out of my state and she's in no condition to do so. _So_… if it seems that her strength and a bit of that attitude is rubbing off on me, I say thank Merlin."

"I didn't mean it like that, Hermione." said Ron. "I'm sorry." They drove in silence for the rest of the ride. Hermione pulled up to a parking space and got out of the car. Ron followed after her. They walked into this small bakery and sat down.

"Listen, I'm not going to say that I'm sorry about what I said. I just- when I imagined saying it, it came out a lot more composed and graceful." Ron laughed.

"What state?" he asked suddenly. Hermione looked up at him.

"What?"

"You said that Krys got you out of your state. What state are you talking about?"

"Mate, I'm not even sure." she lied. Ron nodded.

"Okay." Hermione nodded. "Hermione, I really am sorry."

"About what?"

"Everything. Not writing- your parents."

"Oh… well- its okay."

"Not its not. I want to make it up to you." said Ron. Hermione nodded.

"That's a better idea." she said. Ron laughed. "Listen- I do forgive you. Its nothing…really."

"Okay." said Ron. He watched Hermione bit her lip while she read the menu. He smiled slightly, as she skimmed the menu with her sunglasses.

"Why are you looking at me?" she asked, without looking up. Ron snapped out of his reverie.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"You were looking at me." said Hermione, as she finally looked up. Ron shook his head.

"No I wasn't. Talk about vanity." he said jokingly.

"I am not." said Hermione.

"I was only joking."

"I know. That's the only reason I responded with words." They sat in silence for awhile, until a waitress came for their orders.

"Um… I'll have the cheesecake." said Hermione.

"Anything to drink?" asked the waitress.

"Iced Tea, please."

"And you sir?" asked the waitress. Ron looked at Hermione.

"Um… he'll have two- three slices of the raspberry torte." ordered Hermione. "And a glass of… raspberry iced tea."

"Okay." said the waitress. Then she left.

"So… thanks for coming with me." said Ron. Hermione nodded.

"Its not like I had anything better to do." she said. Ron laughed.

"Well- you're making me feel special." he said sarcastically. Hermione shrugged.

"Its not my job to make _you_ feel important about _you_." she said.

"So what is your job?"

"Its my job to grace you with presence." she said, as she smiled slightly. "So… what're you doing after this?"

"I was kinda hoping that we could hang out for the rest of the day."

"Um……"

"Its okay. You don't have to."

"I know that. I kinda want to. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"Whether there's anything I need to do today." she said. "I'm seeing if there's anything that I can't move." She continued to look thoughtful. "Okay… I am free. What do you wanna do after this?"

"Food."

"Ron- we're about to eat right now." said Hermione.

"But these are pastries. This is not food." he whined.

"No- that's not it. Its just that your stomach is a bottomless pit. You're always hungry."

"I'm not always hungry. I get thirsty too."

"Whatever." said Hermione. "So… how long have you and Kay been _going at it_?"

"What?" asked Ron. Hermione looked up.

"How long have you guys been together?" she amended.

"I don't know."

"How don't you know?"

"I don't remember." he said. Hermione laughed. The waitress came over with a cream porcelain platter. She set it in front of Ron and Hermione, then left. She came back a second later with their drinks.

"Thank you." said Hermione.

"Thank you." said Ron.

"Please enjoy." said the waitress before she left.

"So… how did you guys get together anyway?" asked Hermione.

"Um… double date. Harry and Jason went to get A.J and Gin graduation gifts… and me and Ares went with them. Emily asked Ares to carry boxes. Ares asked Emily out and she said that she couldn't go, unless there was a date for Kay."

"Why couldn't they just _levitate_ the boxes?" asked Hermione. Ron laughed.

"I don't know."

"So… you guys getting engaged soon?"

"No." Ron said automatically. Hermione laughed.

"That's mean." she said.

"No its not. Did you know that a magical wedding is a magical bond that holds people together forever?"

"Yeah- I read about that somewhere a few years ago. The Eternal bond. But there's something good about it."

"Yeah- you can get to know if you really love the person. You can get married either way." Hermione laughed.

"The ceremony is really quite fascinating. I was so mad when Ronnie and Charlie got married on a whim in Paris."

"The ceremony can turn ugly also." said Ron. Hermione looked up at him.

"You know this is the longest that food has been able to survive in front of you." she said. Ron laughed. "What were you saying?"

"That the ceremony can turn ugly."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember in seventh year, when Krys taught the Transfiguration class?" Hermione nodded. "The Precious Charm."

"The charm with the jewels." Ron nodded. "Why didn't we see that part at Bill and Fleur's wedding?"

"We already left. It happens before you say, 'I do'. Okay- so what they do- they get the couple to make them, then they get someone random to touch it before the wedding. The rocks are brought out on a pillow and before they say 'I do', they touch it. If its for a wedding, only the person that you love romantically can turn it back into the Heart Gem, without magic. Just by touching it, they'll turn it back. But that's only if you don't love the person you were supposed to marry. So basically its like an unveiling of the truth."

"Nice story."

"I'm still amazed that I knew something you didn't." Hermione smiled.

"Get over it." she said. Ron gave her a lopsided grin.

"So… you're really leaving?" he asked, as the grin subsided. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah- as soon as Ares gets married." she said.

"Do you have to?" asked Ron. Hermione nodded.

"I do now. Its not mandated for me and Krys. We chose this. So… if we don't go, we'll have risen the hopes of people who need the course to graduate with a regular Healers stamp, or an advanced studies Healer stamp. Ergo, we owe it to them to do this." she said, before she took her last bite of cheesecake. She wiped her mouth.

"How are you gonna help them?"

"We're introducing our study. The study is so advanced that half the credit of the course, is more than enough for either. Its so advanced that a person would only have to take this course and graduate with a regular healers stamp. I haven't even been able to do it. I'll tell you about it later." Hermione looked at Ron. He still hadn't touch one of his tortes.

"I wasn't too hungry." he said.

"Okay." said Hermione, as she took out her credit card. She put her hand up and the waitress walked to them. "Check, please." The waitress took out her receipt book and handed Hermione a slip. Hermione handed the waitress her credit card.

"No- its okay. I've got it." Ron said, as he took out some muggle money. Hermione nodded.

"Okay." she said, as she took her credit card back. The waitress went to the counter and came back. She dumped Ron's tortes in a container and gave them to him, along with his change.

"Thank you. Please come again." she said. Ron and Hermione smiled and left.

"So… where are we going?" asked Ron, as they crossed the street.

"Well- I don't know. Where do you wanna go?" she asked.

"Um… come with me." said Ron, as he pulled her to a dark alley. He took her hand and disapparated. They landed in Hogsmeade. It was once again bright and happy. Ron pulled Hermione along to the Three Broomsticks.

"Ron- I've never been in here." said Hermione. Ron nodded.

"I know."

"This is a place that's full of drunken witches and wizards." Ron laughed.

"They're not all drunk."

"Most of them are drunk." she said. Ron nodded.

"Okay- lets go in." he said. Hermione groaned and walked in with him. It smelled of Firewhiskey and was musty. She looked around and tried not to touch anything. "You sit over there." instructed Ron, as he pointed to what looked like the cleanest spot in the place. Hermione ran to the spot, then started to wave her hand around it. The area became shiny and started to smell better. Ron walked over and looked at her.

"What?" He shook his head, then put his hand over his mouth and looked away. His shoulders started to shake lightly. Hermione slapped him on the shoulder. "Stop laughing at me. Its not funny." she whined. Ron nodded.

"Yes it is." he said, through his laughter. He sat down and slouched at the table. Hermione looked at him, then sat down also.

"So… you grew out of your awkward phase." she said. Ron looked up at her.

"Awkward phase?"

"Yeah- you know, when you were skinny, a bit ugly, you smelled kind of bad." she joked. Ron gave her a lopsided grin and nodded.

"Yeah- that's one of the things we had in common. Except, I grew out of my phase." he joked. Hermione's eyes and mouth widened, then she laughed along with him.

"That was mean." she said, as started to calm down her laughter. That was when a straggly man walked up to their table with a pitcher of cold butterbeer and a bottle of Firewhiskey. He set them down on the table, then set down two shot glasses and two regular glasses. The man looked at them, then left. Ron poured the Firewhiskey in the shot glasses and slid one to Hermione. She looked at it.

"Hermione." said Ron.

"Ronald." mocked Hermione. He laughed and handed her the glass. She took it. "Are you trying to get me intoxicated?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"You seem like you'd be a fun drunk." said Ron. Hermione continued to look at the glass. "Are you gonna drink it or not?"

"This is peer pressure." she said jokingly. Ron laughed.

"I'm not saying that you have to drink it. I'm asking if you're gonna drink it or not." Hermione put the glass to her lips and downed it. Ron did the same. She poured the Butterbeer in the regular glasses, and started to drink that. A minute later, she took the bottle of Firewhiskey and poured it in the shot glasses. Ron laughed as Hermione slid the shot glass to him. "This is a form of peer pressure." he mocked. She laughed.

"Stop being a sissy, and drink it." she taunted. Ron put the glass to his lips and downed it. He immediately picked up the butterbeer and started to drink. "Nancy boy." Hermione started to sip her butterbeer casually. Ron laughed.

"You've changed." he said. Hermione nodded. "I like it."

"Are you implying that you didn't like how I was before?" she asked jokingly. Ron shook his head.

"No- I'm just saying that I like you more now." He slid a shot of Firewhiskey in front of her.

"I can't drink anymore." she whined. Ron nodded and laughed.

"Neither can I. Lets stick to the butterbeer." he said, as he started to sip on it.

"Ron- I'm sorry." said Hermione. Ron looked at her.

"For what?" he asked.

"All sorts of things. It was all my fault that you didn't write back. Everything I did from the end of sixth year to the end of seventh, was stupid." Ron shook his head.

"I- no it wasn't. Can we- why don't we forget about it?" Hermione nodded.

"So… mate, how've you been?" she asked. Ron laughed.

"I've been good. What about you, _mate_?"

"I've been hanging out with Krys for a _very_ long time. And its been two screwed up years. I swear- I've lost ever smidgen of estrogen that I had." Ron laughed. "But even though they've been two screwed up years with a lot of drama- they've also be really good. I mean- I've learned that I can trust Krys with my life. And- I've been…good. I've seen how happy Harry is with his family. Krys is very good to hang out with. And she's good for him."

"Listen- I can't drink this anymore." said Ron, as he pulled out his raspberry torte. He started to dig in. Hermione laughed as Ron went through his torte like a vacuum cleaner. He offered her some, but she shook her head and continued to casually sip her butterbeer. After a few minutes, Ron was done with all of his tortes. Hermione poured two last shots of Firewhiskey and slid one over to him. He looked at it.

"Sissy git." teased Hermione. Ron laughed, then downed the shot. Hermione clapped mockingly.

"You're so mean." he said.

"No- it's just that you're rubbish at this. You suggested it and now you're losing. Can't handle the competition, Weasley?" joked Hermione.

"Okay Hermione G. Have fun at your much needed meetings." Hermione's eyes widened.

"_That_ was mean." she said. Ron laughed.

"It was just a bad joke." Hermione nodded.

"It was a _bad_ joke." Ron nodded.

"I just said that."

"I meant a good/bad joke. You know- like when guys say that a girl is _bad, _meaning she's Angelina Jolie status?"

"Since when are you into what blokes say."

"I'm not. I just understand it more. You know- I have been hanging out with Krys." said Hermione. Ron laughed. "Don't laugh- that's my Cookie." Ron's eyebrows furrowed.

"Meaning to ask you- where in the bloody hell did the nicknames come from?" he asked. Hermione chuckled.

"Language Ronald." she mock scolded. Ron smiled. "Um… we started them when we started to talk again in Hogwarts. And Krys and I are tattoo buddies." Ron raised his eyebrow. "On the wing of my butterfly, it says Bon-bon. The petal of Krys' lily spells out Cookie."

"Since when have you been a tattoo person? I mean-" Hermione laughed.

"Since when have I been the type to dye my hair blonde? Or the type to wear a halter dress that didn't even cover my knees?" she asked. Ron shrugged.

"I don't know."

"So… why is it impossible to believe I got a tattoo?"

"Because its so permanent." Hermione shook her head.

"Its really not." she said.

"There was a needle that-"

"Yeah. There was a needle. And now… it's a butterfly." said Hermione. "A very _prettiful_ butterfly."

"Okay."

"What about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

"You know- I always knew you had a thing for blondes but- _wow_. Honestly mate, you _really_ like the blondes." said Hermione, as she took another shot of Firewhiskey. "And- you guys always look like you're attached at the hip." Ron laughed.

"You're drunk." he said. Hermione shook her head.

"If I was drunk, you'd know it."

"How?" Hermione sipped on her butterbeer casually and shrugged.

"I don't know." she said. "But- I know that you like towheaded women who are really mean and pushy."

"I also like neurotic, obsessive compulsive, overachievers that have curly brown hair." said Ron. Hermione squinted, then started to chug down her butterbeer. When she was done, she looked in the mug, then the pitcher and frowned, then she started to lick the rim of both. "Yeah- you've had enough." Ron said, as he tried to take the mug away.

"No." said Hermione, as she pouted and furrowed her eyebrows like a small child. "Mine." Ron chuckled.

"We should go."

"Where?"

"Somewhere with coffee- something to make you less… _drunk_."

"I'm not drunk." argued Hermione. Ron nodded.

"I know." he said.

"Where are we going?" asked Hermione.

"Um… we have to get your car. But- that can wait. That'll have to wait. Um… lets go to some coffee place." said Ron, as he held Hermione around her waist. He disapparated and landed in the same alleyway. Ron pulled Hermione into the bakery again. The same waitress walked up to them. "Um… do you know any good coffee places?" She nodded.

"Yes- there's one… right down the street. It's called Java Lava." she said. Ron nodded.

"Thank you." he said, as he dragged Hermione out of the shop. They started to walk down the street. "So… can you walk by yourself?"

"Of course I can walk by myself. I'm not sloshed- I'm simply… _happy_." said Hermione, as she pulled away from Ron. She started to look in her bag. "You want some mints?" Ron took her hand and crossed the street. Hermione groaned and stomped her way with him.

"Stop stomping." said Ron. Hermione looked at him.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Right now, I can." he said, as he pushed her into the coffee place. "Do you still like that French vanilla, cappuccino, hazelnut blend crap?"

"Its not crap. Its very good actually- and I only like it when its flavored coffee. I can't deal with that unsweetened rubbish without milk and sugar. Who in the bloody hell can drink coffee like that anyway? I don't get it." said Hermione, as she started to stomp her way to a seat. She turned back to Ron. "I want a muffin- or a cookie, or something." Then she continued to walk to the seat. Ron came back a few minutes later, with a few chocolate, chocolate chip muffins and two large coffee cups. He handed Hermione a cup.

"This is for you." he said. She nodded.

"Thanks."

"How're you feeling?"

"Well- I didn't drink that much. I just- I'm not very good at holding any sort of alcoholic beverages. Which is why I don't drink. But- it wasn't alcohol abuse, because I didn't use it to make myself feel better, and I didn't get anything out of it. So… I guess I'm feeling okay." said Hermione, as she cooled down her coffee. "What about you?" She started to cut her muffin into small squares.

"Well- since I haven't really been out of training for awhile, I haven't been anywhere except for these horrible restaurants in Paris. And everything there tastes like…"

"Disgustingness." offered Hermione, as she started to drink her coffee. Ron nodded.

"And old cheese." he said. Hermione laughed.

"You almost made coffee come out of my nose." Ron laughed. "So… what else did you do in your free time?" she asked.

"We had weekends free. In the first year, it was me, Harry, Jason, and Ares. Sometimes we would all go and see A.J and Gin. Then other times only Harry and Jason would visit A.J and Gin." said Ron, before he gave a little shudder of disgust. Hermione laughed. "Then we would hang out after and do whatever we wanted."

"_Excuse_ me." joked Hermione. Ron laughed. "What about the second year?"

"Well- because we never had time to spend with them during the weekdays, Ares and I were always on _date night_ with Kay and Emily. So, on Friday nights- we'd have to go dancing or some-"

"You can't dance." interrupted Hermione. Ron laughed. "I'm serious."

"I know. Its true. But- it was always a double date at this nightclub. On Saturdays it was dinner alone together, then drinks. And on Sundays it was brunch altogether."

"Poor you." said Hermione. "So… you want a muffin?" Ron shook his head.

"What about you?"

"I have a muffin." said Hermione, as she feigned obliviousness.

"Have you been dating anyone?" asked Ron. Hermione looked at him.

"Since when did this conversation become about dating?" she asked. "We were talking about free time."

"Okay…so, what have you been doing in your free time?"

"Well- Krys and I would go shopping, or we would go to Hogsmeade and meet A.J, Gin, Harry and Jason. During the summer weekends, we went to Vermont and spent the weekends with Thai, Jamie, Angel, A.J and Gin." Ron frowned. "Then in second year, we would spend the weekends in Vermont and Krys' house, with A.J and Gin, Angel and Jamie."

"So… how come we didn't see you when you went to Hogsmeade?"

"Um… we knew when, and when not to go." Ron laughed.

"So, you're saying that you didn't want to see me." he said. Hermione looked at him.

"Yeah- that's what it was." she said. "But things are changing now. I didn't so much miss you, as I didn't like not seeing you." Ron laughed.

"Yeah- I _missed_ you too." he said. "So… have you been dating anyone?" Hermione looked at him.

"At least ease into the topic. You don't just jump right in." she said. Ron laughed.

"What's this constant need to avoid the subject of dating?" he asked. Hermione laughed.

"There isn't a constant need." she said, before she started to eat her muffin.

"So… its good to see you." said Ron. Hermione nodded and continued to eat her muffin. "I see you no longer believe in unsweetened cakes and candy." Hermione laughed and wiped her mouth.

"Yeah- I figured it wouldn't matter if I got fat anyway." she said. Ron raised his eyebrow. "You can eat whatever you want. I don't see why women are so crazy about weight anyway. Eat whatever the hell you want and be happy. Then work it off." Ron laughed.

"You still seem drunk."

"I'm not. I'm just very outspoken now." said Hermione, as she started to clean the table. When she was done cleaning it, she took some hand sanitizer out of her purse and started to rub it on her hands. "You want some?" Ron shook his head. Hermione put her muffins in order, then started to cut another one up. Ron just watched her as she cut her muffin. "What are you watching?"

"I'm not watching you."

"I didn't say that you were" she said, as she continued to cut her muffin while looking down.

"How did you know that I was watching something?" asked Ron. Hermione looked up at him.

"Its called peripheral vision." she said. Ron nodded.

"Okay. So, have you been seeing anyone?" he asked. Hermione looked up at him.

"How is that relevant?" she asked. Ron laughed.

"Okay… you talked about peripheral vision, which is seeing things out of the corner of the eye. I asked if you were _seeing_ anyone." he rationalized. Hermione smiled.

"Very good bullshitting. But I could ease my way out of that anyway. But- whatever." she said. "What were we talking about?"

"Are you dating anyone?"

"Oh yeah…that subject. I don't have time for that, I'm always working. Plus, I don't like people. Hanging out with Krys, A.J and Gin makes everyone else seem dull. There's a really narrow selection. I don't have the time for that."

"What do you mean by _narrow selection_?"

"I mean that I can't be with anyone that I don't have a friendship with. And I can't be in a relationship with someone that I have a really good friendship with. I have like four guy friends. That leaves no one. And I have no time to make new friends, so I've given up on the whole dating thing." Ron laughed. "What's so funny?" He shook his head.

"When was one of your last dates?"

"One weekend last year. When we went to get our tattoos, Krys and I went shopping afterwards. She dragged me into this shop. It was full of blokes. So, we're walking through and some guys asks me out. We went out once." she said, as she sipped on her coffee.

"And?"

"_And_, what?"

"What happened?" asked Ron. Hermione laughed.

"Oh God. We went on our date, he asked for my number, I gave him Cookie's. End of story." she said.

"And- what about trying to date some more?"

"What _about_ it?"

"Why don't you do it?"

"Oh- I haven't been on a date since a few weeks after- and God, I don't plan to."

"Why not?"

"Can we stop talking about me?" said Hermione. Ron laughed.

"I just don't understand how you-"

"Ronald, I don't like people. People leave, people let you down, people are disappointments." said Hermione, as she started to eat her second muffin. Ron watched her. When she was done eating some, she drank more of her coffee.

"Was I a letdown?" asked Ron. Hermione looked at him.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Was I one of the disappointments?" asked Ron.

"You've never disappointed me."

"But I left without fixing things."

"So did I."

"Hermione-"

"Ron, everything about people leaving you and letting you down was just- I was just talking recklessly."

"You never talk recklessly. If you said something, it was something that you meant, and it was something that you've been thinking about for a while."

"Well- if you must know who I was talking about- it was my parents. They left me." Ron stood silently for a while.

"Hermione, I didn't mean t-"

"What? Bring up the most heartbreaking thing that's happened to me since I was three? Don't worry about it. Its not like I knew them that well anyway." she said. Ron looked at her.

"Um-"

"Its really okay." said Hermione, as she drank the rest of her coffee. "I mean- I wasn't really with them for about… five years. I wasn't able to make the f-"

"You didn't go to the funeral?"

"It was on a Tuesday." said Hermione.

"Hermione-"

"What happened?" she asked.

"Um… nothing." said Ron. "Listen, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." said Hermione, as she got up. She threw away the trash and walked out the door. Ron followed after her. When they got outside, it was pouring rain. Hermione walked like nothing was out of the ordinary. Ron ran up behind her, and put his jacket on her shoulders. "Ronald- I'm sorry about back there." she said, as they stood on a street after walking for a few minutes.

"What? Shouldn't _I_ be sorry?" asked Ron. Hermione smiled and shook her head. She was sort of yelling, to have her voice be heard over the rain.

"No. Sometimes I just think I'm completely mad for not going to their funeral. Then- I'm cross with other people. And you shouldn't be on that list. The only person I should be cross with, is the truck driver that killed them. And- if there's anything that Dumbledore taught me, its that forgiveness is everything- so, that makes me cross with myself. I can't act like its not- I miss them. And- I just- everything that happens with anyone… every time I snub someone, I remember that life is too short for that. So, I'm sorry. I have to remember that you're one of my best friends. And, I can't afford to lose any. So, I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry."

"Yes there is. I've done too many things to you. Too many things that I can't even justify. And- I'm sorry. So please, accept my apology."

"Okay. I accept your apology." said Ron. Hermione smiled. "You know its raining, right?" Hermione laughed, and the sun started to shine again.

"See- I make the rain." she said, as she walked towards where the car was parked. Ron walked behind her, chuckling and shaking his head.

"Where are we going after this?" he asked.

"I don't know. You want to go to Diagon Alley?"

"I haven't been there in a while."

"Okay- well, we should drive into London and then we can go." said Hermione. Ron looked at her.

"You want to drive?" he asked. Hermione nodded and he shook his head. "No."

"Okay whatever. But, can you drive?"

"Yeah."

"No you can't." said Hermione. Ron laughed.

"You're right. I can't. I'm also a bit sloshed." he said.

"Okay- well, I don't- how are we getting there?"

"Public transportation?"

"Lets not. Lets just take the car." said Hermione.

"Walk the straight line." said Ron, as he backed up. Hermione looked at him. "Walk a straight line."

"Fine." said Hermione, as she walked along section cracks of the sidewalk. "Is that good enough for you?"

"No." said Ron. Hermione looked at him, then flipped him off.

"That's not very ladylike."

"Then ladyfy me." said Hermione. Ron raised his eyebrow. "What are we gonna do? We're in the street and its cold."

"How do you think I feel? You have my jacket."

"Do you want it back?"

"Eventually." said Ron. "Listen, why don't we just walk."

"Look at my dress." said Hermione.

"Is it my fault that your dress is way too short?"

"You're screwing up my chi here." said Hermione. Ron laughed.

"You're too melodramatic." he said. Hermione looked at him.

"You're still fu- screwing up my chi."

"Stop saying that."

"No. No- I'm not gonna stop saying it. You know why? You know- cause you're not the boss of me." said Hermione. Ron laughed.

"And you keep on saying that you're not drunk. You're still _completely_ smashed. And you can try and hide it as much as you want, but the truth is that you're sloshed." he said.

"No I'm not. No I'm not." said Hermione. Ron smiled.

"You're drunk." he said slowly. Hermione walked up to him.

"No I'm not. And you had as much to drink as I did."

"Yes, but I can handle it."

"Okay- how are we getting to Diagon Alley?"

"Come on." said Ron, as he took Hermione's hand. He started to walk.

"Where are we going?" asked Hermione.

"I want to show you something." said Ron. Hermione nodded.

"Okay." she said. "So… are you in love with Kay?"

"I don't know. I don't think I could ever love her the way that I love… she's just, she isn't the easiest person to love. She isn't even the easiest person to like."

"Well- people say that about Krys. But- everybody is crazy about her, once they get to know her. Its just- maybe you have to break her, to find out how loveable she is. It seems like she's just a tough bitch who needs a good kick to the face." Ron laughed.

"You're talking about my girlfriend."

"I don't care." said Hermione. "But- do you think there's a future with her?"

"I don't think that there isn't. I just- she's there. She seems to love me and I guess I love her too." said Ron.

"That's nice. I mean- when we were younger… you weren't the best at picking girlfriends."

"I picked you, didn't I?" Hermione looked up at him. She just studied his face for a minute.

"Oh- you do have good taste then." she said. Ron laughed.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm glad that we're friends." he said.

"When were we _not_ friends?"

"Well- we weren't too friendly during the summers." said Ron.

"Yes- when we started our wonderful arguments again. I actually liked that. I loved yelling at you by that point." said Hermione.

"You mean like that day… Seamus and Dean's party?" said Ron. Hermione looked at him.

"The day tha-" Ron nodded.

"Yeah, that day." he said.

"Okay… talk about awkward situations." said Hermione.

"Yup-"

"Listen." said Hermione. Ron looked at her. "I don't want things to be weird. You don't- and I- wow. This is going to be weird no matter what, isn't it?"

"I didn't think it was weird until we started to talk about it." said Ron. Hermione laughed.

"I suppose you're right." she said.

"So- you look good." said Ron. Hermione laughed.

"As opposed to when we were back at Hogwarts, I suppose. But- in general, no, I don't." she said. "I mean- it's the same reason that you couldn't believe I have tattoos-"

"As in more than one?" asked Ron.

"Yes. A butterfly- then a heart above my ass. But- its along those lines. I was a big dork in Hogwarts. I was a bookworm and you were popular."

"You were Head Girl." argued Ron.

"Which is one step up from bookworm." argued Hermione. Ron laughed. "You were on the Quidditch team, you were Head Boy, and you were a Hogwarts Hit- you were like the perfect catch."

"A what?"

"Perfect catch."

"No- the other thing."

"Hogwarts Hit." Ron blanked. "The list in every girls lavatory."

"No idea."

"Do you remember in seventh year, during Christmas time? When I said something about a list. I think that I……. We were talking about the rest of them being upstairs. You said, that that you didn't want to picture your little sister, and your best mate shagging. And I said that Harry wasn't #1 on the list, for no reason." she said.

"How do you remember _everything_?" asked Ron.

"I don't fill my mind, with useless Quidditch facts." she said. His eyes widened. "I'm just joking, Ronald. Well anyway- in every girls lavatory, was a list of Hogwarts Hits."

"Well- what rank was I on the list?" he asked. She laughed.

"Does it matter?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes." he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You were #3." she said. He looked at her. She knew what the look meant. "Henry Brookes was #2, and like I said, Harry was #1." Ron looked outraged.

"Brookes. The bloke that was obsessed with Krys, Brookes?" he asked. Hermione nodded. He laughed. "I was better looking than him." he said. It was Hermione's turn to laugh. "Are you saying that I wasn't?" She shook her head.

"Its just that- it was about two years. Get over it. If I was ranked under Lavender, I wouldn't care." she said. He smirked.

"You won't care regardless." he said. She looked at him questioningly. "You were higher ranked that Lavender." he said. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What are you talking about?"

"In every boys bathroom, there was a list of Hogwarts Hottest Girls. You were #3." he said. She nodded, avoiding his eyes. "You want to know who was higher than you, don't you?" He was smirking. She scowled at him. He laughed. "Krys was #1 and Ginny was #2. Lavender was #7." Hermione smiled. "They rotated it every month… Krys was always #1, but you went from 2 to 3 on a regular basis. You and Ginny always switched."

"I'm surprised that you weren't expelled." she said. He looked at her questioningly. "The way that you used to act, if anyone looked at Ginny." she said.

"I didn't act any way." he said. She looked at him pointedly. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever- she's my baby sister, how should I act?" he asked.

"I'm not saying that. All I'm saying, is that, when Harry and Ginny first started dating-"

"But- I got better."

"Only when I promised to hex you, if you didn't stop acting like a prat."

"That was really bad Head Girl behavior." he said jokingly. She shook her head.

"Bad Head Girl behavior, was when me and Krys were about to hex Michaels and Mason."

"No- that was legendary." said Ron. Hermione laughed.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"The Leaky Cauldron." said Ron. Hermione looked at him.

"But that's so far away." she whined. Ron shook his head.

"Actually- its over there." he said, as he pointed to the pub. Hermione smiled.

"Wow- that was really quick. I want some ice cream."

"You really do look good." said Ron. Hermione smiled.

"I know. You don't have to tell me that." she said jokingly. Ron laughed.

"Well- I just meant that I would expect you to be fat." Hermione laughed.

"Says the man with the bottomless pit of a stomach." she retorted.

"Touché."

"Whatever- I still want ice cream." said Hermione.

"Didn't you eat two muffins?" Hermione looked at him.

"Yeah- but in my defense, they were chocolate." she said. Ron laughed.

"You used to give these long dreadful speeches about eating healthy." he said.

"I changed." said Hermione.

"Yeah- but, not that much." he said, as he watched her take out tissue to touch the door of the pub. Hermione walked in before Ron. There were no familiar faces. They walked to the back, and Hermione tapped the bricks with her wand. The wall rearranged, and revealed the happy Diagon Alley. Hermione smiled when she walked in. Ron walked in after her. "Wow."

"I know. Talk about the perfect day to get here. The Quill Shoppe is having a sale." said Hermione as she walked up to the shop. She looked around at the quills in the display.

"That's a very nice quill. We should get back here later. Right now, we have to go to Flourish and Blotts." said Hermione.

"A place full of books?" groaned Ron. Hermione laughed.

"Yes- a place full of books." she said, as she walked towards it. Ron groaned and walked behind her. Hermione walked in and smiled. "I love this smell." She walked to the advanced magic section. Ron looked around.

"What are you trying to get here?" asked Ron. Hermione shushed him, then pulled out her cell phone. "They won't work here."

"Krys altered it." said Hermione, as she started to dial her phone. She put it to her ear. "Hey, Honey. Um- I'm in Flourish and Blotts… I see a few books in here that-… Muffin, I'm about to give into temptation… No- I couldn't… Really? I can't ask you to-. Okay. I love you. Later." Ron was looking at her. "What?"

"Nothing." said Ron. Hermione stood on the tips of her toes and started to look through ancient healing books. Ron watched her as she pulled books out and started to look through them.

"Hold this." she said, as she handed him a book. A few minutes later, she looked through a few more books. Each time she found one that she wanted, she gave it to Ron. After what seemed like forever to Ron, she looked at him. "I'm done."

"Oh thank Merlin." he said. Hermione laughed.

"Okay Sunshine. Its time to go do something that you wanna do." They walked to the cash register. Hermione went through her bag and gave the cashier the key. The woman inserted the key into a compact and pressed, then she handed it back to Hermione along with a receipt. Hermione signed the receipt, then it duplicated. She handed the copy back to the cashier. "Thank you." Hermione looked at Ron then walked out the door. When he got outside, she looked at him. "What are we doing?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" asked Ron, as he looked at the Broom shop. Hermione laughed, and took his hand. She pulled him towards the Broom store, and walked through the door with him. Hermione looked around the shop, then at Ron. "You didn't have to do this, you know."

"I wanted to." said Hermione. "I know how much you loathe the smell of old books. It was only fair of me to do this."

"Since when have you been fair?" asked Ron jokingly. Hermione looked at him.

"If I wasn't completely against throwing books, you would have a concussion." she said. Ron smiled.

"Ouch." he said. "Paper cut and concussed, you demon." Hermione laughed and looked at a broom kit.

"Disdain is not a good look for you, Sunshine."

"Stop calling me _Sunshine_." said Ron. Hermione nodded.

"Okay, _Stardust_."

"Must you mock me?"

"See- derision looks good on me." said Hermione.

"You can call me something manly." said Ron. Hermione laughed.

"That would defeat the purpose."

"And what is that?" asked Ron, as he walked up behind her. Hermione turned around, then moved back. She started to walk through the aisles, looking at different brooms.

"The purpose is to break you." said Hermione. Ron laughed.

"And why would you want to do that?" he asked. Hermione shrugged.

"Cynicism has gotten the best of me." she said.

"That's because of your lack of a social life." teased Ron. Hermione laughed.

"Ouch. That hurt." she said. "I mean- you're the one hanging out with that awful girl."

"She's not awful. She's just a bit… bittersweet."

"Yeah- just cut out the _sweet_." said Hermione. Ron laughed.

"She can be sweet sometimes. You don't see her the way I do." he said.

"Ah… you mean _naked_." Ron's eyes widened.

"How would you like it if we started to talk about your sex life?"

"You mean lack thereof." said Hermione, as she picked up a Quidditch book. She started to flip through the pages.

"You mean you haven't…?" Hermione looked at him. "You know."

"No I don't." she said. Ron gave her the look. "Oh- sex?" He nodded. "I'm waiting until marriage."

"Yet, you have no interest in dating." said Ron. Hermione held her heart jokingly.

"Did I just say _marriage_? I mean, until some bloke is smart enough to _dupe_ me into having sex with him. That's every girls dream." she said jokingly. Ron laughed. "I can see why you like Quidditch so much, Ronald. This guy is ju-" she said, as she opened the centerfold of the Quidditch magazine. She had a lustful look in her eye.

"That's not why I like it." said Ron, he said as he took the magazine away. Hermione looked at him.

"Just teasing." she said. "Did you find anything?" Ron nodded. "You gonna buy it?" He shook his head.

"No. Can't be bought." said Ron as he smiled at her.

"Are you referring to _moi_?" asked Hermione, as she pointed at herself.

"Nope. I was talking about the broom in the window." said Ron. Hermione laughed.

"So cold." she said. "You know- I was wrong."

"Hermione Granger? _The_ Hermione Granger, admitting that she's _wrong_? But- what about?" teased Ron. Hermione glared at him playfully.

"I don't have to admit to being wrong because, I am _never_ wrong. But- I was about to compliment you. You proved me right."

"Still- what about?" asked Ron.

"Disdain. I was going to say that it looks okay on you. But-" she looked at him, "I'm not so sure."

"That was cold." said Ron, as they walked out of the store. Hermione looked around. It was staring to get dark. "Where to next?"

"Ice cream?" asked Hermione.

"Its my place to suggest food. That's my forte." said Ron.

"Well- I beat you to it." said Hermione, as she walked to the ice cream parlor. Ron opened the door for her, and she looked at him. She walked in the door and looked around.

"Last time I was in here, you got asked out by Michaels and Mason."

"Who?" asked Hermione. Ron looked at her. "Oh- them. That didn't matter to me."

"Do you remember the night of the Graduation Ball?" asked Ron. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah- last night at Hogwarts." she said. "Remember when you first met Harry?" Ron nodded. "And you though he was like this miracle child. Then he showed us that he was normal."

"Then a few years later, we learned that he actually is a miracle child?" Hermione laughed and nodded.

"Yeah- but its like, they're the most normal people we know." she said.

"Krys is anything but normal." said Ron. Hermione laughed.

"That's my Cookie." she said proudly.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" asked Ron. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, what happened?"

"Who were you talking to? Earlier, in the bookstore." said Ron.

"Oh- Krys." said Hermione. Ron raised his eyebrow. "What?"

"You call Krys, _Honey _and_ Muffin_?" he asked, Hermione laughed.

"Okay. Krys' nicknames are Muffin, Cookie, Honey and Kryssie."

"What are yours?"

"Well- our nicknames match. Its like, whenever she calls me Dumpling, I call her Muffin."

"And when you call her _Honey_."

"She calls me Peanut." Ron laughed.

"What about the others?" he asked.

"Cookie, is for Bon-bon. And Kryssie, is for Hermie." Ron continued to laugh. "Its not that funny."

"Yes it is." he said, as they finally got to the cashier.

"Um… a medium vanilla please." said Hermione. The cashier nodded.

"And you, sir?" she asked.

"Mint chocolate chip, with gummy worms and chocolate frogs please." said Ron. Hermione looked at him.

"That's disgusting." she said, as she took money out of her bag. Ron shook his head and took out some money. Hermione looked at him. The cashier handed them two ice cream cups with their orders in it. Ron handed the woman the money, then he and Hermione walked to the table.

"I thought that everything would be the same when we got back." said Ron. Hermione looked up at him.

"Well- is that portentous?" she asked. Ron shook his head. "So you're just talking to hear the sound of your own voice." Ron looked at her.

"You used to be so nice." he said jokingly.

"I am still _so_ nice." Ron shook his head. "That altogether makes _you_ mean."

"How did we turn this on me?" asked Ron. Hermione smiled.

"I'm talented." she said.

"Yeah, you've studied with the master." said Ron. Hermione nodded. "Your Cookie can make _anyone_ apologize." Hermione laughed, and ate more ice cream. Ron started to eat his ice cream soundly.

"So… when are you gonna go and see the twins?"

"When they come to the Burrow."

"So… thinking about it, you and Kay must be serious."

"Why do you say that?" asked Ron.

"Because you took her home to meet your mum. And that seems like a big deal." said Hermione. Ron looked at her.

"Its not." he said. "I mean- I… okay, listen. Kay is very…"

"Bitchy?" offered Hermione. Ron looked at her.

"No. She's not a pushover. She's pretty. She's interested in me. And I like that. The problem- the big problem is that I don't feel… _it_."

"And what is… _it_?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know. I guess its… what everyone says they feel when they get engaged."

"A high on a euphoriant?" suggested Hermione. Ron laughed.

"No… actually- yeah. That's how Ares says Emily makes him feel." he said. Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"I'll bet." she said monotonously. "I guess it is suppose to be all the stupid things that person can make you do. Can she make you shave off all your hair to keep her excited? Can she do make you _blasé blah_?"

"I know what you mean. I guess I know that she's not the one. And I know that because… if she hit me with the marriage ultimatum, I would choose to be broken up."

"Wow." Ron nodded. "That sucks." said Hermione. "Bad Boyfriend Award."

"Thank you, Hermione. Making me feel better." Hermione laughed.

"Thought I told you… that's not my job. I'm only here to grace you with my presence. I thought I told you that." she said. Ron looked at her.

"Mission accomplished." he said. "Are you ready to go?"

"Well- I don't want to-" she looked at her watch, "but I have to. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." said Ron.

"Okay." said Hermione, as she hopped up. "Lets go."

"I thought you had to go." said Ron.

"No- _we_ have to go." said Hermione. "Oh- I have no life… you have to remember that. Other than working, shopping and sleeping- I have nothing else to do." Ron laughed.

"Come on- I'll show you a good time." he said.

"You're not gonna start to do a sultry striptease, are you?" asked Hermione. Ron playfully glared at her. "I need to know… you know- I have to get the vertically folded singles to stick in the g-string." Ron laughed. "Told you I was funny." Ron nodded.

"Should've believed you." he said.

"Honestly mate- I don't get it. How _do_ you go out with blondes so much?" Ron laughed.

"Are we going to talk about this again?" he asked.

"I just- I don't get what's so intriguing about them. I mean- I guess there's-"

"Then why did you dye your hair blonde?" asked Ron.

"The same reason that I got my bellybutton ring and tattoos."

"And that is?" 

"I wanted something different. I just- I like the tattoos… and the navel piercing- all I have to do is wear a short shirt, and I get a free doughnut at the shop. The guy is so-" Ron looked at her. "_What_?"

"How old is he?"

"Thirty…six."

"That's nasty."

"No. He and his brother own the shop. When we first moved to Switzerland, Krys and I were both eighteen. Krys and I went in the first day, and he ended up asking her out." Ron laughed. "Then the brother asked me out. That was weird."

"Did you go out with him?" Hermione laughed.

"What do you think?"

"Oh- wow, Hermione's into the older men." said Ron. Hermione flipped him off.

"No, you prat. Of course I didn't go out with him." she said, as she dragged him into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Hermione looked around for the twins. The twins were there. They were counting money behind the register. When they saw Ron, their faces brightened.

"Ickle Ronniekins." greeted Fred. "Who's the hottie?" he asked, referring to Hermione.

"Do not call me hot." said Hermione, as she took off her hat. Fred's eyes widened.

"I knew I should've kept you to myself." he joked. Hermione shuddered.

"Ill. Aren't you engaged?" she asked.

"Of course he is." said Angelina. "But…he's allowed to flirt with whom he has no chance at getting." Hermione laughed and hugged Angelina. "So… I hear you're a healer now." Hermione nodded.

"Yeah."

"Well- what are you doing?"

"Krys and I are working on a project."

"Who's Krys?" asked Alicia, as she came out and hugged Hermione.

"Harry's cousin."

"Oh." said Angelina. "Listen- I have to get back to work, but it was really great seeing you again." Hermione nodded, and they hugged again. Alicia hugged her also, then she walked off with Angelina. Hermione looked at Ron, who was talking to Fred, George and an handsome, yet unfamiliar face. She walked over to them.

"… you should probably leave-" started George.

"Yeah- I know." said Hermione. "I've been telling him the same thing."

"Do you even know what we're talking about?" asked Ron. Hermione shook her head.

"Of course not. I felt left out." she said. They all laughed.

"We were just about to go out. Do you want to join us?" asked the unfamiliar man. Hermione looked at him.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked. He nodded.

"I know it seems strange, considering we haven't been introduced- but, I'm Nathan." he said, as he stuck out his hand. Hermione shook it.

"Okay- where is '_out_', and who are '_we_'?"

"Ron, Fred, George and I were about to go to the Three Broomsticks." said Nathan. Hermione looked at Ron.

"You were about to ditch me?" she asked. Ron shook his head.

"I was about to ask you." he said.

"That's quite alright, you fibber." teased Hermione. She looked at Nathan. "Um… I don't go anywhere with strange me, unless I'm with my Cookie."

"We're not strange 'Mione." said Fred. Hermione glared at him.

"I told you- never call me that." she said dangerously. Fred nodded. "You are actually quite strange." They all laughed. "Listen- I'll see you later. Have fun."

"Hermione." called Ron. Hermione looked at him, and he jogged over to her.

"What happened?"

"Um… where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go home to rest, then change, then I'm going to Cookie's house."

"Which one?" joked Ron.

"The one in California." Ron nodded.

"Okay- I'll see you later." he said. Hermione nodded, and he kissed her cheek. Hermione blushed slightly.

"See you later. You guys too!" she said, before she disapparated.

Review... I want to hit 30, people. I shouldnt be so generous with these updates, since I'm not getting what I want.


	5. Just Like Old Times Part II: Krys

The same day…

Krys got out of bed at 3 pm. She was wearing Bugs Bunny boxers and a matching t-shirt. She went to the bathroom and started to brush her teeth, when the door knocked. She walked to the door and opened it. Ares stood in the doorway. She shut the door in his face. Krys went to the bathroom, finished brushing her teeth, and washed her face. Then she went back to the door and opened it. He was standing there with his hands in his baggy khaki pants. He wore a blue button down shirt and he looked really preppy. His hair was cut low, and he looked unlike himself, except he still looked _beyond_ sexy, with the toothy grin that he grace her with. Krys gave a mix between a groan and a whimpering sigh.

"How do you know where I live?" she asked, as she looked down.

"A.J and Harry." he said.

"Well-…what?" she asked rudely, as she looked up. He smiled slightly.

"Um- can I come in?" he asked.

"Not happening." she said. He nodded understandingly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize… for everything."

"No apology needed."

"No- everything that Kay and Emily said was way out of line."

"No- see, you don't have to apologize, because _I_ don't _care_. I don't like your fiance _or _her friend- so I don't really give a fuck. Who you _need _to be apologizing to, is Jason." Ares sighed.

"Krys- if it was me and you, and you wanted me to choose a best man, I would've chosen who you wanted me to." he said. Krys laughed sardonically.

"I _absolutely love, _how you think this is about _me _and you- I love it."

"Well- isn't it?"

"You have _quite _some ego. The fact that you think I spend my nights thinking about you, is completely sad. The fact of the matter is, I don't just spend my nights thinking of you. This has _nothing_ to do with me and you- I'm not even in this."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Its really fucked up that you have to ask that. How long have you know Jason?"

"My whole life." said Ares.

"Okay- _exactly_. You _really _need to get your priorities in order. He's what- two _weeks _and a _day _older than you. You guys have been together for twenty years."

"She's my fiance-"

"_He's_ your brother. And you and Jason may not be blood- but, that doesn't matter worth a damn, in _his _eyes at least. Remember what you told me? During the summer we spent together?" Ares shook his head. "You told me the exact moment when you and Jason _really_ became family. You said that when you found out that your dad left, you and Jason were 3 years old. You were with Jezzie in a park… and your mother told you guys. Jason pulled you aside and said, 'Ares, don't worry. We can share my dad.'" By this time, Krys was outside the door.

"Krys- its no big deal." said Ares.

"Tell that to Jason."

"Krys- if it was back then, and you wanted-"

"_Stop _saying that. You _really _don't know me, if you think that I'd _make _you choose someone that _I_ wanted for best man. And lets just note this. I'm Krys-… at one point, I was_ your_ _Bunny_. And in those few months, I _never _would have asked you to choose me over _any _of your family or friends. The fact that you can choose a woman you've known for less than _three years_- over a _lifetime _of friendship, is all hazy to me."

"I'm not choosing her over Jas-"

"And the fact that you brought that up, is _really _shitty."

"Krys- I'm not-"

"But what's craziest, is that you _are _choosing this woman over Jason. And- I _know _that if she can cut _Jason _out of your life, she can _definitely _cut me out. And- if she's cutting people out, I am undeniably at the top of the list."

"Krys- I wou-"

"Just remember- girlfriends- even wives and fiancés come and go… but- in your life, Jason is forever."

"Krys-"

"What?"

"I came to tell you that I told her. Jason's gonna be my best man." said Ares.

"Why are you telling me this? I don't care." Ares chuckled slightly.

"I just came by, because I was wondering if you wanted to hang out." he said.

"I can't."

"Krys-"

"I'm spending the week with Thai." she said. He nodded understandingly. "I'm about to pick her up."

"Can I come?" he asked. She shook her head. "Why not?"

"Well- I don't like you." she said. He chuckled. "I'm not joking."

"Krys- I'm sorry." he said. She shook her head.

"See- you don't have to apologize to me. I'm not your girlfriend, I'm not your homey, I'm not your sister. We basically have no ties."

"Krys- you're my best friend." said Ares.

"Really?" she asked. He nodded.

"Really-"

"Okay… so, if I'm your best friend, like you say. Why did you let your fiancé and her little _crony_, say the shit that they said to me- last night _and _at brunch?" Ares didn't say anything. "Yeah- best friends." she said sarcastically.

"Krys- I'll make it up to you."

"No need." she said, as she was about to close her door.

"Krys- why are you so mad?" The door shot open.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked. "Okay- the first time I met your fiancé, she insulted me _and _my dead parents. Yesterday- she insulted my best friend… then she said that, because it would look _cute _for spouses to walk down the aisle together- _Jason_ shouldn't be _your_ best man. Tell me, why _am_ I so mad?" she asked.

"Krys- can't you just forgive me?" he asked.

"Oh- I can…I'm just not so sure I want to." she said softly. He nodded understandingly, then started to walk away. When he got to the elevator she groaned. "Dude! Kingie!" she called. Ares looked back. She waved him over. "Come on. Come on." He smiled, and walked back eagerly. She opened her door and he walked in. She waved him over to the couch. "I have to take a shower. Then- I have to pick up Thai from New York. You wanna go?"

"Yeah- I'll go with you." he said. "New York is supposed to have fire arcades." Krys laughed, then walked to her bathroom. She took a shower and washed her hair. This time, she used her special mix of conditioners. She walked out of the bathroom in her robe, then went to her room. She picked up a pair of black slacks and a dark blue fitted t-shirt. She wore her blue on black uptowns. Krys put on a black and blue fitted hoodie, and jeans jacket. She put in her leave-in Pantene conditioner, and her hair fell into silky ringlets that hit a little bit past her shoulder. She put her wallet in her hoodie pocket, and walked into the living room. "Well- don't you look like Kryssie Rodriguez." he said. She rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "I think I can cross the street just fine, Krys." She laughed.

"Side along apparation. You don't know where Thai lives." she said. He laughed, then held her hand. When they popped into Thai's house, Dread-Head and Razzie jumped up. "Hey guys." said Krys.

"Hey Monster." said Dread-Head. "Hi Ares."

"Hey Kryssie." said Razzie. "Hi Ares. Kryssie, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry- I thought you should get used to it." said Krys. "So where is that terrible child of yours?"

"She's in her room." said Dread-Head. Krys gave him the rock on sign. "Don't corrupt my daughter."

"You didn't tell her I was coming, did you?" asked Krys. They both shook their heads. "Good." said Krys, as she dragged Ares to Thai's room. Krys knocked on Thai's door. The door whipped open, and Thai's eyes widened.

"Krys!" she said, as she hugged her tightly. Thai pulled her into the room, and slammed the door in Ares' face. "What are you doing here?"

"Ouch- fine. I'll leave." said Krys, as she walked to the door. Thai pulled her back.

"Don't be stupid." she said. "I ju-"

"No talking. Go take a bath and get dressed. We're leaving."

"Okay." said Thai. Krys waved her hand and a pair of pants and a fitted t-shirt, stood in front of Thai. "Thank you." she said, as she walked out of the room and to the bathroom. Krys left the room, and went back to where Razz and Dread-Head were.

"Where are your other horrible children?" she asked.

"James is in his room, and Angel should be back from her play date any minute." said Razz.

"Angel has friends?" asked Krys. Razz, Dread-Head, and Ares laughed. "No- I don't mean it like that."

"It's a little girl from her Spanish class." said Razz. Ares looked at her. "They have classes that teach children different languages. I taught Thai Spanish, but- that was too damn hard. Angel said that she wanted to learn _Japanese_." Krys laughed.

"Maybe you should've sent her." she said.

"I will. I just think that its necessary to learn Spanish. Especially where we live." said Razz. Krys smiled.

"Maybe I'll try to learn Japanese." she said.

"When I looked into it, they said that its really hard." said Dread-Head.

"I'll bet… well listen, as much as I love talking to you guys- alright, I'm not gonna lie. I don't want to talk to you guys anymore." said Krys. Ares, Dread-Head, and Razz laughed. Krys walked to James' room and Ares walked behind her. The little boy was playing with a toy Lamborghini that Krys got him. Krys crouched down, and opened her arms.

"Krys." said James, as he got up and ran to her. Krys hugged him tightly and picked him up.

"Jamie." she said. "How's my Jamie?" she asked, as she kissed his cheek multiple times. She let him down, and he smiled. Ares walked over to James.

"Hey, Little man." said Ares. James looked at him, then Krys. Krys nodded, and James waved at Ares. Ares shook his head, and made a fist. The difference between his fist and James' hand, was big. Ares told James to make a fist, and gave him a pound. Krys watched them, then went to the living room where Dread-Head and Razz were.

"Okay… so what's going on?" asked Razz. "I mean, with you and Ares." Krys looked at her, then Dread-Head.

"What makes you think that something's going on?" she asked.

"Well- we'll call it woman's intuition." she said. "But- I can see it because I have eyes."

"Nothing is going on. We dated for like, seven months in my senior year. He's getting married now. What's going on with _you_?"

"What do you mean?" asked Razz. Krys gave her the 'I'm not dumb' look. "Okay- I haven't told the kids yet, but- I'm pregnant." Krys' eyes widened.

"Oh my God. Yay." she said. Razz laughed.

"I feel a little self conscious." she said. Krys looked at her.

"Why?"

"I'm old."

"Yeah- you kind of are." teased Krys. Dread-Head held his chuckles.

"No I'm not." said Razz.

"See- no your not- you're only thirty-three." said Krys.

"How did you know?"

"That you're thirty three?" Razz nodded. "You had Thai when you were seventeen."

"So- Monster… what are you and Thai going to do?" asked Dread-Head.

"I don't know. She might be my date to a wedding. She might not. We'll most likely go shopping and… party." said Krys. Razz laughed and Dread-Head looked at Krys. "Dread-Head- I'm not gonna screw up your kid. We'll be going to Europe on a regular basis."

"That sounds nice." said Razz. "I always wanted to go to Europe."

"Where in Europe?" asked Krys.

"Italy."

"I have a house in Italy. If you wanted to go spend a week- or a weekend there, you can." Razz laughed.

"Yeah right. Go spend a weekend in Italy." she said.

"Why not?" asked Dread-Head. Razz looked at him.

"Its impulsive." she said.

"Just do it Razzie. Once this new baby is born, you're not going anywhere." said Krys. Razz looked thoughtful.

"We need to-"

"No worries. I'll pay for the tickets." said Krys.

"Krys- I can't ask you to do that." said Razz.

"You didn't. I offered. Plus- its all an excuse to take your kids."

"Okay- but when?"

"Um- its gonna have to be soon. I'm leaving soon."

"Where are you going?" asked Dread-Head.

"I'm going back to Healer training. I only came back to see Ares get married and see the kids."

"Well- what about this weekend." said Razz.

"Okay- I'll book the tickets. Don't worry about anything."

"Where's the house?"

"Milan."

"Jason honey, we picked a really good person to take care of our kids." said Razz. Krys laughed.

"Okay- I'll see you guys later." she said, as she walked into James' room. Ares was reading to him. Krys smiled from the doorway. "Uh-oh, you guys are having too much fun without me. What's going on?" she asked, as she sat on James' couch. Ares looked at her and smiled.

"Krys, James likes Hotwheels, just like you." said Ares. Krys laughed.

"Well-, Jamie and Angel, are coming to my house in a few days." she said. Ares looked at her. "We'll have to go to Toys R Us."

"Am I invited?" he asked.

"You'll probably be married by then."

"Listen Krys, I really am sorry about what they said." he said. She smiled and nodded.

"I know you are. But, I'm not."

"Emily is- she's just- she's into appearances. I can't bear to tell her that I turned down the job in France." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Why did you turn it down?" she asked.

"I missed you guys." he said. Krys nodded understandingly.

"I know what you mean." she said, as she took James from him. She started to rock him. "I need to do my laundry."

"You do your own laundry?" asked Ares. Krys nodded. "I always thought that you got it sent out."

"Ms. Banes used to do it for me. But- when I was younger she taught me, and whenever I went home, she would let me help her. I mean- I have to get a lot of outfits dry cleaned but, the outfits that don't need it, get done by me."

"Oh-"

"Guys, I'm ready." said Thai. Krys put James down, and kissed his cheek.

"I'll see you soon, Jamie." she said, as he kissed her cheek. Ares gave James a pound, then followed behind Krys. Thai was wearing a white fitted t-shirt and tight light blue flare jeans, with white uptowns. She wore a white belt with an eagle buckle, a white hoodie, and a light jeans jacket. Her hair was in a ponytail and her lips were pink and glossy.

"Thai, your pants are too tight- go change them, young lady." said Krys. Thai rolled her eyes and walked towards her room. "_La Bonita_- **I was just kidding**." Thai walked back.

"I know. It would've been rude if I didn't listen." she said. Krys laughed.

"Good to know you listen, Dude." she said. Thai chuckled.

"I've missed you, Krys." she said. Krys smiled.

"That's good to know. 'Cause I've missed you too, Ta-Thai." she sang. Ares watched how they interacted, and watched Krys. Thai caught his eye and raised her eyebrow. Ares looked away. They walked into the living room. "So… tell Angel that I miss her, and that I'll see her later." said Krys.

"Yeah- tell Angie that I love her." said Thai. "Bye mommy. Bye daddy."

"Bye Dread-Head. Bye Razzie." said Krys.

"Bye Jason. Bye Razz." said Ares.

"Dude- we're going to my house in California." said Krys. She grabbed Thai's hand and disapparated. They landed in the foyer. Thai smiled at Krys. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." said Thai. "I want to meet his fiancé." Krys looked at Ares.

"Trust me… you don't." she said. Thai laughed.

"She's not bad." said Ares. "She's a bit overprotective and a bit high maintenance."

"Ares- she's about to make you buy her a wedding dress for $5,000. $5,000 that you don't have."

"Well- I have three thousand." he said.

"And where are you getting the other two thousand?" asked Thai.

"I'll get a muggle job." he said. Krys looked at him.

"You _only _have a sixth grade education- and that's because you went to school early." she said, as they got into her room. Ares groaned and plopped on her bed. "Thai, go to your room." Thai rolled her eyes and left. "RICTUSEMPRA!" yelled Krys. Ares started to move, and twitch.

"Krys- take it off!" he yelled. She looked at him.

"You gonna stop bitchin' and moaning?" she asked.

"Yes- now take it off!" he yelled.

"Finite Incantatem." she said. He stopped moving.

"Your tickling curse makes people feel like they're dying." he said. She shrugged.

"There's a simple solution to this problem." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"What is it?"

"Friends." she said. He looked at her for a minute.

"I can't ask you to do that, Krys." he said. She smiled.

"Would you do it for me?" she asked. He looked thoughtful for a minute.

"Okay- hold on. You're asking me, if I would buy you a wedding dress to marry a man that wasn't me? Or if I would buy your fiancé a tuxedo- to marry you?" he asked.

"The second one. Would you buy my fiancé a tuxedo, to marry me?" she asked. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The truth?"

"Always a good place to start." she said.

"If I'm being completely honest… then, no. Well- yeah, hell no. I wouldn't." he said. Krys laughed and got up.

"Well- I guess I'm just a better friend than you are." she said. "Lets go."

"Go where?"

"To get the dress." she said, picking up her car keys. He looked at her.

"Um- you're not serious." he said.

"I am. I know where it is, I know what she wants, I know what size she is." she said.

"Krys- you don't have to."

"Its my wedding gift, to you." she said. He raised his eyebrow. "It's a nice dress."

"Um… Krys, you sure?" he asked. She nodded.

"I'm sure that it's a nice dress." she said. He laughed. "Come on, _Loverboy_. Lets go." He got up, and followed her out of the room. She knocked on Thai's door. "_La Bonita_- **you coming**?" Thai opened the door.

"**Where? Where are you going**?" she asked. Ares looked at them, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"**To get the dress. You want to come**?" asked Krys. Thai looked at her.

"**You're not going to pay for it, are you?**" she asked. Krys shook her head. "**You're not going to help _him _pay for it, are you**?"

"**Its only two thousand. Its not that much.**"

"**So- you're saying that you _want_ to pay two thousand for it- not only are _you_ notwearing it, but- you have to _watch _him _marry _her in it. Is that what you want? To see him and that girl get married in a dress that you helped pay for**?" asked Thai. Ares' eyebrows furrowed, as he tried to figure out what they were saying.

"**You know that's not what I want.**"

"**Then what do you want?**"

"**To see him happy. Its my fault that this is happening anyway. This is me making amends.**"

"**Then do what you want. I just don't want to see it.**" said Thai, before she tried to close her door. Krys stuck her foot in it.

"**Little girl, you're really being a hypocrite**." said Krys. Thai scoffed.

"**How**?"

"**When you wrote Angel, the love of you life a letter, telling him that his dream girl liked him. That finally gave him the confidence to ask her out. You did that to make him happy. That's what you wanted.**" said Krys.

"**Just like you're doing everything that you can to help him marry some bitch- that doesn't even like you. You're helping to pay for her dress. Hell- the devil Krys, you just need to stop, and remember that you can have him back in a second. I don't know what's wrong with you. You act like you need her to like you.**" said Thai. Krys shook her head.

"**I need him to know that I'm okay with it**."

"**But you're not**."

"**_He _doesn't know that**."

"**Everybody else does**." said Thai, before she closed her door. Krys looked at Ares, who still looked confused.

"What was that about?"

"**Thai is just being, Thai.**" said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"What?"

"Oh- sorry. Thai is just being, Thai. Lets go." said Krys, as she walked down the stairs. Ares followed after her. She hopped in the silver Porsche. He got in, and she put the top up.

"Where's _your _car?"

"They're over there." she said, pointing at a line of cars. "My dad bought me a car on my sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth birthday. I found that one for my eighteenth birthday in the back. It had a big red bow with my name on it."

"Krys, you don't have to do this if its causing trouble between you and Thai." said Ares. Krys looked at him, with her eyebrow raised.

"What makes you think its causing trouble with me and Thai?" she asked. He chuckled.

"I'm not stupid." he said.

"That's contentious." she said jokingly. Ares glared at her playfully.

"Don't start." he warned. She chuckled. "All I'm saying is-"

"Shut up. I'm doing this for you. You need the dress, and I can get it for you. That's what friends do." she said, before she started the car. They drove quietly for a while. Krys took her hands off the wheel, and started searching through the glove compartment.

"Krys- please." said Ares, in a falsetto voice. She sucked her teeth, then started to hold the wheel again. She took one hand off and started searching for something in the glove compartment. Then she groaned, and pressed a button on the radio. A computer screen popped up in front of Ares.

"Go to 'Krys' selection'." she said. He looked at her weirdly. "On the screen in front of you. I can't find the remote."

"Couldn't you have done this by magic?"

"Yeah- but the remote and the computer make a cool clicking noise, when you press it." she said. He chuckled, then looked on the computer screen. "It's the one with a Stargazer lily next to it."

"Oh." he said, as he pressed it. The song 'That Girl', by Alexz Johnson played.

'You said you didn't need me (But you did)

You said you didn't want me (But you do)

Its kind of like a comedy

Where first you kiss me

And then say we're through

I say you've got some issues (Yeah you do)

Some things you've got to work through (Really do)

Its kind of like a talk show- no wait a freak show

When the freak is you

I'm the smoke from your fire

I'm that guy you can trust

I'm the cord from your guitar

I'm that girl you can't shut up

I'm the blood you might need

In the car way in your speed

In that cigarette you breathe

You can't get rid of me

You said I wasn't funny (When you laughed)

You said I couldn't drive fast (They you crashed)

Funny how it works out- with your big mouth

You'll always get it back

You thought you had me worked out (You're not deep)

Misterus grew a boust (ha ha ha)

At best you could've confessed

That you're a big mess

And that you're so damn weak

I'm the smoke from your fire

I'm that guy you can trust

I'm the cord from your guitar

I'm that girl you can't shut up

I'm the blood you might need

In the car way in your speed

In that cigarette you breathe

You can't get rid of me

But I still try and justify

Try to let this die

We'll never say goodbye I can't wait

I'll rub it in your face

Dressed in pretty

I'll send you home, to cry

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

I'm the blood you might need

In the car way in your speed

In that cigarette you breathe

You can't get rid of me

Yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha (X2)

You can't get rid of me'

The song that played after that was 'Criminal', it was also by Alexz Johnson.

'I wont deny

I faked it

Don't wanna lie

I'm jaded

I wanna scream

When inside, I'm breaking out

I've left the stone

I was under

I'm running home

You wont find her

She walked alone

All through this, broken down

Going the wrong way down a one way street

Where the feeling is criminal

Nobody helps me out when I believe

Just look, look

Looking for someone like me

Where the feeling is mutual

Can anybody see what I see?

Cause I don't see me-'

"Okay- I'll stop playing that, because you seem not to like it." said Krys.

"Well- I don't. But- its not that its bad… its just that, I'm a guy." he said. Krys laughed. "What are you laughing about?"

"I was about to say something, but- it'd sound offensive." she said. He looked at her. "I was about to say that you weren't guy."

"Ouch."

"Not really- I was gonna call you a _man._"

"What's the difference?"

"Guy is a word that's now used to address both sexes. Man, in my eyes, is a male that does what he needs to, in order to take care of himself and family." she said.

"I didn't. I left them."

"And went to school, so that you could get a job." she said.

"Something that I don't have." he said. Krys shrugged.

"Neither do I." she said.

"But you have money."

"And a pedigree, in _both_ worlds. But so do you and, that doesn't matter." she said. "We're here." She parked in the parking lot and they walked to the boutique. "They have like four dresses in there total, but- that's what makes them so special. We'll see if they have the dress, and if they don't… I'll call in a favor." she said, before they walked in. There was one woman at the cash register, and another making dress alterations. Krys sat down, and pulled Ares into the seat next to her. A woman came out from the back and walked over to them.

"Can I help you?" she asked nicely. Krys smiled.

"Yes, thank you. I'm looking for the newest Donna Karen wedding gown." she said. The woman nodded.

"What size?" she asked. Krys looked at Ares, then thought for a moment.

"A size two." she said. The woman nodded, then looked at Krys.

"Um… would you like to try it on?" she asked. Krys shook her head.

"Um- no thanks."

"Oh- you really should try it on. The dress will most likely need alterations."

"Krys- just try the dress on." said Ares. Krys looked at him, and the woman smiled.

"Then its settled? You'll try it on?"

"Sure… why not." Krys said monotonously. The woman took her hand, and led her to a dressing room. A minute later, the woman brought the dress into the dressing room. Krys put it on and groaned. She waved her hand over her body, and she had the body type of Emily. She walked out of the dressing room and the woman smiled. Ares had his back turned to her. The dress was ivory. The bodice was strapless. It was lacy and bejeweled. It was a princess skirt that was puffy. The outer skirt had golden mesh over it and the stitching that separated the skirt and bodice was all gold.

"Come on, we have to make those alterations." said the lady, as she pulled Krys onto the platform. Ares turned around, and stared. Krys was looking up at the ceiling, and groaning. Another woman came out of the back.

"Ava, here's the tiara. Oh- _this_ is the bride." she said, as she looked at Krys. Then she looked at Ares. "Is he the groom? Isn't it bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" she asked, as she walked over to Krys. "What would the dress be without the tiara?"

"I don't know." said Krys, before the woman put it on her head.

"You make a beautiful bride." she said. "So- when are you guys getting married?"

"We're not. I'm not the bride." said Krys. The woman looked at her questioningly. "This is a gift to him and his fiancé."

"Oh- then why are you getting alterations made?"

"We're the same size. Same body type." said Krys.

"Oh. Well- I'm Angela." she said.

"Hi Angela. I'm Krys." said Krys. Angela smiled, then moved up to Krys some more.

"Now- I can say that his fiancé is so lucky. He is _gorgeous_. Beyond gorgeous." she said. Krys laughed, and looked at Ares.

"He's alright." said Krys. Ava and Angela looked at her weirdly.

"Yeah- alright." said Ava. Krys laughed, and her cell phone started to ring. It was Hermione.

"Yeah Dumpling?" said Krys. "Peanut- if the books will help the study, then get it. Oh- just get some stuff that you want…No- I didn't get you anything…Get some stuff…….I'll put it back in the account…I love you too. See you." Ares walked over.

"What's going on?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"Nothing. So… can't wait to get Emily in and _out _of this dress, huh?" she asked, as she wiggled her eyebrows. He looked at her weirdly.

"You were always perverted." he said. She laughed.

"No I wasn't. _You _were the perverted one. Then- that September, you got all sensitive on me."

"I didn't get sensitive. I got sweet."

"Which means gay-" Ava and Angela laughed.

"I became understanding." he amended. She nodded.

"You did." she said. "And you were great."

"Thank you. You were pretty amazing yourself."

"Oh- sweetie." said Krys, as she looked at him. "I was beyond amazing." Ares laughed.

"I'll give you that." he said.

"Are we done, Ava?" Krys asked. Ava pulled back and smiled.

"You would make a beautiful bride." she said. Krys smiled.

"Thank you. But- I'm never going to be a bride." she said.

"Sure you will." said Angela.

"Who's going to want to marry me?" asked Krys. Ava and Angela smiled.

"Oh please- you'd have a stalker if my little brother ever met you." said Angela. Krys laughed.

"You know- I'm freaked out that you just said that." she said, before she walked back to the dressing room. She took off the dress and put her clothes back on. When she walked out, she handed the dress to Angela, and turned to Ares. He was looking at her. She grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the cash register.

"Krys, altogether… its $5,097.23." said Angela. Krys took out her credit card, and gave it to Angela. "Credit or debit?"

"Debit." said Krys. Angela handed her a receipt.

"John Hancock." she said. Krys signed the receipt, then Angela handed her a medium box, and a large box. Ares carried the big box, and Krys carried the small one. They walked to her car and put the boxes in the backseat. They drove in silence for most of the time. Ares finally broke the silence.

"Thanks Krys." said Ares.

"No _problemo_." she said. He smiled. "How the hell did that dress cost $5,000?"

"I don't even know." said Ares. "I just wanna make her happy." Krys smiled slightly.

"Yeah."

"So…" he started.

"So… what?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know. I was looking for something to talk to you about. There was always something to say when we were younger." he said. Krys nodded.

"That's because I used to be talkative." she said. He laughed. "Loquacious, chatty, gossipy, garrulous, voluble."

"Too damn much." he said. She huffed and sped up. "Um… I'll pay you back, as-"

"Did I say anything about that?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her.

"No, but-"

"But what?"

"I just figured that it'd be uncomfortable with you buying the dress for Emily to wear." Krys shrugged.

"I didn't say anything about it, so don't bring it up. I offered. Plus- think of it as my wedding gift to you."

"I wouldn't feel right."

"Ares-" He looked at her. "About before, you and Jamie." she said. He nodded encouragingly. "You really don't want kids?"

"What do you think?" he asked. Krys scoffed.

"No need to get rude." she said jokingly. He chuckled and shook his head slightly.

"I didn't mean it like that." he said.

"I know. I just wanted to say that." she said.

"You haven't changed." he said.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked.

"What do you think?"

"Ouch."

"Its not a bad thing." he said.

"Oi." she said. He laughed.

"Well- aren't you going to put on the music?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No- I have to think- cause, I have to book plane tickets on my computer, when I get home." she said.

"You don't have a computer." he said. She nodded.

"Yeah, I do. I have a laptop and there's a library, with a library system in my house." she said. Ares looked at her.

"So- that means that I haven't been in every room."

"I don't even think _I've _been in every room." said Krys, as she parked in her driveway.

"So- your house is basically a mansion." said Ares. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said, before she hopped out of the car. She walked to the house with Ares following behind her. She walked to the kitchen and hopped on the counter. Chocolate and chocolate cake whizzed through the air and set itself in front of her. She started digging into the cake. Ares walked into the kitchen.

"What're you doing?" he asked her. She looked up, with her mouth full of cake. Ares put his hand over his mouth and looked down. He hid his laughter with a believable cough. He walked over to her and hopped on the counter across from her. "You look like a chipmunk." Krys continued chewing, then finally spoke.

"Shut up." she said, before she fed him a spoonful of cake.

"Okay- so where are you getting cake from?" he asked after he ate it. She smiled.

"Ms. Banes still makes it for me." she said. He nodded. "So- where are you staying?"

"My mom's house."

"You missed it, huh?" she asked. He nodded.

"I did. But now, I'm kinda just looking for excuses to leave." he said.

"Why?"

"Tia Lauren. She's been bugging me about something since my first day back."

"I like her. She's nice to me." said Krys, as she ate some cake.

"Yeah- well, you're one of the only people she's nice to." he said.

"Yeah, whatever." she said, as she shoved another spoonful of cake in his mouth. He chewed it, then smiled slightly.

"I've missed this." he said. She looked up at him and their eyes locked. After what seemed like forever, she closed her eyes and looked down.

"Dude, we should go play air hockey." she said. Ares laughed.

"The last time I played air hockey, was the week tha-… yeah, we should play air hockey." he said, as he hopped off the counter. He turned around, and Krys hopped on his back. "Krys, why are you on me?"

"Because I'm too damn lazy to walk." she said. He laughed, and walked to the game room. Her eyes widened when she saw the air hockey table. She hopped off of his back. "Dude!" she yelled, as she ran to the table, and hopped on it. Ares laughed, and walked over to the table. He sat on it across from her. She smiled at him.

"This is why you have so many friends." he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"You're cute about certain things." Krys shook her head.

"No- you can only be popular if you're outgoing. If I weighed like two hundred pounds more, had horrible acne, no shape, was dumb and shy as hell, with absolutely no power- nobody would even speak to me. People don't really like me, they're just afraid of me. I have friends, because of fear." she said.

"That's not true. I always liked you." he said. She smiled. "Remember our first day of classes?" She looked thoughtful, then laughed.

"Yeah- that was when I became unpopular." she said. He nodded. "But you still liked me, didn't you?" He nodded. "You'd make a great father." she said out of nowhere.

"It doesn't seem like that's going to happen." he said, before he looked down. Krys smiled and scratched his hand.

"Look at me." she said. "Look at me, Ares. Look at me." He looked up. She smiled at him. "Dude- she'll come around. Do you know why she doesn't want kids?"

"Nah, she just said that she didn't want her body to go to waste." he said. Krys laughed, and he looked at her.

"Sorry. Just- adopt, if you want. Find a surrogate mother. There are a lot of things that you can do… you deserve to be a father."

"Okay- when did you get sensitive and _womanly_?" Krys looked at him.

"I've never been sensitive or womanly."

"Yeah- you only look it." he said. Krys looked at him again.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." she joked. He laughed. "So- what's going on with the wedding? Did she and Kay come up with any new ideas?"

"She wants us to write our own vows." he said. Krys nodded.

"That sounds nice." she said. Ares shook his head.

"No its not." he said.

"Why not? Thingy says that it's a nice thing for couples to do. I guess its so nice because… it's a way for people to express the way they feel about their significant other." she said. Ares looked at her. "Bon-bon told me that."

"I figured as much." Krys nodded. "What's with that Bon-bon thing?" She laughed.

"Lift up my shirt." she said, as she took off her jacket and hoodie. She started to pull the bottom of her shirt up. "Pull it up." Ares started to lift the bottom of her shirt. "Okay- look at the bigger lily."

"What am I looking for?"

"The name _Cookie._ Bon-bon and I are tattoo buddies. The wing of her butterfly says Bon-bon and my lily petal says Cookie."

"What do the rest of these mean?" he asked as he touched some other Greek letters and symbols. Ares started to touch the outline of her lily petal. When he got to his senses he pulled away, then sat on the table again. Krys sensed that the situation was awkward.

"Well- why isn't it nice to write your own vows?"

"Because, I have no idea what to write about her." he said. Krys looked at him. She was wearing a pensive look.

"Write all the little things that you like about her. Only the little things." she said. Ares looked at her and nodded. Krys waved her hand, and paper and a pen whizzed through the air. She took it up, and sat Indian style on the table. "So- what little things about her make you crazy?" Ares looked thoughtful.

"She's very…" he started. Krys looked at him.

"Very…" she coaxed, as she rested her head on her knee.

"When she…"

"What?" she asked, as she looked at the blank sheet of paper. "What about her, makes you go crazy? Like- a good crazy. Whether its her hair… how she does it sometimes… you know."

"Where's Jason?" he asked. Krys thought for a moment.

"He and Harry are hanging out, while Ginny and A.J have a girls night. They're in their apartment." she said. He nodded.

"You think we can chill tomorrow?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah- just come by. You still have a key, right?" He nodded.

"Yeah- I have to go." he said.

"Okay- I'll see you." He nodded then disapparated.

O0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0o

Ares popped in the apartment. Jason and Harry were lounging and playing videogames.

"I have a problem." said Ares. He was given their attention.

"What happened?" asked Jason, as he gave Ares a pound. Ares started to pace after he gave Harry a pound.

"Okay- so, I'm with Krys, and she does everything so… Krys like." Harry and Jason start to hold their chuckles. "So… we're talking about the wedding. And I tell her about the vows. So- something _made_ me ask her about the Bon-bon and Cookie thing that she and Hermione do."

"She showed you the tattoo." said Jason. Ares nodded frantically.

"Yeah she shows me the tattoo- and I see the others. All these goddamn memories came back… when we made l- sorry. But, it just brought back all the good times and-"

"You to want to go back to her." said Harry.

"No." said Ares sternly. They both looked at him.

"Why not?" asked Jason. "You've never been able to resist Krys before."

"Well- did I specify how brutally she dumped me?" asked Ares.

"No- but do you know why she dumped you?" asked Jason. Ares looked at him and Harry.

"Why did she dump me?" he asked. Jason and Harry looked at each other.

"Not my business." said Harry.

"Mine neither." said Jason.

"Okay- listen to this. One day, we're in love- inseparable. I bought her a ring- you guys went with me- I was going to propose marriage! I still have that goddamn ring- the ring pisses me off to no end. I spent ten thousand dollars on that ring. She dumped me. I can't keep going back to her. She literally ripped out my heart and stomped on it, in front of me. I am _not_ gonna keep going back to her." said Ares. Jason and Harry nodded.

"Then why are you here?" asked Jason. Ares looked at him.

"I don't know." he said, as he disapparated. He landed in the garden of Krys' house. He started to walk around the fountain. When he looked at the lily section, he smiled.

_Flashback_

Krys and Ares sat in her house after they got back from the basketball court.

"So- where is Stephanie?" asked Ares. Krys laughed.

"What, are you missing your girlfriend?" she teased. Ares glared at her playfully. "I kid. I kid." Ares laughed. "She's flying in tomorrow night. I sent her the tickets through Ms. Banes."

"Come on." he said, as he took her hand.

"Where are we going?" Krys asked, as Ares pulled her up.

"Trust me?" asked Ares. Krys looked at him.

"I saw this in a movie once. It was with this woman." she said.

"What happened?"

"The man took her away. He was an evil demon lord from the fiery pits of hell, and he took her there and chopped her up, then set each piece on fire. Is this anything like that?" she asked jokingly. Ares laughed because her face was completely serious. "I don't hear you denying it."

"Just trust me." said Ares, as he looked at her.

"Whatever." she said, as she walked with him. "Gimme my hand- I gotta pick out a wedgie."

"If I'd have asked you all of that- I would've said okay. But- I didn't. So, I'm not going to say okay." Krys smiled.

"I was joking- I don't get wedigies." she said.

"Thong?" asked Ares suggestively. Krys looked at him.

"Ill- don't make me gag. Plus- it'd always be a wedgie. I don't get the point of a thongs anyway. I wear boy shorts."

"_Very_ nice-"

"Lets not start a conversation about my panties." Ares laughed. "I'm serious."

"So- what about bras?" asked Ares. "And anatomy?"

"Remember when you weren't this perverted?" said Krys. Ares laughed but didn't speak. "Thank God you're back, I missed it."

"Wow."

"Why lie? I mean- I loved it when you were all sexy sweet- but, the pervy side was always just, you know." Ares covered Krys' eyes and walked behind her. "So- you're doing the sensitive pervy thing- a mix. Very original, very cute."

"Krys, shut up." said Ares, through his laughter.

"You know- I've had bad experiences with the whole _eye covering surprise_ thing. But- I trust you."

"This is a little surprise for you." Ares said, as he took his hands off of her eyes. Krys smiled at the sight before her. She was in the garden, by the fountain. Ares was sitting on the edge, and patted a side next to him. Krys walked over and sat next to him. Their seat was the perfect view of all the lilies.

"How'd you do it?"

"I asked Harry. There is no pollen anywhere near this garden." said Ares. Krys looked at him and smiled. Then she got up.

"Dude- lets come back here later. It always looks better at night." she said. Ares nodded, then took her hand. Krys led him to the pool. "Can you believe that we graduated?"

"No." he said. Krys went to the edge of the pool.

"I always forget to check. Is the pool heated?" she asked. Ares looked at her.

"You live here." he said.

"That doesn't mean that I know." she said.

"Well- we'll find out." said Ares, as he grabbed her around the waist and jumped in the pool. Krys shrieked before they both hit the water. Krys surfaced, then dunked Ares' head under water again, as soon as he surfaced. When he surfaced again, she glared at him playfully.

"You tried to drown me? I knew it was just like the movie." she said, as she started to shiver. Ares smiled, and moved her hair out of her face. Krys raised her eyebrow.

"You look good wet." said Ares. Krys smiled.

"You are such a pervert." she said. Ares laughed.

"No I'm not." he said. Krys nodded.

"You are." she said, as she swam to the stairs. "And you ruined my sneakers."

"I apologize."

"I don't want that. What the hell is the apology doing for me? Anyone can say sorry. Show me how sorry you are, damn it." she said, as she smiled slightly. Ares swam over to her.

"I'll bake you a cake." he said. Krys smiled.

"You can't bake." she said. Ares nodded.

"Yes I can." he said.

"Oh. Um, sure. I'll let you bake me a cake." she said.

"You have to help."

"Sure." said Krys, as she walked up the pool steps, with Ares behind her. They were both dripping wet. Krys turned to Ares. "You have to take off your pants."

"So that we don't drip on the floor." he said.

"Sure… that sounds smart." said Krys. Ares laughed, and took off his shirt. He handed it to Krys, who had her hand over her eyes.

"You know you want to look." teased Ares.

"Shut it, sissy virgin boy." retorted Krys, as she peeked through her hand. Ares laughed dryly, then took off his pants. He dumped them on Krys' head, then walked into the house. Krys performed a drying spell on herself and the clothes, then walked in the house after him. Ares looked at her.

"You just wanted to look at me, didn't you?" he asked.

"You know it." said Krys, as she set his clothes on the counter. She looked at his body, then blushed, when she realized that he was watching her. Krys tried to play if off, and threw his clothes at him. "You're wearing the boxers I got you." Ares looked down.

"Oh yeah." he said, as he looked at the black boxers with blue boxing gloves on them. "They remind me of the day you punched me." Krys looked at him.

"Hey- I made it up to you tenfold to the power of a hundred."

"Yeah whatever." said Ares, as he put on his newly dried clothes. Krys smiled and walked over to him. "You ready to make the cake?"

"Sure whatever, Loverboy." she said, as she hopped on the counter. Ares stood in front of her, as her legs were swinging at either side of him. "This is a suggestive position."

"You know what'd make it even more suggestive?" asked Ares.

"Do I want to know?" she asked. Ares chuckled lightly, then tucked her hair behind her ear. Krys smirked softly, then raised her eyebrow.

"You want to know." he whispered, before he leaned in and placed his lips softly on hers. Krys made a small squeaking noise, as Ares softly caressed her lips with his. Krys lightly grazed his bottom lip with her teeth as she pulled back. Even with her eyes closed, she still wore a thoughtful expression. Ares placed his hands on her waist and picked her up. Krys wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, as she leaned her head on his shoulder. Ares carried her to her room and laid her down on the bed. Krys looked at him, then pulled him down into another kiss. He leaned his knee on her bed and laid down on top of her. He pulled back and looked at her, as he started to pull her shirt off from the bottom. He slid the shirt off of her to reveal her black half coverage bra.

"What are we doing?" asked a panicky Krys. Ares smiled slightly.

"What do you think?" he asked in a low husky voice, as he kissed down her neck to her breasts. Krys laughed sardonically.

"Yeah- no we're not." she said, before she squealed. She pushed him away lightly, then started to put her shirt back on. "Know why? Cause- the other two times- no. I get the first time. I- the second time, you blew it."

"Okay- lets think about this." Ares said in a squeaky voice. "Stephanie called me- I said that Stephanie was calling, then I was about to kiss you again. You pulled away and told me to help Stephanie. You're the one who pushed me away." Then he hopped off the bed.

"You are suck a dick!" yelled Krys, as she tried to throw a book at him.

"And you're a bit- you're such a- you're insane!" he yelled, after he dodged the book.

"Fuck you." said Krys, as she threw Prongsie at him. "You can take your goddamn stag- and shove it."

"What about you? You'll be missing me when you're in here alone later."

"Okay- sure. Why don't you go fuck with Stephanie, you cunt!"

"Bye!" yelled Ares, as he left the room. He waited outside her door for a few minutes. After punching a few walls, he knocked on her door, then barged in.

"That sort of defeated the whole purpose of knocking but- come in." said Krys. Ares sat down at her bed.

"I'm sorry." he said. Krys looked at him.

"For what?" she asked.

"Everything. Almost calling you a bitch."

"Its okay. Not like I care anyway."

"No- its not okay." he said, as he touched her face.

"That's kinda what makes it okay." said Krys softly. "Because you know that its not."

"I don't want to pressure you. I am sorry."

"See- this has nothing to do with sex. You've never pressured me. I've been ready and we've had our moments. This has everything to do with the fact that- it seems like everything we did today was supposed to lead to sex. It just seems to me, that you didn't do the whole garden thing, because you wanted to get back together- you did it because of sex." Ares rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "And- that's just kinda- just a little shitty with a smidgen of fucked up on top."

"Okay Krys. Lets just remember who showed up at your school when you were in the hospital wing, twice. Just like I showed up for your Graduation Ball- and Graduation. I had to listen to some dude talk about how much he liked you. Going to meet my friends at the court. Me turning down Ashley. If I didn't make it completely clear that I want to get back together then, I don't know how else to do it."

"You only did that because you felt guilty."

"Guilty for what?! Oh, you mean because I dumped you- oh, sorry, that was you! So, you mean guilty for pushing you on another person- oh, my bad, you again!" yelled Ares. "Yeah- you dumped me, you pawned me off on your cousin, then you got mad. I don't get it. What do you want?" Krys looked at him.

"To know why." she said softly.

"Why what?"

"Why _do_ you want to be with me? I don't get it." she cried. Ares walked over to her bed, kicked off his shoes, then laid down next to her.

"Well- I love you." he said, as he took her hand in his.

"Why? I don't see what you supposedly see in me. I don't get it." Ares looked thoughtful for a minute. "And- I'm being stupid, and whiney- and I hate needing the reassurance, but I do. I- I just don't get it. And its not like I'm asking this because I think its romantic and shit- because… I just don't get it.

"Remember when I first met you?" he asked. Krys nodded. "When we thought you were a guy. You were just this guy that I would probably be friends with. Then it was time to change our clothes and you left. You came back as a girl with a short skirt, a nice fitting shirt, untied tie around your neck- your hair was done and you were like this illusion. As soon as you got into the compartment, I had this whole personality picked out for you. I thought that you were this stuck up, pureblood girl that got whatever she wanted. I thought that you were from this perfect family and you were the only child. I figured that you were just rude, dumb, bitchy, mean and materialistic. Then you spoke." Krys chuckled slightly. "And we found out who you were. Then everything changed again. And- the whole time we were hanging out, you changed my opinion of you. Then, at dinner, you started to eat your cake- and how you acted was just… cute and adorable. Then later that night you told us about your life- and I felt so stupid. I basically misjudged you to the full-"

"Ares, I'm a rich pureblood that gets whatever material object that she wants." said Krys. "I'm also an only child."

"But you don't live for the money." said Ares. "But- I love you because you never cease to amaze me. I mean- everyday I speak to you, I learn something different about you. I love that you're afraid of Chicken Run, and that you watch more cartoons than a five year old. I love that when we talk, you come up with the most random _useless_ facts. I find it completely adorable that you still sleep with Snuffles every night. I can't get over the fact that your clothes are baggier than mine, and that you're absolutely adorable in anything that you wear. I love that you're carefree yet obsessive compulsive. I love that you brush your teeth about ten times a day, and that you eat an entire cake over the course of a day. I love it that you speak like every important language, and that you can beat me in a fight- duel- football game." Krys laughed, and he kissed her hand, and each finger. "I love that you're a crazy driver, and that if you're not listening to music in the car, you have road rage. I like it that you know almost everything. I think its sexy that you can't cook at all, and you're a candy fiend. I love it that my mom loves you more than she loves me. I love it that you're bittersweet and that you don't invade my personal space. I like that you watch One Tree Hill, like there's nothing else to do. I like that you have to be forced to wear a dress, and that you're not afraid to curse me out. I love that you tease me about calling my mom _mommy_. I love that you can't dance, and that you wiggle your nose and ears. I love that you still do the hokey pokey and sing Lamb Chop. I love that you throw away every ham sandwich that I ever attempt to eat, and that you made me stop eating pork a long time ago. I love that you're the sexiest weird nerd that I ever met. I love that you have more videogames than a Japanese virgin, and I love you. Is that good?" Krys was biting her lip and looking at him. She nodded slowly. "You gonna speak?" She shook her head. "Afraid that you'll ruin the moment?" She nodded. Ares shook his head. "You can't ruin the moment." Krys nodded. "No you can't." She nodded again.

"I can ruin any moment." she said. Ares laughed. "See- I just did it." He shook his head. "Okay- get out." Ares looked at her.

"_That_ ruined the moment." he said. Krys nodded, and started to push him off the bed.

"Just leave. Don't talk." she said. Ares nodded, then left. He walked to his room and sat on his bed. He leaned over to the nightstand and started to eat watermelon Jolly Ranchers. After he ate about twenty, he laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Some time later, he was broken from his trance by a knock at the door.

"Come in." he called. Krys walked in. She was wearing a button down jeans dress that hit just above her knees.

"Why aren't you dressed?" she asked. "I kicked you out like… over an hour ago."

"I thought that kicking me out meant _I don't wanna see you right now_." Krys smiled and walked over to him.

"And I thought you knew me through and through."

"You're complicated." whined Ares. Krys laughed and took his hand.

"Get up." she said, as she started to pull him. He got up and she looked at him. "Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Cause it's a surprise."

"You're not gonna take me somewhere and kill me, are you? I saw this in a movie once." he mocked. Krys rolled her eyes then smiled slightly.

"Do you trust me?" she asked. Ares smiled, then closed his eyes. Krys pulled him around corners, and up stairs, then stopped. "Open your eyes." Ares opened them. They were in a big room with a fireplace and a big bed. The ceiling was thick glass, and it showed the stars. Ares furrowed his eyebrows. Krys gently pulled him to her. "I-um- _wow_, this is hard. Um- oi… when I was younger- no, that's not working. Okay, I don't know what to say-"

"What are you trying to say?" asked Ares.

"That I love you." said Krys. "And that I want to be with you." Ares nodded.

"Okay- the message got across." he said jokingly. Krys chuckled nervously.

"I want it to be here. And I want it to be with you." she said softly and tentatively. Ares looked down at her questioningly. "My first time. Wow- this conversation is embarrassing." said Krys, as she started to walk to the door. Ares pulled her back and kissed her. When he pulled back, he picked her up.

"I've been waiting for you for so long. And now, here you are. I love you." he said. Krys took a deep breath and nodded nervously.

"I- I love you too." she said. Ares laid her down on the bed gently. Krys pulled him down on the bed with her. Ares started to kiss Krys gently at first. But once they started to get into it, Krys became more and more rough and demanding. Ares pulled back and looked at her. He started to unbutton her dress. Under her dress Krys was wearing a lacy pink bra with matching boy shorts. Ares smiled at the sight, then started to kiss Krys again. Krys pushed him back, then got on top of him. She leaned down and kissed him gently, as she ripped his shirt open.

"So we're really gonna do this?" Krys put her finger to his lips.

"I'm trying to use and abuse you." she said, in a hushed tone. Then she started to take off his pants. She leaned down and kissed him roughly. Ares turned over and started to kiss down her neck, as he took off her bra. He pulled her close to him, as he kissed her up her neck and to her ear.

"Don't worry." he whispered, his hot breath on her ear. "I'll be gentle." Krys nodded nervously, as he helped her out of her boy shorts………………………………………

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"Are you okay?" asked Ares. Krys nodded.

"Just a little… sore."

"I'm sorry." Krys shook her head.

"Don't be." Ares kissed her cheek. "So… Prongs and I are gonna go to Disneyland to celebrate graduation. What do you wanna do?" asked Krys.

"I think we just did it." said Ares. Krys laughed.

"Flirting."

"Do you regret it?" asked Ares, as he and Krys lie in bed under the covers. Krys looked at him, then took his hand.

"Dude- if I'd have known… I would've done that a while ago." she said, as she wiggled her eyebrows. Ares slightly reddened, then laughed.

"Does this mean we're back together?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"Oh- cause I give it up to everybody. Do you want to be back together?"

"We all know the truth."

"And that is?"

"I've been using you for your agility and flexibility."

"Good to know." said Krys, before she kissed him. After they broke apart, they just stood there.

"I love you, Bunny." Ares said softly. Krys looked at him.

"Bunny?"

"Yeah- can I call you Bunny?"

"Why?"

"Because you're sweet, and worth protecting. Its very weird that I don't mean it in a sexual way… I'm saying it because I really would do anything to protect you." Krys looked at him again.

"How long have you been practicing that?" she asked. Ares smiled.

"I read the _bunny_ part in some book about two weeks ago." he said. "I've been waiting to say that for about two weeks. But the protecting you, was all me."

"I think I lent that book to A.J."

"That would explain why it was weird and mushy."

"I am anything but mushy."

"You put on this weird, little tough girl, independent act, yet…you're sweet-" he kissed her neck- "and lovely." - he kissed the next side of her neck, after moving her hair- "and I inexcusably adore you."

"Did you just say that you inexcusably adore me, sissy-no-longer-virgin man?" Krys teased. Ares nodded. Krys wrapped the sheet around her body, then hopped off the bed, leaving Ares on the bed in his boxers. She looked at him, as all of her hair spilled to one side. "Am I still _lovely_?"

"Actually- you're _the most annoying_- yet _adorable_ thing, I've ever met in my life." Krys laughed sweetly, then hopped back over to the bed.

"You're really gonna turn me into one of those loser girls aren't you? You know-" she started, but Ares shut her up by kissing her. When he pulled back, Krys looked at him. "You liked Ashley when you were younger, didn't you?" Ares nodded.

"Yeah. But- we were twelve and she played a lot of games, even then." he said. Krys laughed, then sobered down drastically.

"She's really pretty." she said. Ares shrugged. "I mean… modeling, tall, big everything pret- sexy."

"Are you still interested in me?" Ares joked. Krys laughed. "Sure she is. If you're into that classless, tight style… then, she's pretty enough." he said. Krys looked at him, and he was smiling. He started to kiss her neck. "You may be small, Krys, but every _inch_ of you is sexy. And- I've been hung up on you for as long as I care to remember." Krys smiled.

"You are such a loser." she said jokingly. Ares pulled away and laughed.

"I bear my soul and get feistiness?"

"Bunnies are feisty."

"One of the reasons that I love you, Bunny."

"I actually like it. Makes me feel cute."

"You are adorable. And I adore you. Especially in that dress from yesterday." Krys laughed.

"Back to Ashley." she said. Ares groaned, then sat up, and started to wrap the sheets around both of them.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Did you like her when we were in school together?" Ares looked thoughtful.

"Um… no. I mean- I would come back every summer and she would throw herself at me. I think its because I was hung up on you."

"So… nothing ever went on between you two?" Ares shook his head.

"No." he said. "So… what do you want for your birthday?"

"Are you trying to change the subject?" Ares nodded. "Oh wow. You're lucky that I like you. I want… a 5'11, Hispanic male subdivision Puerto Rican, hazel eyes… eighteen years of age, seeking frumpy Bunny." Ares laughed.

"Are you talking about me?" he asked. Krys nodded. "You want me for your birthday?" Krys shook her head.

"No- now, tomorrow, the day after and forever." she said.

"Mmm. That can be arranged." Ares said, before he kissed her. When he pulled back, he looked at her, then kissed the tip of her nose. "And you're not frumpy, you're beautiful." Krys opened her eyes.

"You think I'm beautiful?" she asked. Ares nodded.

"Every feature. Everything about you." he said.

"No, I'm not." Krys said softly. Ares nodded.

"You are. Everything about you. Even though you're crazy. Even though you're angry. Even though you're vengeful and sometimes a little scary, you're still beautiful. You're soft and gentle, sweet and sexy, delicate and gorgeous… you're smart and funny, and you're compassionate, you have a conscience… and… the most important thing… you have a _very_ nice body." Krys laughed.

"You're terrible." she said. Ares nodded. "But, I am wonderful. Just- the looks department-"

"Krys. I want you solely for your looks and body." Krys laughed. "All that crap about your personality… it wouldn't be as good if you didn't look like this." Krys smiled. "Who's gorgeous?"

"You are." said Krys. "With a very nice chest." Ares laughed. "You make it seem like I'm joking."

"I love you, Bunny."

"I love you too, Kingie."

"Tell me something that you've never told anyone. Something that only Harry would know." She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I used to want to be a Phoenix." she said. He smiled, clearly amused.

"Why?"

"They can fly. They can heal. Being in Phoenixtear- I learned that Phoenixes are-. They're the most magical birds in the world. But- I don't want to be a Phoenix anymore."

"Why not?"

"A Phoenix will never die. It'd kill me watching everyone around me die. Harry, Ginny, A.J, Jason, Hermione, Ron, Thai……….you." she said softly.

"If you're a Phoenix, I'm a Phoenix." he whispered in her hair. She sighed.

"Tell me something that you never told anyone." she said. He stood silently for a while.

"I used to be jealous of Jason."

"Why?" she asked.

"You were always flirting with him. I thought you liked him- until sixth year." Krys laughed. "You asked for a secret, I told you one."

"I was always flirting with you. What other boys did I straddle, while playing tickle torture?"

"I don't know. A lot?" he said. Her eyebrows shot up.

"No- and especially not when we were fifteen." she said. He laughed. "Hold on- you were about to kiss me, that day- with the favor- Ailen?" she asked. He smiled and nodded. She groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "We could've avoided a lot of confusion, if you'd have told me." she said.

"What about you?" he retorted

"Forget that-. About the Jason thing. How do you feel now?" she asked him. He smiled.

"I'm not jealous anymore. He has _A.J_. I thought he had _good_ taste." he said jokingly. Krys chuckled and looked into his eyes.

"Say what you're thinking." she said, a soft smile gracing her lips.

"A.J is my favorite girl in the world." he said tentatively. She smiled.

"And you omitted that part, because…?"

"Ailen had a temper tantrum when I told her that. What happened to her?"

"You've told me that before. And I'm not Ailen. I would never expect you to choose me over your little sister, or any of your other family."

"Really? What about when we get married?" he asked. Krys raised her eyebrows.

"You say, '_when_', like, you proposed and I said yes." she said cheekily.

"You will." he said softly.

"Oh really?" she asked. He nodded.

"Really."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, your friends love me. Professor Lupin likes me. So does Headmistress McGonagall. Harry likes me. Your godchildren like me. Their parents like me. I mean- I'm cute, funny, smart and sexy. What's not to like?" he asked.

"You forgot to mention, extremely modest." she said, with a smile. "Trust me- they don't like you as much as you think." He chuckled.

"I beg to differ. See- they like me so much, that it's a shame. Think about it, how are you going to follow through with your post adolescent rebellion, if your whole family likes me?" he asked. She looked at him.

"How do we fix that?"

"I think that you should marry me." he said. She looked at him, skepticism etching her features.

"Really? And that'll help my rebellious situation? If they like you so much, won't they be happy?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know. But- I know that it'll help me."

"Are you trying to get me into bed?" she asked. He nodded and she broke out into laughter. "Well- you've already done that."

"I love you, I love you, I love you." said Ares. Krys smiled.

"If we don't leave the bed soon, I'm gonna get bedsores, well unless we're active." she said, with a wink.

"And I suppose you think that because we did it once, its always on the menu." joked Ares. Krys looked at him.

"Well- yeah."

"Oh okay, I just wanted to be sure." he said, before he kissed her.

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When Ares woke up at 1 pm, Krys was still lying on his chest. Ares carefully rolled out of bed, trying not to wake her. He went to the bathroom, took a shower, and washed his face, before he walked down to the kitchen.

"What to make for my Bunny?" he said, as he walked to her cake. He got a platter, and set it up with cake and juice, then went back to the room. Krys was still sleeping. Ares smiled, then kissed her eyelids. Krys made a small moaning sound, then her eyes fluttered open. She woke up wearing a pout, then smiled once she saw him. Ares kissed her cheek, then went to give her the platter. Krys rolled out of bed, then crawled to the bathroom. When she walked out an hour later, she was wearing boxers and a t-shirt, and her hair was in silky ringlets. She walked to the bed, and snapped her fingers. The bedspread changed, to silky dark blue sheets. The comforter was black suede with many throw pillows with metallic sapphire blue stitching. Krys plopped back in the bed, and buried herself under the comforter. Ares walked over to her, and gently shook her. "Come on, Bunny. Are you mad at me?" Krys peeked out from the comforter, and shook her head. "Are you bored with me?" Ares joked.

"Of course not." said Krys.

"She speaks." Ares said dramatically. Krys smiled.

"I love you." she said.

"I love you too." Krys smiled, and kissed his cheek. "In fact, I love you so much that I went all the way downstairs to cut cake for you."

"Oh really? Oh God, what can I do to thank you?"

"You'll think of something." Krys nodded.

"I will." she said.

"So what's wrong with you? Are you okay?" Krys nodded. "So, what was with the big chunk of silence?"

"I'm exhausted." said Krys.

"Why are you exhausted?"

"Well- if I remember correctly, we did it like, six times last night."

"Oh, I remember. See- most girls think the guys are using them for sex, but- that's what makes our relationship so special. _You're_ using _me_ for sex." Krys shook her head.

"No, its just really good." she said. Ares blushed slightly. "Oh- are you blushing?"

"Come on." Ares said, as he picked her up.

"No. I just wanna lie in bed. With you… without garments." Ares laughed.

"Wow- I have to say that your tactics are priceless and very enticing. Honestly, your subtlety… is very sexy." he said. Krys smiled, and bit his cheek. "And so is that mouth of yours. The way the words sound when they come out… the way it looks… the way it tastes- and the way it feels when I do this." Ares said before he kissed her. Krys slowly moved her lips with his, before Ares squeezed her. Then his tongue plunged through her slightly parted lips. Krys slowed it down, with a hundred light pecks on the lips.

"Does that mean I'm getting some tonight?" Ares laughed.

"You need help." he said, as he let her down.

"You need me."

"I do." Ares said, as Krys pulled him to the bed with her. Ares straddled her, and started to tickle her stomach.

"Off of me." Krys said between fits of laughter. Ares shook his head, and pointed to his cheek.

"Kiss." he said. Krys turned up her nose.

"Ill. You have cooties." she said. Ares pouted. "Nope."

"Fine then." Ares said, as he continued to tickle her. Krys laughed.

"Stop stop." she said. Ares puckered his lips, and Krys gave him a light peck. Then she wiggled from underneath him, before she crawled over to the carpeted area. Ares followed her, but Krys tripped him, then straddled him. "Doesn't feel good, does it?"

"Actually, it feels incredible. Move a bit to the right." said Ares. Krys laughed. "Hey, you wanna get the tattoos today?" She nodded.

"Yeah… you wanna go now? Now that we're both up and clean. You know- before I get lazy. Or we retire to the bed." she said. Ares laughed and poked her stomach lightly.

"Are you gonna get off of me?" he asked. Krys looked thoughtful, then rolled off of him. Ares kissed her cheek, then got up. Krys stuck her hands up, and Ares pulled her up. Krys looked at him, then snapped her fingers. Ares was dressed in a thin green and brown hoodie, with a matching fitted cap. He was wearing baggy, light blue jeans, and beef and broccoli Tims. Krys was wearing black hip hugger, boot leg jeans and a fitted black hoodie. Her hair was straight and her bangs were to the left. On her feet were a pair of all black snakeskin airmax. She was wearing her usual white gold studs, with her white gold cartilage bar. She was wearing her white gold name chain with blue sapphires in every 'I' and around the swerve under the name. On her wrist was her 'daddy's little girl' bracelet and on her finger, was her name ring. Krys turned to Ares who was watching her intently. "You don't have to do this for me, you know." Krys turned to him, her face was scrunched up and she looked thoughtful.

"You don't like it?" she asked. Ares shook his head frantically. "You don't."

"No, of course I do. You look beautiful. You always look beautiful. I just- I don't want you to change for me. You know- dressing up and shit. When you dress in your baggy clothes, I remember that I'm the only one its for." Krys smiled.

"Who says I'm dressing up for you? Quite an ego, you have there." she joked. Ares quirked an eyebrow.

"You're not dressing up for me?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"I kinda just want to show you off… and- I want to look good for you." she said.

"You always do." Krys looked at him. "You _always_ do."

"Okay. I just didn't want to seem like the frumpy bunny with the man candy."

"Man candy?"

"Well- you look… good. And you make the less attractive"- _Krys gestured to herself_ "look good." Ares kissed Krys' temple and put his fitted on her head.

"Whatever- lets go." he said, as he took her hand.

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When Krys and Ares got to the tattoo parlor, Krys immediately dragged Ares to the wall of success. The wall was covered by the best tattoo jobs that were done by the parlor. Ares looked at Krys, and gently pushed her against the wall. He leaned down and started to kiss her, before she gently pushed him back.

"I don't like PDA's." she said. Ares nodded, and looked around. "Oh- Taylor's right there." Krys pulled Ares with her to Taylor, and Taylor looked at her blankly. Krys was wearing Ares' hoodie and fitted. Krys pulled off the fitted cap, and Taylor still didn't get it. "You have got to be kidding me." Krys said. Taylor looked at her for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"Krys." Taylor greeted. "I have never seen you like this." Krys shrugged. "I heard about your dad. I'm so sorry." Krys shook her head.

"I'm good." she said. "How'd you hear?"

"Well- I saw a story about it, in the Inquirer. They went on this crazy story about how your dad was supposed to take over a company. Then, I saw a picture of you, with… who is _this_?" Taylor asked, looking at Ares like he was a piece of meat.

"_This_ is Ares." Krys said, as she looked at him. "Ares, this is Taylor. She's a tattoo artist prodigy. She's an artist. And she is wonderful. Taylor, this is Ares. He's my best friend." Ares looked at Krys.

"Is he single?" Taylor tried to ask in a whisper. Ares leaned against the counter and looked at Krys.

"Yeah, Krys. Am I single?" he asked. Taylor looked at him, and started to twirl her hair. Ares looked over his shoulder and winked at Taylor. Then he turned around, and moved the hair she was twirling, away from her face. Krys folded her arms over her chest, and walked to the wall of success. Ares followed after her. "What's wrong with you, Bunny?" Krys looked at him like he was stupid.

"If you wanna be with Taylor, or any other woman, I'm not stopping you." she said. Ares nodded.

"Yeah- but, I don't want to be with anyone else. I wanna be with you." he said.

"Real nice way of showing it."

"Why are you such a hypocrite?" Krys looked at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're being a huge goddamn hypocrite-"

"So, you did it to spite me."

"No- I did it, because you need to know that its you. Its you that I want to be with- not her-" he pointed to a random woman- "Or her, her, her, her, or Taylor." he said as he continued to point at other women. "And- I don't really care who hears me say it, or who sees me kiss you, or who sees me wear your name chain around my neck. But- its always been a problem for you."

"No. I'm sorry if I like what we do, to be private, but- I try my best to keep my life private and away from tabloids and paparazzi, which is why I find places like this to go to. What I do with you behind closed doors- it is what it is. Yeah- it's a relationship, but everything that I say to someone -who isn't from school- ends up in the National Inquirer- or Star magazine. And I wasn't aware that I was a star, but- it seems that way now."

"Why are you lying?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him. "I _do_ know you through and through. You're lying-"

"Man Candy Dating Unsightly Heiress. I can see the headline now. I don't want anyone looking at me and judging me. And that's what they do when they see us together-"

"Says the independent badass, that doesn't give a fuck what anyone else thinks."

"Idon't." Krys said. Ares looked at her.

"And why does it matter what anyone else cares, but me, huh?" he asked softly. "Do I have to make you stare in the mirror, before you see what everyone else sees, when they look at you?" Krys looked up at him, and shook her head. She stared at him for a minute, before she pulled him down and kissed him. Krys nipped at his bottom lip, then kissed down his chin. She finally found her way to his neck, and started to bite. She pulled back, and kissed Ares again. This time, she worked with his upper lip. "Mmm." he sounded against her lips. "I like this." Krys started to move her lips in synch with his, as they practically melted together.

"Yeah, me, too." she murmured. Ares' hands were squeezing her ass, and she was pressed up against him. She decided, against her hormones and his, that she should pull away, when Ares started to play with the seam of her jeans. She looked at him, then pecked him about a hundred times more, before she dragged him back to Taylor. Taylor looked at her, and smiled.

"You've got them all wrapped around your finger, don't you?" she asked. Krys shook her head.

"Just take care of him for me." she said. Taylor nodded, and took Ares' hand.

"Jim- take care of Krys for me?" Taylor said to a man in her way. The man nodded, then walked to Krys.

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When they got back to Krys' house, Krys and Ares walked straight to the kitchen after they kicked off their shoes. Ares followed behind her, and put his hands on her hips as he walked behind her. Krys turned around and stood to Ares face to face. Ares lifted her by her waist and placed her on the counter, easily.

"What'd you get?" he asked. Krys looked at him in a playful challenge.

"What'd _you_ get?" she asked. Ares turned his arm, and showed her the bandages on the inside of his forearm.

"Can't tell you. Can't show you." he said. Krys kissed her two fingers and placed them on the bandages. Then she ripped off the bandages. Ares' tattoo was fully healed and clean. "Can show you." Krys looked at the inside of Ares' forearm. There was a short curly ringlet of dark hair hiding a dark blue eye. Then under the eye it had four vertical Chinese symbols. Krys looked at him, after she lightly ran her fingers over the tattoos. Krys pulled back, and lifted her hoodie, then lowered her jeans. Ares looked at her with a raised eyebrow. On the right side of Krys' hip was a detailed shield with an 'a' in the middle. It was Ares' symbol, that he'd drawn on her shoe. Ares leaned down and kissed the tattoo, before Krys wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her off of the counter.

"Our room?" she suggested. Ares shrugged.

"Can you make it that far before you have to have me?" he teased. Krys laughed and shook her head.

"Nope." she said, before she bit his bottom lip. "I love you, Kingie." she murmured against his mouth, before they backed up against the wall.

"I love you too, Bunny." Ares said into her neck. Krys pulled back, and pulled her shirt above her head, to reveal a lacy black bra. Ares looked at her, and exhaled deeply, before he trailed his finger from her neck, to the top button of her pants. He twirled his index finger around her belly button, then he pulled back. Krys looked at him and groaned. Ares smiled, then pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his seemingly hairless, toned chest, and six pack. Krys looked at him, and made a small squeaking noise. Ares placed his hands on her hips, then pulled her close. Krys continued to make the squeaking noises, until Ares pulled back, and started to take off her pants. He looked at the lacy black boy shorts, and groaned. He pulled Krys back to him, and started to kiss her neck.

"Stop teasing me." Krys moaned. Ares gave a shallow husky chuckle, then pulled back again. Krys groaned, then pulled him as close to her as possible. She pulled him down, and started to lightly kiss him, but pulled back whenever he wanted more. She started to play with the elastic of his boxers, before she unbuckled his belt. Without unzipping and unbuttoning his pants, they fell to the floor. Krys started to move closer to him, as he moved back. Finally, Ares tripped over his pants, and fell to the unexpectedly soft and cushy floor. Krys looked at him on the floor, then looked thoughtful. "Okay- so, I could probably tease you…" she looked at his boxers. "Now that I _know_ you're ready." Ares looked at her, and pouted. "Or I could do what I _wanted_ to do."

"Krys, stop playing." Ares said, but he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Krys looked at him, and smirked.

"Um… you know what? I don't really feel like it." she said. Ares playfully glared at her, then sat up. Finally, he pulled Krys down to the floor with him, before they were covered by a nice comforter. Krys covered Ares' mouth with hers, as he unhooked her bra…………….

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"I can't believe you just did that." Krys said, as she and Ares laid beneath the comforter on the kitchen floor. Ares was cuddling up to Krys' chest, and playing with her navel ring. He was blowing lightly on her stomach, causing Krys to shiver.

"Me. You're the one who jumped me." Ares argued, as he drew circles around her navel. Krys laughed and looked at the inside of his forearm again. "You don't like it?"

"No. I love it. Do you like Ares' shield?" Ares nodded.

"Very sexy." he said. Krys laughed, as Ares moved up, and lied down next to her. He touched her collarbone lightly.

"I hate that mole." Krys said.

"It's a beauty mark, for the body." Ares said. Krys laughed. "I want it."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I want it." Ares said, as he traced an invisible circle around the mark. "So now, its mine." Krys smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Then I get the scar." she said, as she kissed the scar on his cheek. Ares shook his head.

"I think I strive to be that mark. It seems like it has the best job in the world. It gets to hang out with you all day, Bunny. The scar, is a goddamn… scar."

"What happened? How'd you get it?" Ares looked at her.

"Me, A.J and, my cousin Jorge, were playing in the house one day. I think I was about ten, and- we were all playing hide and seek. So… he was it. And, something told me to leave from my spot. He had a knife and A.J was in the corner. I guess she thought he was joking, because she didn't run, she didn't even scream. Well- the next thing I know, I was tackling him. And the knife fell to the ground… then he reached over, and he tried to- anyway, he sliced my cheek instead."

"Well- couldn't you get rid of it?" Krys asked. "I can, if you want me to." Ares shook his head.

"I mean- it's the one thing I have, to really remind me that not all family is trustworthy." he said.

"Well- why do you hate it so much?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her and kissed her pouting lips.

"Because that's not how it should be." Krys nodded.

"So… what does it say?" she asked, as she looked at his tattoo. Ares looked at Krys, and moved her bangs from her face.

"Its your hair." He stroked her cheek, and touched the corner of her eye. "That's your eye." He kissed her cheek. "Its your name."

"Is that portentous? Does it mean that you belong to me or something?" she asked. Ares took off her name chain, kissed her beauty mark, and nodded.

"Yeah." he said, as he put the name chain on. Krys smiled, and kissed his scar.

"Good. Because… the shield means that I belong to you." she said. "And I still want the scar." Ares pulled something out the pocket, of his discarded pants.

"You can have this instead." he said, giving her the chain that said 'Ares' Girl' and the bracelet that said 'you have my heart. And now my love'. Krys put them on, then laid on his chest.

"The scar is mine." Krys said. Ares shook his head.

"Can't have it." he said stubbornly. Krys nodded, then bit his chest. Ares laughed. "Okay… I'll consider giving it to you." Krys let go, and looked at him. She shook her head.

"You got the mole… I get the scar."

"No- because if you have the scar, I'll forget all about the reason that I keep it. That's why I don't want to give it to you." Krys pouted, and Ares kissed her lightly. "Stop."

"Come on, Ares. Take all of the energy from the sun, and bring it down." Krys said, as she outstretched her hand, then placed her hand on her heart. Ares looked at her, and laughed. "Filter out the negative energy. Come on, Dito." Ares took her hand, and kissed it.

"Stop bothering me." he said jokingly. Krys shook her head.

"No."

"I don't want to give you the scar, because then it'll turn into a good story. I don't want it to be a good story. I want it to be a bad story that pisses me off. And now… whenever I think about the scar, I'll think of this moment. You robbed me of my bitterness." Krys looked at him.

"Aye Dito." she cooed. Ares laughed. "Okay- here's how I'll make it up to you. It is now… 4:30 pm. Stephanie's coming in about three and a half h-"

"You are not pimping me out to your cousin."

"I wouldn't think of it. I was going to say… I'm gonna start a bath… and _you_ can meet me up there. I'll find some way to make it up to you." Ares looked at her, with his eyebrow raised. "What?"

"You have no idea how sexy you sound right now." Krys laughed. "No, I'm serious." Krys chuckled some more. "And as much as I'd like to do that… I need _food_." Krys laughed, and rolled out under the covers. She only had on her bra and panties.

"Cold- cold floor." she said, as she hopped up. She put on her pants, then started to look for her shirt. "Where is my shirt? Kingie, do you know where my shirt is?" Ares nodded, and held her shirt up. "**Pass it, please**."

"No." Ares said. Krys looked at him. "Just walk around like that."

"This is not the red light district." Krys said, as she folded her arms over her chest, blocking her bra from his vision. He looked at the rest of her body, and smiled.

"You look amazing. You always look amazing." he said, as he got up and walked to her. He was wearing his boxers. He wrapped her up in his arms, and started to whisper in her ear. "I love every inch of your body, Krys. I've done this-" _He lightly brushed his thumb over her collarbone._ "This-" _He lightly kissed her collarbone._ "And this." _He grazed the skin on her collarbone with his teeth._ "To almost every part of your body. Every part, if you want me to. If no one else, trust me, with your body… and your heart." He pulled back, and looked at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she nodded. She smiled slightly, then turned around. Ares slapped her behind, and Krys looked over her shoulder with her eyebrow raised. Her bangs spilling over her eye, causing it to look somewhat like the tattoo- except for the curls. "In my own defense, I couldn't resist… its very nice, not too big, not too small, fleshy, better than Beyonce's… perfect. Like the rest of you."

"If it were anyone else-"

"I know. But- I'm not anyone else. Or anyone _else's,_ for that matter. I'm the Iceman Ares, and I'm your Kingie."

"Yeah, you're mine."

"And you're mine." Ares said, as he walked over to her, and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Bunny. So much."

AN/ whenever I use bold, it's a different language. Its usually Spanish.

_End Flashback_

Ares smiled at the memories, as he looked at the tattoo, then he groaned. He started to bang his head on the edge of the fountain, when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned around and there were two policemen.

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Krys' doorbell rang and she and Thai ran down the stairs. Krys opened the door. Two police officers were standing there with Ares. Krys laughed at the look on Ares' face. He looked more pissed and embarrassed, than anything else.

"Excuse me, Ms. Rodriguez. I am so sorry to bother you… We found this man trespassing on your property. He says he knows you." one of the officers said. Krys laughed and shook her head.

"He wasn't trespassing officer. He's a friend. He has a key." she said. The officers nodded.

"Oh, I apologize." said the officer that was holding Ares.

"Have a good evening, officers." said Krys. Ares walked in. Thai and Krys looked at him.

"This is making me feel really awkward." said Ares.

"So- what's going on? You said you were coming back tomorrow." said Krys. Ares nodded. "But- you didn't say that you'd be escorted by your little police friends." Thai laughed, as Ares glared at them.

"Not funny." he said.

"Did you know that you have a big red mark on your forehead?" Thai asked. Ares nodded.

"Don't ask." he said.

"You still made it seem that you wouldn't be coming back until tomorrow." said Krys. Ares nodded. "What does that mean?"

"I have nowhere to stay." he said. She nodded.

"Okay- well, you could've said that earlier." she said. "C'mon lets go- I'm hungry. Thai Dude- you coming?" Thai nodded and walked to the kitchen with Krys and Ares. They all sat down at the counter while Krys started to eat some chocolate. Krys held some out to Thai.

"Krys- I'm a growing girl."

"Little girl, you have grown more than me in the past two years. You'd better not grow anymore."

"The point is that I need _actual _food." said Thai. Krys rolled her eyes, threw the chocolate at Thai, then walked to the phone.

"You want Chinese or pizza?" she asked.

"Pizza." said Thai, as she ate the chocolate.

"What do you want on it? No pepperoni- no pork in this house, porker."

"I don't eat pork, Krys. My dad would never allow it. Its bad enough that I eat chicken and beef… plus- I have a thing for pigs. I'd feel guilty eating Wilbur." Krys laughed. "Extra cheese." said Thai, as she looked to Ares for conformation. He nodded. Krys looked at them and ordered the pizzas. She sat down across from Thai and Ares.

"Okay- tell me the truth." said Krys. "Why don't you want to go back to your mother's house?"

"I haven't had to be there without Jason, A.J, or you- in ten years." said Ares. Krys nodded.

"Bullshit." she said. He looked up.

"What?"

"What's she bothering you about?" Ares looked at Thai. "Thai, get out."

"**Oh God**- you guys make it seem like your lives are interesting." Thai said, before she walked out of the room. Ares laughed.

"You ever notice how she has the Spanish accent when she's speaking Spanish, but- she has the Jamaican accent too?" he asked. Krys nodded and laughed.

"So- what's she bothering you about?" she asked. Ares looked at her and smiled.

"She doesn't like Emily." he said. Krys shrugged.

"It doesn't matter." she said. Ares looked at her. "Does your mom like her?" He shook his head. "Oh."

"My mom kind of his it planted in her mind that we'll end up together." he said. Krys laughed.

"No wonder your fiancé doesn't like me. She's being compared to me, in everything that she does. Poor girl." she said jokingly. Ares laughed. "So- why don't you stay with Emily?"

"Her mother is a bit-"

"I know. Her mum is a bitch." said Krys. Ares looked at her weirdly.

"I was gonna say a bit much. But, how do you know her mom?" he asked. Krys looked up and groaned.

"You want the truth?" she asked. He nodded. "Back in seventh year, I broke her mothers nose." Ares was still looking at her weirdly. "Oh- I went back in time."

"What happened?"

"Her mother was _my_ fathers last girlfriend, before he started to date my mum." said Krys. Ares laughed.

"So-"

"And Kay's mom was Harry's dad's last girlfriend before Aunt Lily." Ares laughed again.

"That's weird. So- its like me and Ron, are your father and uncle." he said. Krys looked thoughtful for a moment, then she nodded.

"I gotta go- I'll be back."

"Krys what do you mean?"

"If the pizza man comes, give him this." she said, as she put a fifty on the counter. Ares nodded and Krys disapparated.

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"Prongs!" she yelled. Harry and Jason looked up at her.

"Padfoot-" started Harry.

"Ron is dating Kay. Ares is dating Emily. Your dad was dating Kay. Mine was dating Emily. It makes sense."

"What are you talking about?" asked Jason. Krys looked thoughtful for a number of minutes. Then she finally spoke.

"I don't know." she said. Harry and Jason laughed.

"Padfoot-" Harry tried.

"Prongsie- Jason, what am I gonna do? He's there. He's in my house about to eat pizza."

"Pizza!" said Harry and Jason at the same time.

"Yeah- you can come if you want. Why don't you guys come?" she asked. Harry and Jason looked at each other, then nodded.

"I'm hungry." said Harry.

"Me too." said Jason.

"Then lets go to my house." said Krys.

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Krys, Harry and Jason walked in the kitchen, and Thai and Ares were eating pizza. They had their backs turned to them.

"Thai- what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I kinda miss Harry."

"That's only because you had a crush on him." said Krys.

"Well- that was a long time ago." said Thai.

"It was two months ago." said Krys. Thai laughed.

"As long as he never finds ou-"

"Hey Thai." greeted Harry, as he sat on a stool next to her. Thai jumped then glared at Krys, who was laughing with Jason.

"I hate you so much." Thai said. Krys held her heart.

"Ouch." she said. Thai laughed, as they all sat around the pizza. Krys got her chocolate cake. She started eating her cake. "Okay- Thai, what do you really want to do tomorrow?"

"I still wanna meet his fiancé." said Thai.

"Thai- you staying away from the boys?" asked Jason. Thai nodded.

"Yeah. Story of my life." she said. "Hey- Krys, can I invite some friends over?"

"Yeah, when?" asked Krys.

"Tomorrow." Krys nodded.

"It'll give me a chance to neglect you." she said. Thai laughed, and got up.

"I'm gonna go write to them." she said, before she ran to her room. They all looked at Krys.

"So Krys, any new boyfriends?" asked Jason. Krys looked at him.

"You know it." she said. Ares looked at her. "What?"

"You're dating?" he asked.

"What- jealous?" she asked jokingly.

"So, when are you going back?" asked Ares, trying to redirect the topic. Krys looked thoughtful, then started to dig into her cake.

"When are you getting married?" she asked.

"Emily says the next two weeks or so." he said. Krys nodded, then ate a giant spoonful of cake.

"Then, the next two weeks or so." she said, with her mouth full. He smiled. "So… where's Hermione?"

"She and Ron are hanging-" started Harry. Hermione popped out of thin air.

"Bon-bon." greeted Krys. Hermione kissed her cheek.

"Cookie, I am so hungry. I'm so hungry." she said, as she picked up a slice of pizza. "Hey Harry, Jason, Ares." she said, before taking a bite.

"Are you drunk?" asked Krys. Hermione shook her head and started to blush. They all laughed. "You know what I noticed?" They all shrugged.

"What?" asked Ares.

"Its really only me now." said Krys. They all looked at her.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Okay- well, after this. There isn't gonna be much time for this. It'll be Jason and A.J. Prongs, you'll be with Gin. Ares will be with Emily. And Ron- well, he loves you, Hermione. Its gonna be you and him soon enough. I'll be a spinster with like, eight cats, Thai, Jamie and Angel. And- you guys will all be getting married, and having ugly children." she whined. "And then- you're gonna make your kids visit me, even though they don't want to. And- I'll never see you guys again."

"Is that how you think it'll happen?" asked Jason. Krys shook her head.

"No- I just wanted to say that you'd all have ugly children." They all laughed. "I'll see you guys later- the cake is giving me a tummy ache." She walked to her room, and laid down on her bed. Harry popped up on her couch.

"Padfoot-"

"Prongs, I can't stay here. This whole thing… me watching Ares and Emily… its not working for me." said Krys, before she disapparated. She landed in England, in front of Emily's house. She knocked the door and a middle aged blonde woman answered.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to show up so late and to not have called- but, can you call Emily to the door?" asked Krys. The woman nodded, then shut the door in Krys' face. The door opened a moment later and revealed Emily.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked. Krys rolled her eyes.

"You coming to the party or not?" asked Krys. "Where's Kay?" Emily opened the door wider, and Kay stood there. Krys grabbed both of their hands and disapparated. She ended up in her kitchen. Everyone looked at them. "I brought the pretty girls to the party." She grabbed Thai, then walked to the game room.

"Which one?"

"Blondie with the nose." A.J, Ginny and Hermione walked into the game room.

"That is the bitchiest woman that I've ever met." said Ginny.

"Yeah- Emily is no Kryssie." said A.J. "I want you to be my sister in law, Krys." Krys shook her head.

"A.J, your brother loves Emily. Plus- the way we broke up was a bit-"

"He doesn't know the truth." they all said in some form. Krys smiled.

"I didn't even want _you_ guys to know the truth. But listen- its not his fault. And if we're all friends here, the secret will be kept." said Krys, before she disapparated. She ended up in her kitchen. They all looked at her. She looked at Ares and mouthed, 'dress'. He smiled and nodded. Krys waved her hand and the two boxes started to whiz through the air. They placed themselves in front of Ares. Krys sat down and crossed her legs.

"Emily… open it." said Ares. Emily looked at him, then opened the box.

"Oh my God! Kay- he got me the dress."'

"Actually-" started Ares.

"He had to borrow my car and drove all over to find it. I guess it was really hard to do." said Krys, before she hopped up and walked to the refrigerator. She got some ice cream and a big spoon. She set it on the counter, then went to her stash. She picked out an abundance of candy, then sat on a stool. She started to pour M&M's in the ice cream. Krys placed the chocolate frogs on the counter then crushed them with a spell. She poured it into the ice cream, then looked at it with wide eyes. "Yum yum." she chanted, then started to eat. They all looked at her. She wiped her mouth. "Yes?" Ares and the boys had to contain their laughter.

"I have to show the dress to mother." said Emily, as she and Kay disapparated. Krys started to eat her ice cream again. The boys were still laughing at her. Krys took a big spoonful of ice cream and threw it at Ares. He stopped laughing immediately, as soon as the ice cream plopped on his head and shirt. Krys smiled at him, then took another spoonful and threw it at Harry, then Ron. Jason was the only one laughing, and that stopped as soon as Krys got him. They all glared at her. She seemed completely unfazed.

"So- where are you staying?" Krys asked Ares. He continued to glare at her. Krys got up and put the ice cream back in the freezer, then sat back down. "You know- I'm a bit sleepy." She got up and tried to walk out of the kitchen, before they all started to chase her. Krys got to the stairs, then stopped. "No, no- stop it." she said, as she walked up the stairs backwards. The guys all laughed. "See- that's what got you guys in this mess in the first place."

"No- you being _crazy_, is what got us in this." said Ares. Krys gave him the finger.

"I'm not crazy. I'm eccentric." she said. Harry, Ron, and Jason shook their heads.

"No, Padfoot- you- you're crazy." said Harry.

"Yeah Krys, you're just a little- a little crazy." said Jason, measuring with his thumb and index finger.

"Eccentricity is not what I'd use to describe you." said Ron. Krys laughed.

"You guys are mean." she said.

"I have ice cream in my hair." said Ares.

"Well get over it, Nancy boy." taunted Krys, as she slowly walked up the stairs backwards. Ares was the only one that was still following her. The two didn't even notice when Jason, Ron, and Harry left. "You don't want to keep chasing me around."

"If I get to catch you, then kill you- I want to keep chasing you." said Ares. Krys smiled.

"Why would you want to kill me?" she asked.

"You got ice cream in my hair and on my shirt."

"But- is it really worth not having me in your life? I mean- would you _really_ want to kill me?"

"If it was a spur of the moment thing, then yes. If I had time to think about it like I now do, then no."

"So- why are you still chasing me?"

"Because you got ice cream in my hair."

"Get over it, sissy virgin boy."

"What's going on with you calling me that?"

"Hermione and I decided that that's a good way to break a dude's spirit."

"Me being that _dude_?"

"No- you and Ron being _those_ dudes." said Krys. Ares nodded understandingly, but continued to walk up the stairs.

"Well- why exactly did you throw ice cream at me?"

"Would you get over it already?" asked Krys. Ares shook his head. "Well- why not? You've done worse things to me."

"Name one." said Ares. Krys shook her head.

"You don't want me to." she said. Ares nodded.

"Name one. Go ahead. If you have one, name one."

"The day you dumped cake batter down my bra." said Krys.

"That was different."

"How?" Ares looked at her.

"You _know_ how." he said. Krys closed her eyes and put her finger up.

"I apologize for throwing ice cream at you." she said.

"Not working."

"Then I can't help you anymore." said Krys as she got to the second floor. She continued to back up. "Why don't you go wash the ice cream out of your hair?"

"Because that won't make me feel much bette-"

"You'll be clean." said Krys.

"But- the satisfaction of having gotten you won't be there." said Ares. "Say you surrender."

"Never." said Krys.

"Then I'll continue the chase." said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"Do your worst." she said. Ares laughed, then ran after her. Krys ran around the corner, then to the third floor. She ended up in the room that she wanted to be in the least. Ares followed her in there, then caught her around the waist, before dropping her on the bed. He started to tickle her. When he realized where they were he stopped immediately. "Throwing ice cream is a _bad_ thing to do." Krys said, before she rolled off of the bed, and walked to the door. Ares looked at her. "A very bad thing." Ares laughed, then looked around the room. It had a big bed, a fireplace and the ceiling was made of glass.

"This place hasn't really changed." he said, as he walked around.

"God, don't make the walls start to talk." said Krys. Ares looked back at her, then lied on the bed. He patted a space next to him. Krys walked there slowly and sat down.

"Are you gonna lie down?"

"Need I remind you what's happened each and _every_ time that we '_lied down'_ in this bed?" Ares laughed.

"I'll take that as a no." he said. Krys rolled her eyes and lied down. "Just try not to jump my bones."

"You're such a dick." said Krys, as she playfully punched his arm.

"You said the same thing the first night, Bunny." said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"Must you be a jackass?" she asked.

"That's what you love about me, Bunny."

"No, no its not. And don't call me Bunny."

"Then what was it-"

"I'm not that comfortable discussing it in this bed."

"Well- we can't really discuss it in any room of the house, excepts for your dad's. Because if I remember- we have memories in your bathroom, kitchen, living room, game room, car, Disneyland, your roo-" Krys laughed dryly.

"Shut up." Ares laughed. "So… um- this is awkward." she said. Ares nodded.

"It is." he said nonchalantly.

"Where are you staying?"

"Well- can I stay here, if its alright with you?" said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"Um… sure." she said. "I- um, I gotta go. I gotta- sleep."

"What, you're not gonna stay in here with me?" Krys looked at him.

"You are such a jackass." she said, as she smiled slightly.

"That wasn't what I asked."

"No, I'm not staying with you."

"Okay." said Ares. Krys got up and walked to the door.

"Jackass." she said.

"Psycho." he yelled back. Krys laughed, then went to her room.


	6. A Day With The Guys

When Krys woke up at 12pm, she smelled food. She went to the bathroom, took a shower and picked out her clothes. She chose blue slacks and a sapphire blue halter top. Her belt was black leather, with blue swirls all over it. She wore a black cotton spandex sweater, with blue stitched cuffs, bottom, and collar. The collar stuck straight up and the zipper was blue. On her feet were her sapphire blue airmax. Krys waved a hand over it and it cut itself into layers. Krys' edges sprouted out, as did her side swept bangs. In her ears were white gold sapphire studs. Her cartilage bar swirled blue and white gold. On her neck was her name chain with her full first name. The dot in the 'I' had a sapphire in it, as did the 'I' on her name bracelet and name ring. She put on lip gloss, then walked downstairs. Ares was holding his stomach over toasted bread. "Dude- you can't cook."

"Of course I can. I've been watching my mom cook since I was three." he said. Krys walked to the freezer and put ice cream in the cone. "What about _breakfast_?"

"_Waffle _cone." she said. He laughed.

"Morning Darling." said the voice of Emily. Krys whipped around. Emily stood there in a robe. Krys turned around and looked at Ares. He was looking back at her. Emily's clothes suddenly changed. She was wearing a mini-dress, and big heels. "Well- I have to go to Paris today. Are you coming with me?"

"No, I can't. I'm going somewhere with my mother." said Ares. Emily nodded, then looked at Krys. She walked over to Ares, and they started to blatantly snog. Krys almost threw up, but caught herself as she started to gag. When Emily pulled away from Ares, she looked at Krys, smiled, then disapparated. Ares looked at Krys. "So- where are we going?"

"I thought you were going with your mother."

"No- I'm going with you." he said, as he smiled with slightly swollen lips. Krys smiled back.

"Well- I'm going to Godrics Hollow for the morning. And- I have to buy some flowers before that." she said. "You dressed?"

"Yeah." he said, as he took off the apron. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"Okay, Julia Child."

"Hey- I didn't want to get dirty." She grabbed his hand, and apparated to her apartment. They walked down the stairs and to her car. They drove to a flower shop. The flowers made her sneeze so much, that Ares had to drive back to her house. She grabbed his hand, then they appeared in Godrics hollow. "What're we doing here?"

"Visiting the gravesites of Lily, James, and my mum." said Krys, as she blew her nose. Ares looked at her.

"Have you done this before?" he asked, as he took the flowers away from her. She nodded.

"Twice. Once the day of my healer ceremony. Me and Prongs got away from the group, then we came here." she said.

"Ah- I wanted to visit my dad's gravesite, but- I'm afraid that I'll see some people that I don't want to see."

"Little sisters?" He looked at her and nodded. "Go during the school year. When they're all in Acklemeyers. Jennifer is the oldest, she's dating Angel. The guy that Thai likes. Robyn is…- she's only fifteen. And Victoria, she's thirteen." said Krys. "You know- you shouldn't let that stop you."

"Its not them. Its my mom."

"What about her?"

"I don't know if she wants me to see them."

"Maybe you should talk to her about it."

"I only talk about stuff like this with you." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Oh really?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yeah- I'm-"

"Why did we break up?" asked Krys. Ares looked at her. Her eyes widened and she started to walk ahead of him. He caught up to her and held her arm. "Okay- I'm sorry. I don't- I'm so- _wow_. I'm so-… sorry. Wow- that was random… aw man, Krys." She had her eyes shut tightly and she was groaning. "Way to freak you out, huh?" Ares laughed. Krys looked at him with her eyebrow raised.

"_You_ dumped _me_, Krys." he said. She nodded.

"I'm aware of that." she said. "But Dude, the whole marriage thing is cool."

"Thanks."

"When do you know that its time to propose to someone?"

"You just- she- I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, but- I wasn't sure."

"So- why did you propose when you did?"

"Because it was the next step." he said. "There was nowhere to go from there."

"We're here." said Krys, as she laid the Calla lilies on Lily's grave. She gestured for Ares to lay the Stargazer lilies on her moms grave. She took the Oriental lilies away from him and he laid down the Stargazer lilies. The last grave plot was James'. Krys laid the Oriental lilies on his plot, then stepped back.

"They were young, huh?" Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "It feels weird that I'm close to the age my mum was when she died. You know… it just scares me a bit. Like I'm doomed for the rest of my life or something. I mean- I'm only nineteen." Ares watched her intently. "How old was your dad when he died?"

"I have no idea." Krys looked at him.

"Why didn't you tell me how he died back then?" she asked.

"I didn't want to scare anyone. Plus, I was too distraught over the fact that he died that way, and you were suffering from it too."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up- I-"

"No, its okay. Say it."

"Your dad died from the Black Bone Shadowing. You know, when I found that out- I just wished that I could take that moment back for you. Like a small trade in. You getting your dad, and never having met me. I just wished that you could've spent as much time with him, as you did with me." Ares shook his head.

"I don't." he said. Krys smiled at him slightly.

"It must bring up a lot of questions." Ares nodded. "Where's he buried?"

"My mom wanted to have him buried in the church, where his parents grew up. The church where his parents were married. The church where his parents are buried. The same church where he and my mom were married. A tiny church in Aguas Buenas. Its where he was born. It has this tiny graveyard. But- his wife had him buried in a family plot in Tallahassee."

"That sucks."

"What about your dad?" he asked. Krys looked at him questioningly. "Birthfather."

"He went through a veil…. at the department of mysteries. Harry and I were planning on getting a grave plot- but… we don't know." said Krys.

"Why don't you visit your other dad's gravesite?"

"I do. I went on the day of my healer ceremony."

"Oh-"

"We should go visit your dad's gravesite. But- that's only if you want to."

"Um…I'm not so sure."

"Okay- then we have to go to the supermarket- plus, I have to get a new videogame." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"You're still playing videogames?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be playing videogames?" she asked. He didn't say anything. "Are you trying to call me immature?"

"I'm too afraid of you to call you immature." he said. Krys smiled.

"Well- I just... I always wanted them to meet you and Jason and A.J- and my dad, and your mom, of course…but, I thought I should bring you here." she said. "Now its time to leave."

"Well- we don't have to leave right now." said Ares.

"That's alright. This is making me a bit… um- melancholy. But- its not the graves. Its just that…" she looked up at him. "They never got to meet you. And the one day where they did meet me wasn't enough." They stayed in silence for a while. "Dude- we have to go. Thai is supposed to have people over today, and… I need to shop." She grabbed his hand and disapparated. They ended up in her driveway. She dragged him to her dad's Expedition.

"Where are we going?" asked Ares, as he hopped in the truck.

"Every man's nightmare… the _supermarket_." said Krys. Ares laughed. She started the car and drove off.

"Well- its also a Krys' nightmare, isn't it?" he asked.

"Are you kidding me? The supermarket has ice cream and cake. Oh- ooh, and they have candy." said Krys. Ares smiled. "I just don't like the whole, '_when we get married, we shop together_' thing. Buy your own goddamn food." Ares laughed.

"Don't most married women like to make decisions together? What color to paint the bedroom, what color to paint the kitchen. What food to buy." he said. Krys shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm not married and well, I'm nothing like most chicks." she said. Ares nodded.

"Yeah- most women don't refer to other women as 'bitches' and 'chicks'." he said. Krys shrugged.

"You say tomato, I say really disgusting red fruit." she said. "Plus- I've made you so afraid of women that you won't _dare _call them bitches. And what matters, if that men don't call them that. I can call anyone anything… that's just me." Ares laughed.

"So… what are you gonna get Thai and her friends?" he asked.

"I should be feeding them broccoli and shit like that, shouldn't I?" asked Krys. Ares laughed.

"Well- you should be feeding them good shit… like _food_." he said. Krys shrugged.

"What- like microwaveable pizza's? I'll get them a bunch of shit- then they can order out if they want real food." she said. "Oh- and I'll get us some snacks. So- after we do this, what do you want to do?" Ares looked at her.

"It doesn't matter. What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Remember that photo album that Professor Lupin got you? The one with pictures of you with your parents." said Ares. Krys nodded.

"Of course. That's one of the only things that keeps me standing. Well- _that_, Prongsand the kids."

"What about your Bon-bon?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"Hermione… she's helped me countless times. But-… well you know how she feels about Ron." Ares nodded. "Why am I telling you this? You're friends with the enemy." Krys said.

"I'd choose Hermione over Kay any day." said Ares.

"You don't know Hermione." said Krys.

"I know how good she's been to and for you. Plus- she's the one who helped me get you back the second time." Krys looked at him, then back at the road.

"You've known Kay for two years."

"Actually- I haven't even known Emily for two years." Krys looked at him. "I started dating Emily less than a year ago. A little bit after she dropped out."

"Auror school dropout. Go back to high school." she sang. Ares laughed.

"Go back to what you were talking about." said Ares.

"Well- it's a bit hard to keep someone stable, when you're frail yourself. I ju-"

"Hold on. What's been going on with you? Why can't you keep stable?" he asked, as he looked at her.

"I've never _been _stable." she said.

"I always thought you were." he said.

"No- but this isn't about me. Its just-"

"No- it _is _about you." said Ares. "I don't want to hear about anyone else."

"Nothings wrong with me. I'm happy. I've just- never _been _stable."

"Well- why not?"

"Well- lets see. I was born into a world, where I was already marked for death- as if that wasn't enough to make me the crazy ass that I am now, more shit happened." joked Krys. Ares looked at her.

"That wasn't funny." he said. She smiled slightly.

"Yes it was." she said.

"No, it wasn't."

"I'm sorry. Okay- listen to this. When I was younger- Razzie wanted to be a teacher. She used to take a bunch of kids and teach them science." she said. Ares nodded. "Well- I was about three. And she did this melting experiment. She taught us that ice will melt in the sun, or when its put in hot water. So, she takes a frozen bottle of water and she leaves it in hot water. When we get back- obviously its melted. Well- she asks us, 'What can we do to make this freeze again?'. So- mind you, we're all three year olds. So- we all yell, 'put it in hot water. Put it in hot water'. You know the Bevis and Butthead hand movements- that's what we did." Ares laughed, and Krys smiled. "That's better."

"Its only because, I can imagine you at three." he said.

"Hey hey, none of that." she said, as she parked the car. Ares smiled, and Krys got out of the car. He got out after her, and she got a cart.

"Krys- do you remember that Christmas? The one where we met the woman that your father was gonna marry?" he asked. Krys looked at him and nodded. "And you started to malfunction-"

"You make me seem like a machine." she said, laughing. Ares shook his head.

"No- but, you started to think, and your thoughts started in my mind. I know you didn't do it on purpose." he said. Krys stopped and looked at him again.

"What happened?"

"You were thinking about the moments worth living for. I just wanted to know if… never mind." said Ares. "Its probably dumb as hell." he said. Krys looked at him, then walked into the supermarket. She looked back at him and jerked her head. He walked up to her. "I was beginning to think you forgot about me."

"I wish." joked Krys. Ares playfully glared at her.

"That hurt." he said. Krys stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek.

"Booboo go bye-bye." she said. He laughed and Krys continued to walk. "So- what about the photo album? It seems like this happens with all of our conversations. We always get sidetracked. What about the photo album?"

"I just want to see it." said Ares. Krys stopped and looked at the fruit. She picked up some grapes, strawberries, apples, and peaches.

"Anything you want- just pick it up." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Since when do you eat fruit?" he asked. She looked back at him.

"I love apples, grapes, strawberries, and peaches. I'm not allergic to them. Plus- Thai likes them too." she said.

"What's going on with her anyway?" Krys waved him over.

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked. Ares looked at her.

"Come to think of it… its not my business." he said. Krys nodded.

"So… Loverboy, what are we doing tonight?" she asked. Ares laughed.

"Whatever you want to do." he said. Krys jumped up and down and feigned a squeal.

"Ooh- yay. So… we can eat your favorite manorexic foods and wax our legs?" she asked. Ares laughed.

"I'll watch _you _wax _your_ legs." he said. Krys raised her eyebrow. "That's not what I meant."

"Better not." she said. He chuckled, and walked ahead of her. "So… when are you guys having the rehearsal dinner?"

"Emily can't find a place." he said. Krys picked up some waffle cones. "Breakfast?" he asked, gesturing towards the cones.

"You know it." she said. "What about the wedding?"

"Can't find a spot for a private wedding."

"So…you remember the beach house?" Ares nodded. "I want you to use it." Ares looked at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked. She raised her eyebrow. "Krys- I can't ask you to do that."

"You didn't- and, I always thought that you could ask me anything." she said.

"I can, but this is asking _for_ something."

"Ares-"

"Krys, you can't keep donating to this wedding. Especially when the bride doesn't like you." he said. Krys laughed.

"I thought she was just _a bit jealous_." she mocked. Ares chuckled.

"You knew the truth." he said. She nodded.

"I did." she said, as she picked up some pickles. "But- I'm not doing this for her. I'm doing this for you. I want you to make her happy, because I know you. And making her happy, will be what makes _you _happy." Ares looked at her.

"Do you remember what we did at the beach house?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"Ares, if you couldn't go in all the places that we have memories, you wouldn't even be able to look at my car."

"Then- I guess we have a private spot on the beach." he said. Krys nodded.

"You do." she said. She smiled, and he laughed.

"I'll have to run this by Em, but- yeah… I think its set." he said.

"Don't you have say in this?"

"I haven't had say in any relationship that I've been in."

"You got to decide things when we were going out."

"Yeah- that was the only relationship." he said. "And it was usually which bed we'd do it in." She laughed.

"Then, man up." she said. Ares laughed. "I mean- you're this top dog auror, who's getting job offers left and right. Just because she's the one that's working, doesn't mean anything. Now I'm not saying that you should act like an asshole and get macho. I'm saying that you should be a man and take charge sometimes. Man up. Stop being a pushover… its actually quite sexy when yo- guys get all, 'I'm in charge'. The key is… knowing when to stop."

"Did you just call me sexy?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"Is that all you got out of the talk?" she asked, with her eyebrow raised. He laughed.

"That's exactly why I'm off the market." he said. Krys' eyes widened, and she ran to the candy and cookie aisle. Ares followed after her while laughing. Krys started piling all types of candy into her cart. "You're like a big kid." Krys looked at him.

"No- I _am _a big kid." she said. Ares nodded, then pulled her away from the candy. She slammed into his chest. He hugged her. She pulled away. "Dude- you smell good." He smiled. "So- you gonna let go of my wrists or not?"

"Not." he said. Krys laughed, then twisted herself from his grip. He smiled. "You were always quite the little contortionist." Krys' eyes widened.

"Who's the perv now?" she said. Ares laughed.

"I was just joking." he said. Krys turned around.

"This is boring… I want to go home." she said. Ares nodded.

"Okay- well, I'll pay for this and you can go to the car." he said. Krys shook her head.

"No- Thai needs some stuff for her little sleepover."

"Who's gonna be there?"

"Angel, Luis, and Alex." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"Okay- is Angel a boy or a girl? Is Alex a boy or a girl?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"Angel is a boy… and Alex is a girl." she said.

"So- she's gonna be sleeping with two boys and another girl?" asked Ares. Krys nodded.

"I guess so-"

"No."

"What?"

"I- no. You can't say yes to this."

"I already did. You-"

"Krys, she's a sixteen year old girl."

"So was I. I used to sleep in the same bed with you when I was fifteen."

"And I was a horny sixteen year old boy, who was _waiting _for something else to happen." Krys started to laugh. "Its not funny. Its true."

"I know _that_. I mean- my nerves aren't dead, and we slept pretty close. Plus- I slept in the same bed as you for two- three months after that. That's not why I'm laughing." she said.

"So… why are you laughing?"

"Because nothing happened… until that night."

"Then we broke up at the end of the summer."

"Yeah." said Krys. She looked up at him. "You kno-"

"Why _did _you break up with me?" he asked. Krys started to cough.

"Ares- listen. Remember what I told you about opportunity?" she asked. He looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Okay- and you went to training and met Emily. Now you're happy- you're getting married. And none of this would be happening if I tried to hold you back."

"You weren't holding me back. The only reason I even got this far was because of you."

"And now you're even farther… social success. Look at me- I'm standing here, in a supermarket… shopping for my goddaughter and her friends. This is my life. You… you're getting married, you're happy… that's you. If we would've kept the relationship going, we'd be… God knows where."

"Yeah… God knows where." he said. Krys looked at him.

"You know what?" she asked him, as she smiled brightly. Ares smiled slightly.

"What?"

"You're my best friend… and I love you." she said, as she kissed his cheek. He hugged her, then pulled back.

"Yeah- I know." he said. "I love you too."

"Good. You had me a bit scared there." said Krys, as she bumped him with her hip.

"Krys- you're never going to change."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Well- no matter how horrible things are, I can always come here and count on you to be the same. Its-"

"Safe?" Ares nodded. "I used to think that that was a bad thing. But hearing you say it, makes it seem good."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah… lets just hope that you can come back once you get married."

"If I have to sneak out of the house to do it." he said.

"You're such a punk." joked Krys.

"Its your fault that I'm afraid of women in the first place. You scared me so much that I-"

"I did not. I prepared you for married life." she said, as she picked up more candy.

"Why haven't your teeth started to rot out- oh yeah. You brush your teeth like a hundred times a day."

"Only about ten- twenty times a day." said Krys. She started to pick up all types of cookies. "How long do you think these kids are staying?"

"You should know." said Ares. Krys looked thoughtful.

"Angel can stay as long as he wants. Alex can too. Luis also." she said. Ares clapped.

"You know…you'd make a good mother." he said. Krys looked down. "What's wrong?" She shook her head, and smiled to the best of her ability. Her eyes had tears in them. Ares looked at her, then wiped them away with his thumb. Krys closed her eyes, then chuckled slightly. "What?" questioned Ares.

"Talk about your top sexy, dramatic moments." said Krys, as she put her hood on her head. "Exempli gratia, we've had too many of these moments."

"So… you're not gonna tell me, are you?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On whether it'll make a difference or not." said Krys. "Will it kill you, not hearing it?"

"No."

"Okay then." Ares sighed, and Krys stood in front of him.

"Krys- does it have anything to do with your mother?"

"Yeah, it does." Ares hugged her, but Krys pulled back. "We should hurry this up so… you know, I have to get this stuff to Thai and- I need to take- you know." Ares nodded.

"Okay." he said, as Krys walked ahead of him. He hurried up to her. "You wanna go ice skating later?" Krys looked at him. Her eyes were red, and she had more tears in them. She wiped her eyes and nodded. "Krys-"

"You know I'm just overreacting." she said. Ares shook his head.

"No you're not." he said. "You're-"

"Ooh- cookie dough." said Krys. Ares smiled. "Lets buy some of that cake mix stuff- then we'll try and make a cake, you and I."

"Okay." said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"You'd bake for me?"

"I'd do anything for you." he said, matter-of-factly.

"Kiss Snuffles?" asked Krys. Ares looked thoughtful, then nodded. "You've grown."

"Physically or as a person?"

"Both… but- I was thinking about, as a person. A few years ago- I asked you the same question and you told me that you wouldn't kiss a guy for me." Ares laughed.

"I'd kiss a llama for you. If I could save your life, or keep you happy by kissing a guy… I'd- ugh." he gagged.

"Ares, don't worry. It would be a very rare event- you having to kiss another guy for me. Prongs wouldn't answer it either but- it doesn't matter."

"We can change the subject then, right? Because I'm about to throw up."

"What do you wanna talk about?"

"Do you want to go ice skating or play basketball?"

"Since when do you ice skate?" asked Krys, as she started to pile up on different types of cake mixes. She put some cocoa and bakers chocolate in the cart also.

"I want you to finish teaching me to play hockey."

"I can do that."

"So- what's this that Harry tells me about you wanting to be a professional gymnast?" Krys looked at him, then nodded after a while.

"About four months into healer training- I wanted to be a gymnast. So…I was given a grace period- how did you and Prongs get into that conversation anyway?"

"Well- in auror training, Harry, Ron, Jason and I were roommates. I don't know how that worked out but, we were. So… Moody came into the room one day and Harry asked to speak with him privately. Then Harry came back and started to pack his bags. He said that he had to leave. When he came back, he said that you dropped out of healer training and wanted to be a gymnast."

"I don't even know how we're still friends."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought that you'd hate me."

"For what?"

"The way we broke up."

"Oh… I spent a lot of time hating you. Then I spoke to Harr-"

"What'd he say?"

"He just reminded me that you were going through a tough time. And- I… you're Krys. I've never been able to hate you."

"Just so you know, if I could do it all over again…… I never would've done what I did."

"I know."

"Dude-"

"Stop calling me dude."

"Loverboy, we're ready."

"Okay- Krys, there's no soda."

"Oh- there's a bunch of soda in my hous-" A shrill scream was heard. Krys looked at Ares, then around. A young man was on the ground. His body seemed lifeless. Krys walked over there. A woman was crying and holding his hand. "Um-" Krys looked at the teen, then kneeled down, and checked for a pulse or any sign of breathing. She started to feel his chest.

"What are you doing?" the woman asked rudely.

"I'm a doctor." said Krys.

"Aren't you a little young?" Krys ignored her. She looked at Ares.

"Go- get some alcohol and some paper towels and a squirt water bottle." The woman scoffed. Ares ran to it and was back a few minutes later with the alcohol, the bottle of water and the paper towels. Krys started to burn the pocket knife. Then she poured alcohol all over her pocketknife and hands, after she ripped the mans shirt open. She felt his chest, then poured alcohol on it. She took the pocketknife and was about to make an incision, when someone held her hand back.

"What are you doing?" asked the woman. Someone else's hand, pulled the woman's off of Krys'.

"Ma'am, with all due respect- the best thing you can do for him, is let her do what she's doing." said Ares. Krys smiled, as she made the incision. She got the squirt bottle, then took off the cap. She pressed the cap to the incision and the air let out. The kid's chest started moving as he started to breathe.

"Have you called the ambulance yet?" Krys asked the woman. She nodded.

"Yes- thank you." she said. "My family is-"

"No problem." said Krys. The woman nodded, and held the boy's hand tighter.

"What was wrong with him?"

"Um… he got hit and the air started to collect in his chest instead of the lungs. I don't really remember what its called- I have to go." said Krys, as she got up and ran to her cart. She continued to shop like nothing happened. Ares walked beside her.

"Are we gonna talk about what just happened?" he asked, as he smiled.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I just-"

"Saved some kid's life."

"I didn't go to med school. I went to healer training."

"But- you still saved some dude's life. I'm proud of you." said Ares. Krys looked up at him and smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course. I loved seeing you work."

"Work or work _it_?" asked Krys. Ares laughed. "I'm just teasing."

"I know. But- to celebrate your hero status, I'll make you a cake."

"You can't bake."

"I think I can make a ready mixed cake."

"I can't, but- okay. After I teach you how to play turkey cup." she said. They walked in silence for a while. "Do you really believe what you said to the woman?"

"What?"

"That the best thing for her son was to let me make the-"

"Yeah. I trust you with my life."

"_Yeah- hold on Ares. The fairly oddparents is almost over_." she joked. His eyes widened then he laughed. "We're done." When they got back to the house, Krys and Ares carried the bags in.

"You want me to hold that for you?" asked Ares. Krys looked at him.

"Thanks, but- I'm good." she said, as she walked up to the door. She winked, and it opened. When she and Ares walked into the kitchen, Thai was sitting on a stool, with a few friends next to her. "Ta-Thai." greeted Krys. Everyone turned around and looked at Krys.

"Krys, this is Angel, Luis and Alex." introduced Thai. Krys looked at them and waved. The boys waved back stupidly. "Guys, this is Krys." Luis smiled at Krys, and stuck out his hand. Krys made to shake it but, Luis kissed her hand. Krys looked at Thai and contained her laughter.

"I'm Luis." he said suavely. Krys nodded, then pulled her hand away.

"Thai, do you guys want anything in particular?"

"Like what?" asked Thai.

"Any special soda, food, movies."

"Um- Krys, we kinda wanna go to the under twenty one club." said Thai. Krys looked at her, and felt her head. Krys shook her head.

"No." she said. Thai pouted. "I'll explain later… but- here's what you can do, sugarplum. I have everything planned. Right now, we're about to have a basketball tournament. Then- we're going ice skating."

"I kind of wanted to go swimming." said Thai.

"Yes." said Ares, Angel and Luis eagerly. Krys looked at them.

"Okay- I'll just see if Prongs, Red, Red II, Bon-bon, J.J and A.J want to come." said Krys. "Ares- show them to the guestrooms, please." When she got to her room, Harry, Ron and Jason were on her couch. She looked at them. "I knew it was dumb to let you guys apparate here."

"Well- we already invited Gin, A.J, Hermione, Kay and Emily to your little pool party." said Jason. Krys nodded.

"Well… where are Bon-bon, Red and Apolla?" she asked.

"They went shopping." said Ron.

"Without me?!" yelled Krys. The guys nodded. "I'm the most fun one."

"Not to me." said Harry as he wiggled his eyebrows. "That's Gin."

"Ill." said Krys. "Well where are your girlfriend and her crony?" she asked Ron.

"They'll be here in a minute." said Ron. The doorbell rang. "I think that's them."

"Thai, get the door please?" asked Krys. Thai nodded, and ran to get it. "Go in the room with the other guys." They all got up and left. Krys looked at Alex.

An hour later, everyone was there. All the girls were in Krys' room choosing bathing suits. Krys got a box out of her closet and went to the boys room. She knocked, and Ares opened the door. "Dude- help me." said Krys. Ares laughed and took the box from her. She walked in with him and sat down. They all looked at her. "Fine- I'll leave then." she said, as she got up and started to leave.

"No!" yelled Luis. Krys turned around and sat back down. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot." said Krys.

"Who's the best looking one? Of all of us?" asked Luis. Krys smiled, then feigned a look of pensiveness.

"You and Angel- are the best two. The rest of them aren't nearly as attractive." she said. Luis got up and took her hand.

"So… are you seeing anyone?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"Even if I weren't, we could never be." she said dramatically. "See- the moment that I touch you-" she said, as she took his hand. "They're taking me away in handcuffs." All of them laughed, except for Luis.

"I'm seventeen." he said. Krys smiled.

"You don't want me. I'm an old spinster hag." she said, before she left. Luis stayed at the door.

"Who do you think the best looking one out of all of the older ones?" asked Angel. They all gave their answers in unison. "I haven't seen the others, but- if you have more that look better than her… Its Krys."

"Gin." said Harry.

"A.J" said Jason.

"Hermione." said Ron.

"Krys." said Luis.

"Krys" said Ares. Everyone looked at Ares and Ron.

"Who'd you guys say?" Harry asked smugly.

"Yeah- I didn't hear that right." said Jason, as he smirked. Ares and Ron looked at them.

"Shut up." they said simultaneously.

"Poor you-." said Jason. "You're gonna be out there with your fiancé. She and Krys will both be wearing bathing suits." Ares looked at him.

"I hate you." he said. Harry started to laugh. They all looked at him.

"Same for you, mate. Hermione will be out there… and so will Kay." he said. Ron started to glare at him. "And- you know that Gin and A.J are gonna pick out Hermione's and Padfoot's bathing suits."

"And…Krys has a new tattoo." said Jason. Ares got up and left. Angel and Luis looked at them.

"Yeah- I heard that he and Krys have a history." said Angel. They all shook their heads.

"Its not history." said Jason. "Everything about her, makes him go crazy. I don't even know how he got this far. I bet he leaves Emily."

"I'm not so sure about that. I think he's gonna stay with her." said Luis. They all looked at him.

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"Um… Crystalty." said Kay.

"Krys- I think she's talking to you." said A.J.

"Well- I know I wasn't talking to _you_." said Kay. Krys turned around and looked at her, while pushing A.J back.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't have a bathing suit."

"And…"

"I need one." said Kay. "So does Em." Krys waved her hand and a few bathing suits set themselves in front of Kay and Emily.

"Happy?"

"Mildly pleased." amended Kay. Krys turned back to A.J.

"I don't know how you put up with that. I would've beat that bitches ass a long time ago." said A.J. Krys smiled. "You got the bathing suit that you're gonna wear?"

"Yeah- it's a sapphire blue and black halter, with boy shorts and matching swim trunks." said Krys, as she ran to her closet.

"Nice" said A.J.

When they were all ready, they left Krys and went downstairs. Krys looked at herself in the mirror. She could see almost all of her tattoos. The only one that she couldn't see at all, was the one that she got for Ares. She groaned, then put on her coconut and vanilla lotion. Her bathing suit was black and sapphire. She had a sapphire bellybutton ring on and was wearing black and blue toe socks that went up to her knees. She put on a black t-shirt and her black and blue swim trunks over her bathing suit. Her hair was in two braided pigtails and she started to breathe deeply. She picked up her towel, then walked downstairs in her blue flip flops. When she got to the outdoor pool, the sun was shining brightly. As soon as she sat down, it started to rain. Krys was the first one to get back up and go into the house. They all followed her as she walked to the indoor pool. The indoor pool looked differently from the last time. The floors were all black marble and it looked a lot fancier. The chairs were cushier and more fashionable. They were black leather, and matched the floors perfectly. The pool floor also matched. It had a white marble star highlighted in front of the black marble that filled the rest of the bottom of the pool.

Krys sat in her chair, as she watched Emily and Kay admire her house. Hermione, Thai and Alex sat near her. Hermione was wearing a black and pink straight over, with thin straps and matching boy shorts. It showed her pink and black butterfly tattoo that was on her lower hip. It also showed the pink and black tailbone tattoo. It was very symmetrical, with a single heart in the middle. The loops and turns on both sides, looked like eyes. Then the third tattoo that was on her right shoulder. It was a little dragonfly, with black and hot pink wings. She got them when she went with Krys to get the lily tattoos. Thai was wearing an emerald, olive and jade halter short tankini with matching boy shorts. She, like Krys, was wearing toe socks that matched her bathing suit and reached her knees. Her hair was also in braided pigtails with green barrettes. Alex was wearing a black bathing suit. Hers was also a straight over tankini, with a split that showed her bellybutton. It had gold sequins that brought out the gold flecks in her hazel eyes. She had a gold bellybutton ring on, and her hair was in a ponytail. A.J and Ginny were with Jason and Harry. They were all with Ares, Emily, Kay and Ron. Luis and Angel were hanging out around Alex and Thai. Krys pulled her PSP out of her robe pocket and started to play. All of a sudden, the PSP started to pull away from her. Krys held onto it for dear life. A.J and Ginny walked up to her and started to tickle her, until she finally let go of the PSP. Krys glared at A.J and Gin.

"It wasn't my idea." said A.J. Krys growled.

"How do I get it back?" she asked. A.J smiled.

"You have to take off your trunks and t-shirt." she said. Krys laughed sardonically, then sat back down. She snapped her fingers and another PSP whizzed through the air. She started to play with that one. A.J started to pull on it, and Krys pulled back. They both started to rise off the ground, and moved over the pool. Krys looked at Harry.

"PRONGS! You better not!" she bellowed, as she tried to throw the PSP at him. He stopped it, while holding them in the air. Her voice sounded through the whole indoor pool. Harry looked at Jason, who nodded.

"JASON! I swear!" yelled A.J. Jason blew a kiss to A.J, then nodded again. Krys slapped A.J's legs and A.J straightened them, then they hugged each other. Harry snapped his fingers and they both fell out of the air and into the pool. It didn't make a splash. They both fell into the water gracefully. Everyone laughed as Krys and A.J swam to the ladder. Krys sat in the pool for a minute after A.J got out. When Krys got out of the pool, she started to shake like a dog. Harry laughed. Then Krys did something completely unexpected. She took off her shirt and started to towel snap people with it. Harry jumped up, when Krys slapped him with her shirt. Harry pulled the shirt away from her and was about to snap her with it, when a super soaker appeared in Krys' hands. They all laughed. Krys disapparated and appeared on the lower diving board. She started to shoot people with the water gun. She got Emily and Kay first. Their screams were shrill and almost overpowered the others laughter. Then Krys started to get Harry.

"Padfoot!" he yelled. Krys laughed, then dropped the water gun in the pool. She stood up on the diving board, then jumped in. She swam to the ladder and got out.

"Okay- truce?" she asked. Harry nodded, then they did their special handshake. Krys looked at the rest of them. "Thai, Alex, Hermione, Angel, Luis**- come here**." she yelled in Spanish. They all walked over to Krys. "**Thai- what do you want to do? Whatever you want.**"

"Anything?" asked Thai. Krys looked at her.

"Anything, La Bonita." she said. Thai did a curtsy and smiled.

"Spin the bottle." said Thai. Krys started to cough. She finally spoke when she stopped coughing.

"You heard the girl." said Krys. "Sit in the circle." Harry waved his hand and a bottle whizzed through the air. They all sat in a circle. "Okay- the bottle is charmed so that you can't kiss someone of the same sex, so that you won't kiss your sibling or family member- or even someone who's is a lot like your family, and so that you won't kiss someone that isn't in your age group. The bottle numbers the kisses. First kiss with Ares is peck on the lips. Second kiss is open mouth. Third kiss is tongue- a little touchy feely if you want. Please keep it PG people- I have virgin eyes _and_ ears here." said Krys pointing to Thai and Alex.

"Yeah, sure." said Emily, after she scoffed. They all looked at her. Krys glared at her the longest, then cleared her throat and was given their attention again.

"I don't want to see hardcore porn tongue. Thai- **will you spin the bottle first to see who goes first**?" Krys asked, as she continued to look at Emily.

"Yeah- sure." said Thai, as she spun the bottle. The bottle landed on Krys. They all laughed, as she groaned. "Your go, _Krys_tathaili darling."

"Thank you, Krysta_thai_li darling." replied Krys, before she spun. The bottle landed on Ares. Emily's eyes widened.

"Ares- if you kiss her, I'm leaving." she said seriously. Krys looked between the two.

"Would someone else like to spin the bottle? You know, since _Frosty _the_ Snowbitch,_ is _so_ afraid that her fiancé is gonna run off with Cookie." said Hermione. Thai, Alex, Ginny, A.J and Krys started to laugh.

"I'll spin." said Ginny, as she leaned forward and spun the bottle.

"A team player." said Krys, before she winked and it landed on Ares. Ginny looked at Harry and blew him a kiss, then she turned back to Ares and pecked him. It was a small kiss that was less than a millisecond.

"So- it wasn't that you didn't want him to kiss someone else- it was that you didn't want him to kiss _Krys_." said A.J.

"Apolla Jade Delgado- **don't make it seem like its something big**.Itsnothing. **Just- get over it**, A.J- cause I am."

"Stop with the Spanglish, Krys." said A.J. Krys laughed.

"Ares, its your go." she said. Ares nodded, then spun the bottle. It landed on Krys. "**Go again.**" Krys ordered in Spanish.

"What?" asked Ares.

"She said to go again." said A.J. Ares nodded, then spun the bottle again. This time it landed on Emily. She leaned forward and pecked him, then she spun. The bottle landed on Jason, who turned his nose up. He looked at A.J, who was chuckling silently, and glared playfully at her. "Go ahead, Jason." Jason leaned forward and tentatively pecked Emily on the lips, then he spun the bottle. The bottle landed on Kay. Jason groaned and looked at A.J again. She was still shaking with laughter. Jason looked at Ron. Ron wasn't even looking at either of them, he was looking at Hermione. Jason leaned forward and pecked Kay on the lips. "So- I'm no longer your first, last and only." Jason looked at her.

"You still are. The first, last and only one that matters." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Ill- get the fuck out of here with that whole lovey-dovey bullshit." she said jokingly. A.J and Jason laughed. "You guys are too cute."

"How about- we cut the mess and continue the game?" asked Kay. Krys and A.J looked at her. Jason started to hold A.J around her waist.

"How bout you quit suck-?" started Krys.

"Padfoot." said Harry.

"Okay- whatever." said Krys. Kay spun the bottle. The bottle landed on Ares. Kay leaned forward and kissed Ares. Ares spun the bottle again, and it landed on Hermione. Hermione and Ares kissed. It was Hermione's turn to spin the bottle. She spun it, and it landed on Ron. Kay was watching carefully. Ron leaned forward and pecked Hermione on the lips.

"Ron mate, it's your go." said Harry. Ron nodded silently and spun the bottle. Krys winked her eye, and it landed on Hermione. The circle stayed silent. Krys' eyes stayed on Kay. She was livid. It made Krys happy. Ron kissed Hermione soundly and it lasted for about thirty seconds. Ron still had his eyes closed, when they broke apart.

"Bon-bon, it's your go." said Krys. Hermione, who had her eyes on Ron, nodded mindlessly. She spun the bottle and it landed on Ron again. Hermione looked at Ron, who was staring right back. They leaned in closer and closer, until their lips finally touched. The whole circle was watching and Krys was smiling. The kiss probably would've continued past the minute that it took up, if Kay hadn't tapped Ron on the shoulder. They pulled apart, their lips were bruised and Hermione was looking down. "**Hey- how about we hand the bottle over to the kids**." A.J, Thai, Alex, Luis and Harry nodded. The rest of the group looked at Krys. "Lets let the kids play now. Alex, you can spin." said Krys, wiggling her eyebrows.

Alex laughed. She spun, and naturally, it landed on Luis. Luis sat there, his eyes avoiding Alex. Alex pecked him on the lips. Luis spun the bottle and Krys winked. It landed on Alex. Luis approached Alex this time. The kiss lasted for a minute. Thai smiled when they pulled apart and Luis was blushing.

"Um- I think that us adults should leave the children over here." said Krys, getting up. She walked over the nearest chair and watched them inconspicuously. Alex spun the bottle again. This time, Luis raised eagerly. He cupped Alex's face and leaned in. They started kissing intensely. Alex wrapped her arms around Luis's neck, and he held onto her waist. Krys noticed that Angel was staring wide eyed. She watched as Thai poked him and all his attention was directed towards her. After another minute, Luis and Alex pulled apart and avoided each others eyes. Luis spun the bottle and it landed on Thai. Luis kissed Thai, and Angel was watching with wide eyes. The kiss wasn't anything. Thai spun the bottle, and Krys winked her eye. The bottle landed on Angel. Angel leaned forward and pecked her. Krys smiled. Angel spun the bottle and it landed on Thai. He leaned forward again, and kissed her. The kiss lasted over a minute. Angel kept pulling his hands back. It seemed like that was what it took, to keep from touching Thai. Thai spun the bottle when they pulled apart. The bottle landed on Angel again. Thai and Angel started to kiss. Thai pulled away and walked over to Krys and Hermione. "What's wrong, Thai?"

"**Krys… he has a girlfriend**." she said in Spanish. Krys nodded.

"**He does**." she said. "**But- do you like her**? Hermione, I'll tell you later." Hermione nodded.

"**That doesn't matter**." said Thai.

"**Do you like her**?" asked Krys.

"**We used to be friends**."

"**And what happened**?"

"**A few months ago, I actually told someone else that I liked him. That someone was Jennifer. The next day, she was sitting on his lap- ugh. Anyway- I wasn't even mad about that. He's just a guy- no he's _not_ just _some guy_ but, you taught me that no girl should ever fight over a guy. And- it doesn't matter anyway. He told me that he liked her later that night- so, I wrote the letter**." said Thai.

"Well- she's not here." said Krys.

"That's messed up, Krys. That's exactly what she did to me." said Thai. Krys nodded. "I'm not like that."

"**Oh God**." said Krys.

"He doesn't even like me like that."

"How do you know?" asked Hermione.

"**If I try to find out- will you try and find out if Ares still loves you**?" Thai asked Krys. Then she turned to Hermione. "And you have to find out if the option is still open with you and Ron."

"Thai." whined Krys and Hermione.

"And you have to take off the trunks." said Thai. Krys got up and pulled the swim trunks off. There were loud wolf whistles coming from the pool. A.J and Gin were whistling. Krys gave them the finger, then sat back down.

"Your turn." said Krys as she held out her hands. Thai took one hand and Hermione took the other. They walked over to the pool and jumped in together. Krys started to pull out her pigtails and Thai did the same. They all swam to the ladder and sat down at the edge of the pool. "Do you really think we can do all of this?"

"Well- considering how badly we screwed up… hopefully." said Hermione. Krys got up and Hermione and Thai followed.

"Go get him, Tigress." teased Krys, as she pushed Thai towards the door.

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Hermione walked to Krys' room and she just laid on the extra bed. She lied there for a long time, before she got up.

"Okay Hermione. What should you say?" she asked herself. "Merlin- now I'm going mad." Krys' door knocked, and Hermione answered it. Ron was standing there, with his hands behind his back. "Hey."

"Hi." Ron said, standing there awkwardly. "Can I come in?" Hermione moved aside for Ron to step in.

"What's going on?" she asked. Ron shook his head, and sat on Krys' couch.

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"Um… sure. I should probably get changed." Hermione said. She walked to Krys' closet and picked something out. She put on a pair of Krys' Seven jeans and a green t-shirt. Hermione walked out and sat on the bed. "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing I just… wanted to hang out with you." said Ron. Hermione nodded.

"Lets go watch a movie." she said. Ron nodded, and followed after her as she walked out the door. They walked to Krys' movie room. Hermione walked to the selection and chose Freddie vs. Jason. "Krys was telling me about this movie, but- I never got around to it. I really don't care if you mind or not, so…" Ron laughed.

"Its okay. I don't mind." he said. Hermione shrugged.

"Oh- you know I'm just joking." she said. Ron nodded.

"I know." he said. "Plus- I stopped paying attention to you a long time ago." Hermione gave him the finger. "And there you go again with that finger."

"That's my business." When the movie started, they stood silent. Hermione watching the movie, and Ron watching her watch the movie. Finally, a scary part came up, and Hermione latched onto Ron's arm. They seemed to turn to each other at the exact same time. Hermione smiled slightly. Ron gave her a lopsided grin, then tucked a stray curl behind her ear. He then lightly brushed her cheek with his thumb, and placed his lips on hers. Her lips molded with his, as she moved closer to him. When they pulled apart, he looked at her. Suddenly a look of pure horror washed over his face. He fumbled over the seats, as he tried to get away from her. Before Hermione could say anything, Ron disapparated, and left her alone.

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Thai wrapped a towel around her waist and started to walk up to her room. She didn't even notice that Angel was following her until she started walking up the stairs. She ignored him, until she got to her room. She felt his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay- we kissed. It didn't mean anything. Big deal, right? You don't have to worry about Jennifer finding out- I won't tell." she said.

"Umm." he sounded.

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about your girlfriend finding out. Can you leave me alone now?" she asked, more harshly than she meant, as she walked into her room. She tried to close the door, but he stuck his foot out at the last minute.

"No- I can't leave you alone. And- it's not okay." he said, as she walked to the bathroom. She took a bath and washed her hair. When she left the bathroom, she had on a bathrobe and her hair was wrapped in a towel. Angel was lying on her bed.

"What are you still doing in here?" she asked.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"Oh- I'm sorry if I don't want you in the bathroom while I sing, 'Annie', in the shower. Get out of my room." she said, tapping her foot. He shook his head.

"No- I want to know why you're avoiding me. Tell me and I'll leave." he said.

"I'm not avoiding you. We're talking right now. See- _this_ is talking." she said. He laughed. "Can you leave now?" she asked. He shook his head.

"It's crazy how well I know you. When you're lying, you use sarcasm, and you tap your foot. Plus- your eye twitches." he said observantly. She huffed and walked over to her couch. She sat down.

"What do you want?" she asked calmly.

"To know why you're avoiding me." he said. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not avoiding you." she said. He smiled and his dimples appeared. Thai groaned and looked up at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?"

"Can you come back in after I get dressed?" she asked. He laughed and hopped off of her bed.

"I'll wait outside. I have to tell you something." he said as he walked out the door. Thai walked to the pajama drawer that Krys stocked for her. She didn't appreciate Krys because of what she bought her, but because of how much she seemed to care. Thai picked a pair of black boxers and a black camisole. She put lotion on and dried her hair. It started to fall into wavy curls after she put in her leave in conditioner. She put on the pajamas and pulled her hair back, into a regular ponytail. She put on lip gloss and opened the door. Angel was pacing outside of the door and stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed her.

"What happened? What did you want to tell me?" she asked, walking into her room. He followed behind her and sat on her bed. She lay down on her bed and started tossing a pillow in the air.

"I want to break up with Jennifer." he said. The pillow plopped on Thai's face and stayed there.

"Why?" asked her muffled voice. Angel lifted the pillow off of her face and put it behind his head. He lay down flat on the bed.

"I don't want to be with her. She's-"

"A bitch?" offered Thai. Angel looked at her and shook his head.

"No. She's…high maintenance. I never actually liked her. I like someone else. I was trying to get her to notice me." he said awkwardly. Thai turned to him, and lay on her side. Her eyes were squinted.

"So…is this new one, gonna hate me?" she asked, resting her head on her hand. He shook his head.

"No- I think she'll like you." he replied.

"So…when are you planning to ask her out?"

"I don't know. She- I'm nervous. I want this to work. She's special. I think- I think that- I love her." he said. Her eyes widened and she turned away from him. She hopped off the bed and lay on the couch.

"Love? You _love_ her? Who is she- what does she look like? No- I don't want to know. What do you need help with?" she asked as she calmed down.

"Yes. I _think_ love her. How do I ask her out?" Thai was still shocked. Angel in love? Did she want to sabotage his chances with a girl that he cares for, for her own selfish reasons? Did she want to hurt him? No- for both. No- she wanted him to be happy. She bit her lip and she gave him a smile.

"Well-, is she a '_hot piece of ass_', as Luis calls them? Because, if she's used to getting asked out, it'll be a bit tougher."

"She's definitely used to getting asked out. Guys _always_ ask her out. She's really smart. And-, its not, '_hot piece of ass_', its '_bad_'. She is definitely _bad_." She was getting nauseous thinking about this girl. Who was she?

"Ill- is that all that you want her for? I can't help you, if you only want her for her looks."

"No- it helps, a lot. But- I don't like her, because of her looks. She's just- so smart and well rounded. I like everything about her." he said, smiling. Thai rolled her eyes, and sighed.

"So what do you need help with, again?" she asked. He smiled.

"I need you, to help me ask her out. She makes me really nervous sometimes." Thai sat up and looked at him.

"Okay- that is a problem that I can handle. Talking to her, is easily fixed. Just pretend that you're talking to me." she said. Angel muttered something that she couldn't hear. She smiled at him and waved. "Hey, I'm…?" she trailed off. He looked thoughtful.

"Angelica." he said, after a moment. Thai smiled and nodded.

"Who is this girl?- Never mind. Hey, I'm Angelica." she said as she got up and walked towards him. She started laughing as she walked to him and ended up, rolling on the floor. Angel started poking her in her sides. Him poking her sides, rapidly turned into tickle torture. He straddled her and started tickling her mercilessly. "Stop- stop it." she said. He stopped, but stayed on top of her. Her breaths were ragged and short. "That's not even funny, because you know how ticklish I am. That was just a low blow." she said, pushing him off of her. He rolled to the floor and she hopped onto her bed. He hopped on also, after a minute. He started poking her again and she fought it. The outcome was different this time, Thai ended up on top of him. He poked her in the stomach and she rolled off of him and onto the floor.

"Thai are you okay?" he asked urgently. She was on the floor laughing. He started to chuckle also, until she pulled him onto the floor with her. He landed halfway on top of her. She wiggled from underneath him.

"So, what else should I know about this girl? How does she act- is she mature? Don't you need my approval as the best friend?" she asked, jokingly.

"I hope that I get your approval. I hope that you'll want me to date her, after you meet her." he said, smiling awkwardly. "I hope she'll like me." Thai looked at him and smiled.

"Of course she'll like you. You're perfect- other than your faulty choice of friends. You chose Luis. I doubt that she'll like me. God knows that Jennifer didn't."

"You and Jennifer were supposed to be best friends, what happened?" asked Angel. Thai laughed, and shook her head.

"Speaking of Jennifer- shouldn't you be writing her and telling her about wanting to dump her?" asked Thai. Angel's eyes widened.

"Could you write the letter for me?" he asked. Thai rolled her eyes, but she nodded. "Thank you. You're my favorite girl in the world." Thai laughed.

"You forgot to mention your mystery girl. I doubt that I'm as _bad_, as she is." she said. Angel nodded awkwardly. Thai smiled and got up. She picked up a book from her bookshelf and lay down on her bed to read. Angel sat on her bed and played with her feet. She had on toe socks, so it wasn't that uncomfortable, but it was still weird. That's when he started to tickle her foot. "I surrender. I surrender." she said. He straddled her.

"You have to say, 'Angel Reyes, is the man'." he said. Thai looked at him and smirked.

"No." she said. He continued to tickle her.

"Who's the man?"

"My daddy."

"No, who's the man."

"Angel Reyes is the man." she said dryly. He smiled and got off of her. She pinched his side and got on top of him. "You have to say, 'Krystathaili Paris, is the most brilliant girl in the world.'" she said. He smirked.

"Krystathaili Paris is the most brilliant, beautiful, and my _favorite_, girl in the world." he said. She rolled her eyes and got off of him. She tucked her leg under her and let the other swing.

"That wasn't hard to do though, was it?" she asked. He looked at her questioningly. "Lie through your teeth." He laughed and started tickling her some more. He straddled her once again.

"I meant it." he said, before leaning down and kissing her. She kissed back, and clasped her hands behind his neck. His hands started roaming and she pushed him back. "I'm sorry." he gushed. She shook her head.

"No- it's okay. You need to practice, getting rid of the awkwardness, for your dream girl." she said breathlessly, before pulling him down for another kiss. She pulled him closer and he groaned, before he ran his tongue over her bottom lip. She opened her mouth wider and his tongue battled hers. After a minute, he pulled back and started to trail kisses down to her neck. He bit down on flesh and she gasped. He traced light kisses, up to her ear and started to nibble on her earlobe. He pulled back and licked his lips. He was looking down at Thai, his eyes boring into hers. She closed her eyes and turned her head. He leaned back down, and started kissing along her jaw. He kissed up to her mouth and his lips started to caress hers. They were kissing, for what seemed like forever. She bit his bottom lip and pulled back. She was on top of him, his clothing were mussed and she knew that she looked a mess. "Practice seems to be needed." she said, composing herself. He looked at her weirdly for a minute, before he nodded frantically.

"Yeah- I just- I can't ask anyone but you." he said awkwardly. She nodded, and started to fix her hair.

"You look nice in lip gloss. It accentuates your seemingly feminine features." she said cheekily. He laughed and rolled over, so that she was no longer on top of him, but the other way around.

"All I heard of that is, 'I like kissing you, Angel'. Plus- I think the lip gloss looks better on you." he responded.

"It does. But- as for me and you kissing." she said. "It's strictly practice. You don't like me……. I don't like you." she lied, pushing him away. She moved out from underneath him. "Nobody needs to know about what we're doing. This is our business. Its for you, getting your dream girl- and me…..not having to hear you drone on about her." she said as she plopped down on her couch. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to her.

"You know that you like kissing me." taunted Angel. Thai looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. He leaned in and started to kiss her. He tickled her stomach with his hands, and pulled her closer. She pushed him away.

"You like kissing me, more than I like kissing you." she said breathlessly. He nodded.

"You're alright." he said nonchalantly. Thai laughed nervously.

"So what about this girl are you in like with? What- what does she look like?" asked Thai, looking at him intently. He smiled at the thought.

"She has reddish brown hair."

"_Mahogany_? She has _mahogany_ hair? Who has mahogany hair? What else?" asked Thai. On the inside it was killing her. But- it also made her happy, that he could find someone, that made him feel the way he made her feel. She smiled at the thought of him, at his happiest. She was so deep in thought that she started to twirl her mahogany hair.

"I believe, that she has the sexiest, most kissable lips, in the world. They're so perfect. And they match her face perfectly. They're pouty and pink, and they're always glossy." he said, he was licking his lips. His eyes traveled to her lips, as he unconsciously licked his some more. She used her hands to scrunch his lips together and gave him a small peck on the lips. He smiled.

"How do I compare?" she dramatically. He smiled. "How are my lips?" she asked jokingly. She stuck out her lips as much as she could, and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. He started to kiss her. His lips caressed hers softly. He ran his tongue over hers, begging for entry. She obliged, and opened her mouth wider. He slipped his tongue in, and started to massage hers. He closed his mouth slightly, and slowed the kiss down, by pecking her on the lips a few times.

"You're _alright_. Why do you taste like strawberry lollipops?" he asked, licking his lips.

"That's my lip gloss. Its made by the Charms company. The company that makes the blow pops. Why?" she asked. He shook his head. "So what else about your dream girl?" she asked.

"She has a perfect nose. Its just perfect. She has the type of nose, that most girls pay for. Its so cute- everything about her is sexy. Her nose is small and cute- its like a button nose. And she scrunches it up sometimes, and it's the cutest thing. It drives me crazy." he said. Thai laughed.

"That's kinda cute, kinda scary. There's no one else that you want to be with, at this point." she said. He nodded. "Okay- so what about her eyes?"

"She has the most beautiful eyes. Everything about her makes me crazy. And she is so smart. She's incredible- yet completely real, so she's credible." he said. Thai laughed.

"Okay- so here's what you do. If she's as incredible as you say that she is- I want you to date this incredible girl. She seems amazing and I'd love to meet her. So- lets ask Krys, if we can go shopping to get her something amazing. I think that- she would be lucky to date you, because you're amazing." said Thai, her voice cracking. She bit down hard, on her lip, to keep it from trembling and forced out a tight smile. "I'm not good at this type of thing."

"Of course you are. Aren't you the one that got that fat girl a date?" Thai laughed.

"So first, I think that you should develop a relationship with her. I think that it should be a flirty relationship. If its too platonic- it could take a while for it to develop into what you want it to be. What is it that you like about her the most?"

"Her intensity. She's intense in everything that she does. Everything that she does- she has to go through with it all the way. She never goes half-ass. I also love that she's completely crazy." he said. Thai chuckled and nodded.

"Okay- so is she uptight or outgoing or in between? Is she a high maintenance girl- like Jennifer, or does she go with the flow- like…Krys? Is she modest, is she conceited? Is she sweet, is she evil? I she pretty without sex appeal, or is she ugly with it? Or is it the contra positive? Is she all of the above? Is she none of the above? I need to know all of this." she said. She knew that she didn't need to know all about the girl to help him. She just wanted to know, desperately, what this girl had that she didn't.

"She is definitely modest- if she isn't, I've lost my chance already. She's selfless. She's sweet _and_ evil. She goes with the flow. She's pretty, with sex appeal. She can make me go crazy, just by laughing. But she is uptight and outgoing at the same time. When she relaxes she's funny." he said.

"Okay. Well- I'm feeling a bit awkward, now that you've stuck your tongue down my throat." she said smiling slightly. She used one of the classic Krys lines.

"So- you don't want to teach me how to kiss?" he asked.

"You know how to kiss. You've been kissing Jennifer-"

"We don't kiss. She sticks her tongue down my throat." he said. Thai nodded and made up her face.

"It sounds like too much mayonnaise being slopped around. Its horrible." she said, scrunching up her nose unconsciously. He smiled.

"Exactly- that's why I need someone that wont laugh at me when I disgust them." he said, almost pleadingly. Thai looked at him.

"You make it seem like I've kissed a bunch of people. Krys taught me how to kiss on an apple." said Thai. Angel laughed.

"An apple?"

"Do you want to learn on an apple?" she asked threateningly. He shook his head.

"I need the practice and you're good at it." he whined. She looked at him.

"Whatever- I just….forget it." she said. "Gentle- none of that hardcore, porno tongue." He chuckled, then sighed. "What's wrong with you? You want to stop this?" He shook his head.

"No- its not that. Its just that…she's so clueless. I've tried dropping the most obvious hints. She hasn't picked up on one of them." he said. Thai looked at him, and quirked an eyebrow. "Its obvious to everyone else but her."

"You sound like a girl. You should probably stop with that whole, 'dropping hints' thing. Make it obvious to her. You should just tell her. Don't tell her that you love her, right away. That's creepy- but, if you go and tell her that you like her. That's gold. Its such a cliché, that its cute- to me at least." she said.

"It isn't that simple. She's complicated. I could ruin everything- all future chances with her, with a few sentences."

"How do you know all of this? You're always with Jennifer. Unless- oh wow… I know who she is." she said.

"You do?" he questioned. She nodded.

"You like Robyn." she said.

"Get the fuck outta here- no. She's one of Jennifer's sisters. I would never." he said. "Plus- she's fifteen."

"And we're sixteen."

"I'm seventeen."

"Whatever. Whoever it is, she isn't as compassionate and wonderful as you say, if you can ruin all of your chances with a few simple sentences. Well- with compliments and good things to say. If you're so in love with her- you have two choices. You can either admire her from afar, like you're doing. Or you can take a chance, and probably end up better off."

"Thai, I've tried. She has to be the most clueless girl, ever. I've tried everything." he said. Thai laughed.

"Well- I'll help you get her to notice." Angel groaned. "I know its frustrating. We'll get her to notice." she said reassuringly.

"You sure?" he asked. She nodded and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sure." she said. "Plus- I'm sure she'll want to date you. You are after all, the most sexilicious man on the planet." she said jokingly.

"You forgot to mention that I'm the most kissable man on the planet." he said.

"I'm sorry. You are _definitely_ the most kissable man on the planet. Just- everything about you screams, 'sexy'." she said jokingly. He nodded, with a pout. She looked at him and frowned. She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. He smiled and pointed at his lips. She quirked her eyebrow. "What?" she asked.

"No kiss for me?"

"I just kissed you."

"You know what I mean." he said.

"I'm not your girlfriend. You can go to Jennifer or what's her name, to get kisses. I'll kiss you when I want to." she said. He smiled, and pointed at his lips again. She rolled her eyes and leaned forward. She captured his bottom lip and bit it gently. She caressed his lips with her own softly. He trailed his tongue over her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth wider. His tongue slid in her mouth and massaged hers. He pulled her body closer to his and rested his hands on her hips. Her hands trailed up his chest and rested at the top. His hands decided to roam and went under her shirt. He inched his hands up and she pulled away, blushing. "Oh Jesus. That went too far." she muttered as she ran towards her bathroom. Angel ran after her, and caught her around the waist.

"Thai, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." he said, looking down. She pulled away from him and nodded.

"Its okay." she said. "Listen, maybe you should go." Angel nodded.

"Yeah- I'll see you later." he said, before he walked out the door.

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After Thai left, Krys got up and walked to the kitchen. She put a clean spell on herself and started to eat some of the candy that she bought. She snapped her fingers and a book whizzed through the air and landed in front of her. She started to read. When she got to a really good part of the book, someone's hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who." said the voice behind her. Krys picked up another gummy worm and ate it viciously.

"Where's your fiancé?" she asked. Ares sat down next to her after pulling his hands off of her eyes. "Gummy worm?" Ares shook his head. Krys spun her stool to face him. She smiled at him, before his eyes flickered over her _beauty mark for the body_. "Listen- this has nothing to do with you but- this is the only way that I wont lose my temper." she said. Ares nodded.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The next time your fiancé makes a little petty, bitchy, cheeky, vilifying witticism- which is really meant for me, about my Thai, while she's in my house- I will kill her."

"Yeah- I'm sorry about that." said Ares. Krys shook her head.

"Its not for you to be sorry about. Just let your fiancé know. Where is she anyway?"

"She and Kay went to do some more wedding planning."

"So… you wanna go play basketball, then get to some hockey. They're all spending the night so… the kids will be okay."

"Yeah- I'm just gonna put on my stuff." said Ares. Krys nodded and Ares' eyes squinted. "Krys, what the hell? Is that the new tattoo that you got?" he asked, as he pulled her ponytail up higher. "Is the 'RIP' for your dad?" Krys nodded, then got up.

"I'll meet you here in about twenty minutes." she said. Ares got up after her.

"We're going in the same direction." he said. Krys laughed, and walked ahead of him. "You do know that you're walking around in a bathing suit, right? A bathing suit that's very, _very _suggest-"

"Loverboy- shut up." said Krys as she walked up the stairs.

"Why are you always wearing toe socks?" asked Ares. Krys looked back at him.

"I don't like my feet." she said.

"I do."

"Please don't become a toe sucking weirdo that has a foot fetish." said Krys. Ares laughed.

"Number one- I don't like _feet_… I like _your _feet." he said. Krys laughed. "They're like midget feet." Krys' eyes widened and she laughed. She finally ran up the rest of the stairs and walked to her room. She ran to her bathroom and took a shower. When she got out of her bathroom she ran to her drawer. She pulled out her black and blue Krys jersey and her matching basketball shorts. She ran to her closet and picked up her blue on black uptowns, then placed them at the foot of her bed. She put on lotion and a sports bra, then a t-shirt. Krys pulled on her matching jersey and shorts, then put on the sneakers. Her black toe socks went up to her knee, covering all leg. Krys pulled her hair back into a low ponytail, then walked downstairs to the kitchen. When she got there, Ares was already waiting for her. He smiled when he saw her. "What size _are_ your feet?" He was wearing a black t-shirt. His forearms were visible, and the tattoo was still there. Krys' eyes flickered to it, before she took in the rest of his appearance. His basketball shorts were black and red, so were the sneakers on his feet.

"A size four." said Krys, as she walked to the fridge. She pulled out two giant red Gatorades and two bottles of water.

"Do you have your inhaler?" asked Ares. Krys looked at him. "Krys- do you have it?" She shook her head.

"No-"

"Why not?"

"Because the only things that can really make me stop breathing are rats, dust, roaches- shit like that."

"Krys please. For me." he pleaded. Krys walked to one of the cabinets and pulled out her inhaler.

"I need to have at least one in every room." she said. Ares smiled, as she dragged him out to the backyard.

"I've never been here."

"Really?"

"You never brought me out here."

"Oh… well, you should at least hear the story about it." she said, as she set her inhaler and the drinks down at the sidelines. Ares nodded. "My dad taught me how to play basketball out here. I was horrible. I could only dribble and handle- I couldn't shoot worth a damn. That is, until you taught me." she said, as a ball showed up out of thin air. She passed him the ball.

"Are you sure you wanna do this? I mean- I know how you take losing." said Ares, as he started to dribble. Krys laughed and stole the ball from him. She made the shot and blew him a kiss. "I don't wanna play with you anymore." said Ares, as he got the ball. He passed the ball to Krys. She looked at him, then made the shot again. Ares ran to get the ball again. He started to dribble and walked backwards, when he bumped into Krys. She fell and he fell on top of her. He rolled off of her. "Are you okay? I'm- Krys, I'm so sorry." Krys rolled over, so that she wasn't face down anymore. "Are you okay?" She pointed to her knee urgently. Her sock was ripped and her knee was scratched.

"Ouch." she whined. Ares nodded and picked her up bridal style. He carried her into her kitchen and set her on the counter. He waved his wand and alcohol pads, hydrogen peroxide and band aids whizzed through the air. Ares ripped Krys' sock open some more, and looked at it.

"Okay- you've broken your ribs, arms, legs, your ankle- you've had every bone in your body broken, over and over again- we fell and the ice skate sliced you- yet you can't handle the scratch?"

"It burns." she whined. He smiled and started to pour hydrogen peroxide on, when Krys stopped him. "Wet socks are uncomfortable." she said, as she kicked off her shoe and pulled off her sock. Ares laughed. "What?"

"Your feet are _still_ _really_ small." he said, as he started to pour hydrogen peroxide on the scratch. Ares held her calf and outstretched her leg. He cleaned it again with the alcohol pad, ignoring Krys' whines about the burning. Krys looked at him. He put the band aid on her knee, then kissed it.

"That has to be the sexiest thing I've ever seen." said Krys. Ares laughed. "Nice Doctoring."

"Nice legs." retorted Ares.

"I know." said Krys. Ares laughed and opened his arms for a hug, as he stood in between Krys' swinging legs. Krys hugged him, then pulled back after a while. "Maybe you won't mangle me while we play hockey."

"Hockey is one of the most brutal sports, and I said I was sorry." whined Ares. Krys laughed, as he picked her up and carried her to her room. When they got in the room, he threw her on the bed. "Oh God- flashback." Krys' eyes and mouth widened in shock.

"Dude- none of that." she said. Ares laughed. "Listen- I'm about to get dressed-"

"Oh- then, I'll go-"

"You don't have to go. I'm going." said Krys as she walked into her closet. She put on a hot pink hoodie under her black fitted t-shirt. Her flare jeans were black, and she wore pink and black airmax. She put on a pink and black scarf, with matching earmuffs, gloves and a hat. She straightened her hair and cut it into layers, as her black and pink skully hat was worn under the earmuffs. Her scarf was wrapped around her neck, then she had the rest on either side of her neck. The set was a solid black with hot pink horizontal lines. Krys put on a small black girls Northface, picked up their black skates and walked out of her closet. She threw her skates over her shoulder and held his in her hand. Ares was sitting on her couch.

"Don't you look adorable." said Ares. Krys chuckled nervously and sat down on her bed.

"Aren't you gonna get dress?" she asked him. He got up and nodded.

"I'll be back in a minute." he said. Krys nodded and moved to her couch. Ares came back a few minutes later in black jeans, a blue button down shirt, and black Tims.

"You wanna go shopping tomorrow?"

"I can't take anything more from you, Krys." he said, as he checked his watch for the time. Krys' eyes widened as she saw the watch that she gave him for their first Christmas together.

"Yeah you can." said Krys. "Lets just call it a graduation gift."

"Krys-"

"Ares, lets go." said Krys. He nodded, and they walked out of the house. "We're walking."

"Okay." he said, as they walked out of the gate.

"I wanted to buy Thai a car for her eighteenth birthday, but- I don't want to spoil her or make her parents… you know- I don't know."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't want to spoil her."

"You don't spoil her. You just buy her the essentials in… _bulks_ and _excess_."

"Yeah- I mean. My dad- I guess he wanted to make me feel better about… everything. So- he started to buy me things. And by that point- I was so screwed up that I never actually asked him for anything. He just bought me things and when I got my Levebons letter, I asked him for that."

"That's one of the reasons that we couldn't believe that you were an heiress. You were so… you weren't spoiled. You were down to earth." he said. Krys smiled.

"And now I'm a shopaholic."

"So… about that thing with spin the b-"

"Its good." said Krys. "She doesn't know, right?"

"I never actually came out and said that we used to- but-"

"This is an uncomfortable conversation." said Krys. Ares laughed.

"She just- I guess she suspects- I guess she- because we're not-"

"Ares… its okay. I'm over it… you should be too." said Krys. Ares smiled.

"You're not over it." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Who are you to tell me if I'm over it or not?" she asked.

"You're not. I know you."

"No you don't. I don't even know me."

"That may be true, but- _I_ know you." Krys looked at him.

"Stop saying that." she said. "I always hoped to think that I was a complex person that took people years to study."

"How do you think I know you now?" asked Ares, as he lifted their skates off of her shoulder. "I wouldn't want you to be lopsided." Krys laughed.

"What happened to you?" she asked. Ares looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you used to be this PPG."

"And that means?"

"_Pimp Player Gangster _Dude from Torrance."

"Did you just say _Gangster_?" asked Ares.

"I've been in England too long. But that's besides the point… the point is… you're dressing like a preppy." she whined. Ares laughed. "I'm afraid that I'll wrinkle you."

"I didn't say anything when you showed up at my house in the outfit, did I? _You_ looked like a preppy."

"But- do I look like a preppy now?"

"No. But, you don't look like a Krys either."

"What does that mean?"

"You changed also."

"Yeah, but I _had_ to change. Otherwise I-"

"I had to change too."

"No- you _were_ _changed_."

"And the difference?"

"Someone else made you do it."

"So, I shouldn't dress for success?"

"I'm not saying that. I completely get you dressing for work, school and events where its necessary. I'm asking what or who you're dressing for now."

"No one and nothing."

"Well- what's the point? What success are you dressing for right now? We're going to a private rink where a bunch of ritzy rich teenagers hang out. What's the point?"

"I like to present myself in a manner where no one can say anything to me-"

"I bet that if we went to your old court. The court that you used to play in with Jason and Heat. A lot of people would have something to say." Ares looked at her for a moment.

"You're doing this just so that we can argue, aren't you?" he asked. Krys smiled.

"I guess you do know me." she said. Ares laughed. "Dude- you're wearing jeans and a button down, with Tims. How can I call you preppy? But hey- what about what you said to me?"

"I meant every word of it." said Ares. Krys looked at him, then jumped on his back. Ares continued to walk normally.

"Are you cold?"

"No, are you?"

"A little bit. I think that's just because I don't have on my usual layers." Ares started to rub her legs. "That's giving me an irritation." He laughed, but continued.

"You remember what you said about the rink? You know- how rich teenagers chill there." Krys nodded. "Isn't that the rink that you usually go to?"

"Shut up."

"That would've made you a ritzy rich teenager."

"But I wasn't a brat."

"Yeah you were. I spoiled you rotten." teased Ares.

"Which is pretty much why I'm ruined for any other man."

"Don't blame that on me."

"Yeah- I forget. I've been ruined since birth."

"No you haven't. Your one problem is that you're completely out of your mind." Krys laughed.

"What time is it?"

"Six." said Ares.

"The day passed by fast."

"That's because you're with me."

"Whatever you wanna tell yourself." said Krys. "Loser."

"I'm a winner. You're a loser."

"I thought I was too pretty to be a loser."

"Who told you that?"

"You did. My last day at Levebons."

"Which one? Was it when you were moving to England? Or when you came back because-"

"When I was finally moving to England."

"Oh- well, that was when I liked you." joked Ares. Krys laughed.

"You didn't just like me. You _loved_ me." she teased.

"Isn't it wonderful that we can joke about this?" said Ares monotonously. "Especially after you brutally dumped me."

"I did not brutally dump you. This conversation is over."

"No, its not." said Ares, as they approached the skating rink. Krys hopped off of his back.

"Trust me- it is."

"You don't want to talk about it, fine. That's why we have so many unresolved issues. That's why our whole relati-"

"_You_ have unresolved issues. I don't have a problem. I think that our relationship is fine-"

"You're right. The relationship is _completely_ fine." Ares said sarcastically.

"Glad we're both on the same page." said Krys, as she dragged him into the building. They walked to the desk and got a locker, two hockey sticks and a puck. Krys sat down and put on her skates, Ares did the same. Then he took their shoes and coats and put them in the locker. When he was done, he sat down beside her on the bench. Krys turned to him. "Listen- there are-, _were_ a lot of things going on. I didn't want to break up with you back then- but, I did it because I had to. But, look at you now. You're getting married to this… pretty, smart mouthed, _materialistic… _all around… _bitch_. You've obviously moved up, and risen your standards." Ares laughed. "I am sorry for- I loved you… _love_ you. But- we were _always_ better as friends. Forgive me?"

"You just called my fiancé a bitch."

"I didn't ask all of that. I asked if you forgave me."

"Oh- well, yeah. Of course I forgive you. You just used the 's' word."

"Yeah… _sorry_." said Krys as she picked up the stick and puck. Ares followed her onto the ice. Krys looked around. "There's no one here." said Krys as she started to glide on the ice.

"Yeah- I can see that." said Ares, as he followed her.

"Why is it that there's never anyone here while we are?" Krys turned to him and started to skate backwards.

"I don't know." said Ares, as he started to skate towards her.

"You can finally skate." teased Krys. Ares playfully glared at her. "I'm just kidding." She skated over to him and took his hand. She started to skate around him with his hand in hers, so he had to spin. "And soon you'll be able to do a triple loop and a Lutz."

"Can you?"

"I haven't been able to, since I was seven. Triple loop- I tried it a few times, never got it. But once- when I was sixteen around Christmas break, Hermione and I went to this rink and I did it." she said, as she continued to skate around him. Ares grabbed her hand and pulled her so that she slammed into his chest. "Ouchie." Ares laughed, and Krys pulled away to glare at him playfully.

"That didn't hurt." he said.

"It did. It just didn't kill me. That's because you're not built, like Jason. If you were, it'd have hurt more." Ares pouted. "You know how they say that, _all of the good ones are either taken or gay_?" He nodded. "Its true."

"Are you referring to me?" asked Ares, as he pointed to himself. Krys smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I am referring to you." she mocked. "You're greater than you know."

"You know how they say, _absence makes the heart grow fonder_?" Krys nodded. "They are _completely_ right."

"So- you wanna go see Emily?" asked Krys. Ares shook his head.

"I was talking about you."

"Oh. Well- I'd be lying my ass off, if I said that I didn't miss you."

"Don't do that." said Ares seriously.

"Oh- I'm sorry."

"Honestly- if your ass got smaller, you'd no longer be the Krys that I know so well." Krys slapped him on the arm.

"That's enough out of you." she said as she put the puck on the floor. "Look at me."

"Okay."

"Alright- so, what did I teach you the last time?" Ares shot the puck and made the goal. "Okay- then, you know how to skate with the puck. Block with it. Protect it. Make the shot. What else do you need?"

"I don't know." said Ares. "Lets play." Krys shook her head.

"Lets make a deal."

"What?"

"You miss the shot- you tell your mom and _Tia_, the truth."

"About what?"

"I didn't mean that. I meant- stand up for yourself. You love Emily. You want to marry her. Let it be known. Stand up for your relationship with her."

"I love you, Krys." said Ares. "You're the only one that should be remotely pissed about my wedding to Emily- yet you're the only one that's doing anything for it."

"If she makes you happy, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. And, if she makes you happy, I'm all for it." Krys said reluctantly. "Deal?" Ares nodded.

"Um- okay." he said.

"Okay- if you make the shot- you don't tell them. If you miss it… you have to tell them." she said as she skated to the goal post. Ares skated towards her and shot the puck. Krys didn't move, she just watched it go in. Ares skated to her with wide eyes.

"I made it?" Krys nodded.

"You made it." she said. "I guess you don't have to tell them." she said, feigning disappointment. Ares smiled.

"Yeah- but, I'm going to." he said. Krys smiled to the best of her ability. "Tomorrow." Krys started to skate around the rink and Ares watched her. When she got close to Ares, she skidded the ice. Ares laughed. "You hungry?"

"Are you?" Ares nodded. Krys smiled and stuck out her hand. Ares looked at it before he took it. Krys led him off the ice, then walked over to the coffee shop in the food court.

"Um… you sit. I'll get everything." said Ares. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said, as she handed him her wallet. He shook his head.

"No, its okay." he said, as he walked to the counter. He came back a few minutes later with some drinks and a little bag. He handed one of the drinks and the bag to Krys, then he sat down.

"So… wow- I still can't believe that you're getting married."

"Why not?"

"The truth?"

"In the words of Kryssie Rodriguez, '_that's always a good place to start_'." Krys playfully glared at him.

"I don't think its-"

"Krys, just tell me."

"I don't-"

"Krys."

"Um… well- you know how you said that your mother always had it planted in her mind that we'd end up together?" said Krys. Ares nodded. "Yeah. I always knew you were gonna marry someone else." she joked. "No, I'm joking. I just thought it was a passing breakup."

"Wow."

"Uh-huh. Well- then I got over you and started to fantasize about Jay Hernandez again."

"Wow… I got replaced."

"So did I."

"Yeah but-"

"But nothing." Krys said jokingly, as she opened the bag. She smiled when she saw what was inside. She went in the bag and pulled out a heart shaped cookie. "Dude- this is completely… I don't know what to say. You got me a cookie that reminds me of the night we-. This is uncomfortable again."

"I'm not uncomfortable." said Ares.

"Well I am." said Krys. Ares laughed. "Ares and Emily Delgado. That sounds nice."

"Yeah- I'm still kind of nervous. From what she's saying, we can get the wedding rolling by this weekend. I just hope that I'm doing the right thing." Krys laughed. "What?"

"You wouldn't have proposed, if you thought you weren't doing the right thing. You've always been the good, sissy virgin boy. Now- you're the not so sissy, not so virgin _man_- but you're still very good." Ares laughed.

"What makes you say that?" he asked. Krys smiled.

"I was just joking, but-. Most guys are supposedly afraid of commitment. You weren't."

"No- that's not true. I was scared out my ass."

"Well-"

"It took me six years to tell you."

"Big deal. We walked into the relationship with commitment." Ares looked at her.

"Isn't that why you dumped me the first time?"

"No- the reason we broke up the first time, was because there was fear that you'd find someone better. Hence- when you started to date my cousin." Ares glared at her, and she put her hands up defensively.

"And the second time?"

"Because-… listen, it was just one of those days. You know, that a girl goes through. When I was angry inside, I didn't wanna take it out on you." Ares laughed.

"You have to take direct quote from a Monica song?"

"You know it." Ares laughed. "Listen- if I think about it… I have no idea why I broke up with you then." she lied. "What did I say to you?"

"I don't wanna be with you anymore." Krys chuckled nervously and Ares laughed. "Don't worry. I'm over it."

"Good. But-"

"You don't have to explain anything."

"Ares, if I thought that you felt that I _should_ explain, I wouldn't've started to."

"Must you _always_ be so difficult?"

"You know it. Born renegade."

"So… you started to explain."

"I changed my mind."

"Just like a woman to do that."

"I'm-"

"Not a woman?" offered Ares. Krys laughed.

"I prefer the word _female_." said Krys. "Or girl."

"What's wrong with the word woman? Don't most _females_ strive for the word woman?"

"Have I ever been like most females? So… are you still a big perv?" Ares laughed.

"When was I ever a pervert?"

"You turned into a pervert in third year. Fourth year, pervert. Fifth year, it was a mix. Sixth year, pervert. Seventh, sensitive. Summer of seventh year, pervert. And I loved it." Ares laughed.

"That was your fault." he said.

"What?"

"When we were younger. You screwed me up-"

"How?"

"You used to just say things to me. Remember that time- the summer before fifth year? When we went to your house. And A.J and Jason were alone the whole day. You and me were walking through the house. You used to just say some _off the wall _shit that screwed me up."

"Like what?"

"Okay- on the train- I said that I didn't think it was a good idea to stay at your house without adults. You said- and I quote, '_you think that I'll use you, then throw you away like a cheap piece of tape?_'" Krys laughed.

"Oh please- you came up with, '_you know, I've heard you say that before. But- in the dream, you ripped off my clothes, then we started to kiss._' That's your pervy line. I didn't provoke that." Ares laughed. "Then- then, you kissed me, and said that you didn't."

"Oh please. That's was our thing. Like in sixth year, the day before you left. The only time I didn't say it was when you came back."

"Then, before we got back together, we started that again."

"Yeah."

"So, what about your bachelor party?"

"What about it? I'm not having one."

"What? Why not?"

"Jason is too busy."

"Well- get Harry or Ron to do it." said Krys.

"They're also very busy with their girlfriends. By the way, how are things with Ron and Hermione?"

"I don't know. They're… I don't even know. I've been spending all my free time with you. Speaking of which, when are you leaving my house? You know I don't want you there." she joked. Ares chuckled slightly, then looked at her.

"So… have you been dating anyone?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"How many times have we danced with this subject?" she asked.

"This would be the third time."

"Well- what are your questions?"

"Have you been seeing anyone? Is there anything serious? Is there any_one_ serious? Has there been anyone since we broke up?" Krys looked at Ares, who was counting off the questions on his hand.

"Does it look like I've been dating anyone?"

"Yeah."

"Well then." said Krys, as she took off her hat, and put her earmuffs around her neck.

"So… who is he?" he asked tentatively. Krys ran her hand through her hair, and rested her elbow on the table. "Did you love him?" Krys nodded.

"Yeah, I loved him. Actually, I still do." she said, as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked down, wiped it away, then looked back up.

"What happened?"

"He died." Ares stayed silent for a while.

"Oh…Krys, I'm sorry-"

"You didn't kill him." she said, as she attempted to smile.

"What was his name?" Krys looked down and started to play with her cup.

"Mark….listen, can we not talk about this anymore?"

"Yeah- I-"

"Ares, I'm okay." she said. She looked up. "Hey, how about we go to Toys R Us and we buy a few bikes for a wheelie contest tomorrow?"

"Okay- but, I don't want you letting me win."

"That was only a few times."

"Why did you, anyway?"

"Because I liked you." said Krys, before she got up. "Listen, lets go skate." She walked over to the ice, and started gliding across the ice. Ares watched her in amusement. He finally decided to follow her, when she called him over. When he stepped on the ice, Krys skated to him and took his hand. She pulled him, while skating backwards. "When I first met my dad-"

"Which one?" asked Ares. Krys laughed.

"Joshua." she said. "When I first met him, we came here. You know- after dinner. He started to teach me to skate- and I was holding the ledge and all of a sudden, he and Tati took my hands, and just glided across the ice. I know the story isn't very interesting… but, it's the first time that I remember something going smoothly. So… that's my real reason for coming here. Not because it's a good rink- not even because its in the neighborhood… but because, as soon as I step on this ice, I remember gliding." She held Ares' hands and glided across the ice.

"That sounds like after my dad left. Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Jizelle took me and Jason on broom rides. It was just a starry night. I kind of felt the same way. Just like- when you're riding your bike on a bunch of bumps and cracks, then you hit a new cement pavement." Krys turned to him, but continued to skate and pull him along.

"Rock on, with the lyrical soul." she said. Ares smiled at her. "You know- when I was younger, I used to think that everything was a promotion or a demotion. I thought that you went from sperm to egg, fetus to baby, toddler to child, teen to adult, elder to spirit. I basically figured that if you screwed up as a teenager, you'd be demoted to child. Then I thought that it was like an angel council. You remember in Mulan?"

"I didn't watch Mulan."

"I have it. We should watch it. Well- her ancestors had this type of council thingy. And- they all voted on things. I figured that that was what happened. I didn't believe in life and death. I basically believed that people were promoted." said Krys. She looked at Ares, who was looking back at her. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" He nodded.

"I do. But- not because of this." he said. Krys smiled and continued to pull him along the ice with her.

"Tell me something." she said. Ares sped up so that he was next to her.

"What do you want me to tell you?" he asked.

"I don't know. Just something. Something real."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. What you want to do. What's gonna happen with your life." she said.

"I don't know what'll happen from here. I don't know what Emily and I are gonna do once we get married."

"Well- where are you gonna live?"

"Emily's place."

"And that is where?"

"London."

"Ah. Cool- so, when's the '_moving-to-the-countryside-house-buying_' thing, gonna go down? Or- the minivan soccer mom thing?" Ares laughed. "Did you talk to her about the kids?"

"Yeah."

"And…"

"She said that she'd rather adopt and hire a nanny."

"Ah- so what was it? She doesn't like kids- or she's just used to the nanny thing?"

"I guess she just doesn't like kids and she doesn't want her body to go to waste."

"Ooh- speaking of kids. I have to pick up Jamie and Angel, next weekend."

"Did you ever book those plane tickets?"

"Yeah. I got them booked already. First class. Oh, and what about your honeymoon?" Ares groaned.

"Oh God. She wants me to take her to this expensive ass hotel called, some bullshit. I think it's the Montpelier Royale. And its- in the goddamn south of France." Krys laughed.

"Well- where do _you_ wanna go?"

"I don't want to go anywhere. She's been to France before."

"If you had to choose a place- where would you go?"

"Florida."

"Why?"

"Disneyworld and Universal Studios- Island of Adventure. Shouldn't honeymoons be fun? Remember when we went to Florida?" Krys nodded.

"But wouldn't it be fun in the south of France? You know- doing what _married people_ do?"

"_We_ weren't married when we did it but-" Krys punched him on the arm. "Ouch. Yeah- but, she's not like you."

"What do you mean?" asked Krys.

"She doesn't want to do it every minute of the day-" Krys punched him on the arm again. "She wouldn't wanna do that. She wants to sightsee and buy shit. She wants to buy muggle France."

"You forgot Mystery Dinner- ooh and Blizzard beach. Plus- plus, Downtown Disney." Ares laughed.

"See- that's fun. If we're not gonna- I wanna have some fun. And I don't wanna be in the south of France."

"Well- maybe that's where she's always wanted to go."

"She's been to the south of France before. Her parents made her nanny take her wherever she wanted to go." Krys skidded the ice and stopped instantly, before Ares bumped into her. Krys fell on her butt and Ares landed next to her. They both laughed hysterically, but stayed on the floor. Krys finally spoke once she calmed down.

"So… just tell her that you wanna go somewhere else. You guys are gonna be married- isn't that communication _thing_ supposed to be a key factor?"

"Krys, she's not like that. That whole talking thing doesn't work, unless there's a bracelet or a necklace involved. My pockets are emptying, just talking about her." Krys looked at him.

"That was corny." she said. He nodded.

"It was." he said.

"It really was." Ares glared at her playfully.

"I got that." he said.

"Well- maybe you could've saved money by skating on her ring."

"That was corny."

"I did it for you." said Krys. Ares laughed. "If she's such a gold-digger, why are you marrying her?"

"Because… I love her." said Ares. Krys nodded.

"That ring you got her was nice, though."

"Thanks."

"Nice haggling." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"What?" he asked. "How do you- you knew wh-?"

"Of course I knew. I know everything. That ring was very…"

"Expensive as hell." offered Ares. Krys smiled.

"It was nice." she said.

"Yeah- well, it was nothing compared to the ring I got you." muttered Ares, as he looked down.

"What ri- hey, dude. Do you wanna get up? This ice is making me uncomfortable." said Krys, as she tried to hop up. She ended up slipping, and breaking her fall with her hands. Ares laughed, and picked her up by her waist. "You know what?" said Krys, as she started to glide again.

"What?" asked Ares, who was skating next to her.

"Tell her the truth."

"Which is?"

"You're a bum." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"I'm not a bum." he whined. Krys laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, you are. What you need, is a Sugar Momma. You know- shake it a little, for an old lady who'll pay you reasonably well."

"I still can't believe you called me a bum."

"I was joking. But- you should tell her the truth."

"That the ring cost me a hell of a lot. As is the wedding that I'm _trying_ to pay for. _Trying_ is the operative word."

"Wait- why are you paying for the wedding? Isn't the brides family supposed to pay for the wedding?"

"Not when they don't like the groom."

"Well- why don't they like you?"

"I don't know."

"Well- what did her dad say when you met him?"

"He looked at me, huffed, then continued to read his paper." Krys laughed. "Its not funny."

"Yes it is. Have you thought over your situation?"

"No."

"_No_? Well here it is. You're marrying a woman that none of your family likes. None of her family likes you. You have no money, no job, no place to live. You're supposed to pay for this wedding. _Once_ _again_, you have no job, no money, no place to live. On top of that, you have one of those money-oriented, materialistic girls, who is gonna make sure that before you have your heart surgery, you've bought her Gucci shoes. What are you gonna do?"

"Die in debt." said Ares, as he dramatically skated into the wall. Krys laughed, and skated to him.

"Listen to it." she said, as she turned him around. He looked at her.

"Listen to what?"

"The silence. Ares, this wedding is gonna be like a ride on the broom." said Krys. "That sounds _really,_ wrong when I think about it."

"Shut up." said Ares, his voice full of laughter. Krys looked at him with her eyebrow raised.

"Anyway-, its gonna be bumpy while you're planning. But, that doesn't matter because, all you have to do is imagine Emily walking down the aisle, in that very expensive wedding dress and tiara- then it'll start to sail smoothly."

"Don't you always know what to say to make me feel better." said Ares. Krys smiled.

"That's my job." she said, as she started to walk off of the ice. Ares followed her.

"What're we doing?"

"Going to sit and discuss your financial crisis." she said, as she walked to the locker. She pulled a notebook and pen out, then walked to a table. Ares sat down across from her. Krys tied up her hair and pulled out her glasses. She put them on in the strict teacher position. Ares looked at her. She started to skim the paper with her pen. "Okay- listen. I have everything needed for a wedding on this paper." she said, as she pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to him. "I have all of your financial information on this paper." she said, as she held up another paper. "If you take out a…fourth of the money in your account and convert it, you can… just about pay for a normal wedding. Unfortunately for you- you had to propose to the _crème de la crème_. So…you'd have to take out double your account _and_ more, to pay for her wedding." Ares groaned and started to bang his head on the table. "What are you gonna do? She wants an open bar, crème brûlée, crème caramel soaked in crème de cacao, and a white chocolate wedding cake soaked in crème de menthe. All of which is very expensive."

"Okay… we won't invite that many people." said Ares. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Oh Ares. _Sweet_, _naïve_ Ares." patronized Krys, as she pinched his cheek. "There are a hundred and five from her side…and about twenty two- twenty three people on your side."

"I don't even know fifty people- how can she have a hundred and five people?"

"Well- here's what we know. There's gonna be Chablis, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Vermouth, Chardonnay, Merlot, Asti Spumante, and regular Sauvignon. Not to mention the ever wonderful champagne and liquor. Then- an abundance of crème de menthe and crème de cacao will have to be bought- but… it all depends on where you get it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean- these wines are all so wonderful because they're foreign. Chablis- disgusting. Cabernet- disgusting. Bordeaux is alright. Vermouth- is not wonderful, its okay. Sauvignon is alright. Chardonnay is nasty. If she wants all of that- we should just go to our territory and get some damn wine coolers and beer, then put them in a ritzy ass bottle. They'll be happier." Ares laughed.

"I don't drink." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Oh yeah. Well- get some sparkling cider. That's what I drink every New Years Eve. I don't get the point of drinking anyway. But- just… tell her about the money."

"Okay. I'm gonna try." he said. "What else do we know?"

"She wants to serve lamb in bordelaise sauce."

"What the hell is that?"

"Sauce from Bordeaux. Is she an alcoholic?" Ares laughed and shook his head. "Just asking." Ares looked at her. "Have you ever seen Lamb Chop?"

"The show?" Krys nodded.

"I love the song that never ends." Ares' eyes widened.

"Please, don't sing." he said. Krys looked at him.

"I won't." she said. Ares breathed a sigh of relief. "You're mean."

"You'll sing it, until you don't like it anymore- which could take a while." Krys got up and walked to the ice. She stood at the walk-in and waited for him. Ares went on the ice with her. "Hey- what's the Greek alphabet again?"

"Alpha- Beta- Gamma- Delta- Epsilon- Zeta- Eta- Theta- Iota- Kappa- Lambda- Mu- Nu- Xi- Omicron- Pi- Rho- Sigma- Tau- Upsilon- Phi- Chi- Psi- Omega." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"Slowly, please." he said. Krys laughed.

"Alpha. Beta. Gamma. Delta. Epsilon. Zeta. Eta. Theta. Iota. Kappa. Lambda. Mu. Nu. Xi. Omicron. Pi. Rho. Sigma. Tau. Upsilon. Phi. Chi. Psi. Omega." she said, doing a spin and stance each time she said a different letter. Ares laughed. "Slow enough?"

"Must you mock me?"

"Damn right." she said. "You don't expect me to take you seriously, do you?"

"You're mean."

"No I'm not. I'm nice and sweet and adorable and loving and cute."

"Who told you that?"

"You."

"Oh God." said Ares. "What did I drink that night?" Krys laughed.

"I'm just joking. Henry told me that." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Henry? Who's Henry?"

"Brookes."

"So- you guys are on a first name basis?"

"We were friends. We went to the dance together."

"Oh." said Ares. "And- _friends_ tell other _friends_ that they're sweet, loving, cute and- what was the other one?"

"Adorable." said Krys.

"Oh- _adorable_." he muttered sardonically.

"And- he said it- so, yeah- I guess friends say that to other friends. I mean- you used to say it."

"Yes, but-"

"But, what?" asked Krys, as she turned to him.

"I never clustered them. I gave you lovely one day- then perfect the next." rationalized Ares. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. "Very good rationalization. I like it. Maybe if Emily invites me to her bridal shower-"

"Oh God." said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"What?"

"Emily wants a bridal shower?" Krys laughed.

"That's not gonna cost you anything. Its Kay's job to throw it. And even if you do pay- its only a bit of food and some drinks, with some shitty party games. The women bring the gifts."

"Krys, this is Emily that we're talking about. She probably wants it to be in the Plaza Hotel."

"Well… that's doable. That's _very_ doable. I have a few friends and if you want-"

"No."

"Okay. I'm sorry I offered."

"Krys, its not that."

"No, its okay. I understand."

"I don't get why you feel that you should help her. You're too nice. Especially when she doesn't like you."

"That makes me feel better."

"Its true. I don't get why you're doing this for her." said Ares. Krys stopped gliding, and Ares stopped also. She turned to him.

"Why do you think it was so important to me, that A.J and your mom liked me?" she asked, Ares shrugged. "Because, they were your life. You once told me that A.J was the most important girl in your life. I just figured that if _they_ liked me… then there wouldn't be an instance, where they would persuade you to kick me out of your life."

"That's stupid. No one could get me to kick you out of my life. And- my mother loves you more than she loves me." Krys laughed. "And A.J- that girl- I don't even know what to say. I think she loves you more that she loves me too."

"Well- I am wonderful." said Krys. Ares laughed.

"You're alright."

"So… what does it feel like to be in love?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're in love now. How does it feel?"

"You say it like I've never been in love before."

"I'm just saying that-"

"You're saying how does it feel, like I've never been in love before. You're saying it like-"

"Ares, shut up! I'm asking if you have that, '_food tastes better, colors are more intense, everything is wonderful_' feeling. That's all I wanna know."

"Oh. Well-… yeah, I guess." he said unenthusiastically. "She makes me… happy."

"Happy?"

"Yeah, _happy_."

"Doesn't everyone always talk about this, '_food doesn't taste as good unless you're near, when I'm not with you, I'm not me_' feeling? I mean- isn't it supposed to be that magical, '_everything is alright, the tough times are just things to laugh about in the future_' happiness? Shouldn't it be these exhilarating, ecstatic, elating, thrilling, life fulfilling moments? I mean- when I think about how exhilarated- how happy high I want you to be… I don't think of you saying _happy_. I think of you being tongue tied, fucked up, and pissy drunk on _love_."

"Wasn't that a delicately sweet and feminine way to put it?" said Ares, sarcasm edging his voice. Krys laughed.

"I want you to feel like that." she said. "I need for you to feel like that, to be happy."

"That's a seemingly imaginative feeling. Its nearly impossible to feel that way twice." said Ares. "I was dumb enough to feel it once- and, when it gets taken away, you feel like you'll die. So, its best that you don't go back to it. It's a good thing that Emily doesn't make me feel that way. And the feeling is right- so, you can live happy." Krys nodded. They didn't say anything for a while. Ares took Krys' hand and squeezed it. "I like the feeling, Krys. You don't have to worry about my happiness. Honestly." Krys looked at him and smiled.

"I wanna be an M&M." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Why?"

"Because they get to be chocolate. And everyone wants them. M&M's are very good- and… I have this hypothesis."

"What is it?"

"If an M&M throws up, then it tastes like chocolate." Ares closed his eyes and looked up, before he burst out into laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Krys… you are the only sane person I know, that would ever say some shit like that." Krys looked at him.

"Who was your first kiss?" she asked.

"Ashley Martinez." Ares said, as he nodded. Krys looked at him.

"You told me that nothing ever happened with you two." she said. Ares nodded.

"It wasn't like we did anything. She kissed me, then walked off."

"The chick who _couldn't keep her hands off of you_ on the court?" Ares nodded and Krys laughed.

"What about you?"

"Do you mean _real kiss_ or kiss?"

"Well, Krys- if we're talking about real kisses-"

"Which one did you tell?"

"Kiss." said Ares. Krys nodded understandingly.

"Who was your first _real kiss_?"

"Well- what do you mean '_real kiss_'? Do you mean- it meant something or _tongue-hand-up-the-shirt-no feelings_?" Krys laughed.

"Both- either or." she said.

"The first real kiss, where it meant something to me, was in my sixth year."

"With _who_?"

"_You_." said Ares. Krys nodded understandingly.

"What about tongue?" she asked excitedly. Ares looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"That would be…… Olivia."

"You kissed _Olivia_? Olivia _Truman_? The big bitch who was so against muggleborns?"

"Yup. My third year."

"Wow. She was a pedophile. Way to be." Ares laughed.

"Next thing, you'll hand me a cigar and try to give me the sex talk." he said. Krys looked at him. "But then again, we've already had the sex talk." Ares was wiggling his eyebrows. It took everything for Krys not to laugh. Instead, her eyes narrowed.

"_Ill_. When I think about it now- I just wanna- ugh." she mock gagged. Ares laughed.

"You know you still want me." he said. Krys laughed.

"You know it." she said, as she nodded. Ares smiled. "Hey- you ready to go?"

"Are you?" She nodded. "Then- lets go." Krys nodded, then skated around the rink two times. When she got to Ares she skidded the ice. "Hey, you didn't tell me who your first kiss was."

"Um- for all of them, it was you." she said, as she started walking to the locker. "You were my first kiss on the cheek from a guy. You were my first peck on the lips from a guy. You were my first snog session with a guy. You were my first-. Yeah, lets stop talking about all of that." Ares nodded.

"Okay." he said, as he opened the locker. She gave Krys her shoes and jacket, then he took out his things. Krys took out her cell phone and called a taxi.

"I don't feel like walking home." she said, while she was on the phone. He nodded, as he put on his shoes.

"Okay." he said. When she was off of the phone, she turned to him.

"You still baking my cake today?" she asked.

"Um- I can't. Maybe tomorrow?" he said. Krys nodded.

"Of course. I just don't know who would pass up a chance to be with this." she said jokingly, as she pointing at herself.

"What must I be thinking?" he bantered. Krys laughed and took off her shoes. Ares looked at her foot and laughed. "I forgot you don't only wear toe socks." Krys pointed her foot. She was wearing Cosmo socks. (The green fairy from the Fairly OddParents.) On the back of the sock was Cosmo's head as a puff. Krys put on her sneakers and got up. She took his hand.

"Lets go. You're going to see Emily, right?"

"No." said Ares, as they started to walk.

"Okay."

"Listen- I'm going back to my mom's tonight." said Ares. Krys nodded, then he let her hand go. They walked outside and the taxi was already waiting. Krys got in first and slid over. Ares sat next to her. The ride to her house was long and silent. Krys kept her head on the window the entire time. By the time they were at her house, she was partially asleep. Krys walked in the gate and punched in the code. When they got to her front door, she punched in the code. As soon as the door opened, she walked up to her room. When she opened her room door, Hermione was sitting on her couch. Krys kicked off her shoes, then plopped on her bed.

"You okay, Cookie?" asked Hermione. Krys nodded.

"Yeah, Bon-bon." she said. "Listen- I'm a little sleepy. I'm gonna go change." Krys hopped up and went to her dresser. She picked out a pair of pajamas, then walked to her closet. When she came out, she was wearing a pair of boxers with Winnie the Pooh and a matching t-shirt. She crawled in to her bed and just lie there.

"Listen- Cookie, I'll be back tomorrow." said Hermione before she disapparated. Krys got her remote and started to play her music. Her door knocked and she turned the music down.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Its me." said the voice on the other side.

"Who the fuck is _me_?"

"Its Ares."

"Oh… come in." said Krys. Ares walked in and sat on the edge of her bed. "What happened?"

"Oh- I just came to say bye." said Ares. Krys nodded. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"I- I don't know. But- are you? You didn't talk to me the way here- you came straight up here. You tell me."

"I had to pee really bad. I haven't used the bathroom all day. But- that's not any of your business, so-" Ares laughed. "I'm sleepy."

"Oh- well, goodnight." he said, before he kissed her cheek. Krys waved, then covered her head with her comforter. "I'll see you." Krys whipped the comforter off of her head and waved again.

"Yeah- sure." she said. "Listen-"

"What happened?"

"I think that you should take that job." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"Why?"

"Because you need mone- Oh, never mind. Don't take it."

"Why not?"

"It is a surprise. But- you'll be really happy to hear it." said Krys. Ares smiled.

"What're you doing tomorrow?"

"I don't know- whatever Thai and her friends want to do. Why?"

"I don't know. You wanna go do something?"

"Like visit your fathers grave?" Ares nodded. "Shouldn't you be doing that with A.J- Emily, or Jason?"

"I wanna go with you." he said. "Plus- A.J and Jason have already done it. I'm the only one."

"Oh… okay. What time?"

"I don't know? You tell me."

"Um… about twelve." said Krys. Ares nodded.

"Okay- twelve." he said. Krys nodded. "I'll see you later." Then he left the room.


	7. The Child Inside of Her

The next afternoon, Harry woke up at twelve, when he heard a yell and a shrill scream. He got up and heard another yell. The noise was coming from Krys' room. He ran to Krys' room, where Ares was sitting on her couch and she was lying in her bed. The big problem was, she wasn't twenty year old Krys. She was three year old Krys. Harry and Ares stared at her with wide eyes. Finally, Harry walked up to her and smiled.

"Hi." he said. Krys was pouting and she looked scared. She waved back tentatively. "How old are you?"

"Three years old." she said. She couldn't pronounce the '_r_' sound. Instead, it came out as a '_w_'. Harry smiled, and so did Ares.

"Do you know your name?" asked Harry. Krys nodded.

"Krystalee- Krysta_thai_li." she said. Harry smiled. Krys also couldn't pronounce the '_k_' sound, it came out like a '_t_'.

"Do you know who I am?" Krys shook her head. The door knocked, then barged open.

"Krys, I need- aargh!" screamed Thai. Krys screamed also. "What happened to her?"

"You recognize her?" asked Harry. Thai nodded.

"I've seen a bunch of pictures of her. My parents have one of each of us, in the living room- Krys has one also. And not to mention the photo album." she said. "There are pictures of Krys all through my house."

"I forgot that the only people that Krys knew back then, are your parents." said Harry. Thai walked up to Krys' bed and opened her arms. Krys shook her head and pouted. Thai laughed, then looked thoughtful.

"Alpha, beta, gamma, delta-" she was singing it to the tune of the abc's. Krys started to sing along with her. When they were done, Thai opened her arms, and Krys got up and walked to her. She was still wearing her Winnie the Pooh boxers and shirt, except they now fit her small body. Thai picked her up and Krys wrapped her small legs around Thai's waist as much as she could. Harry and Ares stood impressed. "Krys learned it from mom when she got to the orphanage."

"She was only one." said Ares. Thai and Harry nodded. "So… what are we going to do?"

"Well- you should probably take her to my parents house. They're the only people who know how to handle her at this age."

"I know how to handle her." said Harry.

"Yes- but that's not gonna work." said Thai. "She thinks you're some crazy adult that's holding her hostage." Ares and Harry laughed.

"Whatever- I'll take her to your parents." said Harry, as he opened his arms for Krys. Krys looked at Thai, who nodded, then reached for Harry. Harry took Krys from Thai. "I'm just not sure how they'll react." He took Thai's hand. "You coming, Ares?" Ares nodded, then they all disapparated. Dread-Head was sitting in the living room, reading, when they popped in. He didn't seem as surprised.

"What happened? Where's the ringleader? Where's Cookie Monster?" he asked.

"I'm right here." said Krys, as she raised her hand. Dread-Head removed the paper from in front of his face and just stared at Krys.

"Am I missing something?" he asked.

"We don't know what happened. We just woke up, and she was like this." said Harry, as he set Krys on the floor. Dread-Head continued to stared at her. "We still don't know how to get her to trust us really."

"She's three, right?" asked Dread-Head. They all nodded. He got up and went to a drawer. He came back with a large photo album. He opened his arms, and Krys looked at him. "Come on, Cookie Monster." Krys shook her head. "Come on, Monkey, you know who it is." Krys shook her head. Dread-Head got up and left the room. He came back with a plush soccer ball. "Show me the soccer kick." Krys looked at the ball, and shook her head. Dread-Head groaned, then ran to a closet. He came back with a cleaner soccer ball. It was completely clean, except for graffiti. He handed it to Krys. She started to spin it around in her hands. The ball was about half her size. She was really small. She handed him the ball, then crawled up on the couch, excusing any help that was being offered. They all smiled at how self sufficient she was. Dread-Head showed her a picture. When she saw it, she gave this small, squeaky, and childlike giggle. After a few pictures, she seemed more trusting.

"Where is the bathroom?" she asked. Thai took her hand.

"Just show her where everything is." said Dread-Head. Thai nodded, then walked her to the bathroom. She walked back and laughed. "What?"

"She's the same. Especially her looks." she said. They all nodded.

"So… what happened? How did this happen?" They all shrugged.

"It could be a subconscious spell." said Harry.

"And that is?"

"A spell that she performed in an unconscious state, because of her subconscious feelings." said Thai. "Is anyone else scared that she's by herself in that bathroom?" They all laughed.

"Don't be. By the time she was two, she could take care of herself better than most people can."

"So… is there anything that we should know about her?" asked Thai. "Like things that will help take care of her."

"She loves pizza and Pepsi. Don't make her watch Peter Pan, the play."

"Why, what happens?" asked Ares. Dread-Head laughed.

"She's a very cynical child. You know how, Tinkerbell gets sick, and you have to hope that she gets better in order for her to survive?" They all nodded. "Well, Krys never hopes that she gets better, then she spends about a week talking about how it was all a lie." They all laughed. "I'm serious."

"We know." they all said in some form or the other.

"You should take her to the planetarium." Harry and Thai shook their heads. "What happened?"

"That's where I was gonna take Krys to propose to her. You know- before she dumped me. So she was an astrology and astronomy freak back then also?" said Ares.

"She also really loves Star Wars. And… you have to read Annabel Lee to her, every night. Plus- and you already know this, she doesn't like anyone to call her Krystathaili. Who's taking care of her?"

"I have a job interview for three." said Harry.

"I'm going out with A.J and Gin today." said Thai. They all looked at Ares.

"Hermione can't." said Harry. Ares nodded.

"Okay, I'll do it." he said. That's when Krys walked out of the bathroom. She walked over to where they were and looked up at all of them.

"So… where's Razzie?" she asked. They all looked at her. She crawled on the couch, then touched a scar on Dread-Head's face. "What's happening?"

"What do you mean?" asked Harry. Krys looked at all of them. She touched Dread-Head's scar again.

"Dread-Head got cut with a pair of scissors." she said. "You look too old to be Dread-Head, but you are."

"Told you she was smart." said Dread-Head.

"What's happening?" asked Krys.

"You're going to spend the day with Ares."

"Who's Ares?" They all pointed at Ares. He nervously waved at her. Krys waved back. "What are we doing?"

"Um… do you want to go to the Planetarium?" asked Ares.

"The Planteranium- Planetarium?" asked Krys. Ares nodded. "Okay. Are you going?" she asked Harry.

"No, I have to go to work." he said.

"And you?" Krys asked Thai. Thai shook her head.

"No, I'm not going." she said. "Its just going to be you and Ares."

"Oh, okay."

"Listen Padfo- Kryssie, I can't explain what's happening. I don't know what to say." said Harry. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. "I understand."

"Are you hungry?" asked Ares. Krys nodded. "You want some Fruit Loops?" Krys shook her head. "Cocoa Pebbles?" Krys made a face. "Cocoa Puffs?" Krys scrunched her nose. "Captain Crunch?" Krys finally nodded.

"Well- I have to get ready for work." said Dread-Head, as he got up. "She hasn't changed that much, Ares. It should be easy." He moved on to Krys, and kneeled down to her size. "I love you like a star, Monster."

"Me too, Dread-Head." said Krys, smacking her hand to her lips, making a very audible kissing noise, then placing it on his cheek. Dread-Head looked at Ares.

"You'll be amazed at some of the things she asks you. You'll be amazed at some of the things she tells you. She was a genius child… and she is _really_ observant." he said.

"We should go." said Harry. "I'll take Thai." Harry took Thai's hand and disapparated. Ares held out his hand. Krys looked at it, then took it. Ares picked her up, then disapparated. They landed in the kitchen. He put her down, then started to fix her cereal.

"Whose house is this?" asked Krys. Ares looked at her.

"Yours." he said, as he set the bowl in front of her. "You want a tour?" Krys looked thoughtful before she nodded. "Do you want to eat in the dining room?"

"Okay." said Krys, as she started to climb off of the stool. When she got down, Ares picked her cereal up for her.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" he asked her.

"You don't have to." she said. He nodded, then they walked to the dining room. He set her cereal down, then picked her up and set her in the chair. He sat down next to her.

"So- are you cold?" Krys nodded. "Okay." said Ares, as he took his jacket off. He put it on her. "Better?"

"Big." she said. Ares chuckled, and tapped it with his wand. It shrunk down to a smaller size, so that it was still big, but a better fit.

"So… do you like movies?" he asked. Krys nodded, and held the spoon to her mouth. "Oh yeah, what movies do you like?" Krys chewed and held up her hand, motioning that it would take a minute.

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit." said Krys. Ares smiled.

"You want to watch it?" he asked. Krys nodded, as she ate her cereal. "Are you thirsty? Do you want some juice, or soda?"

"No, thank you."

"So, what other movies do you like?"

"I like…Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Ares smiled at the difficulty she had saying it. He now knew why she was always careful when she was using 'r' and 'k'.

"That's because you love chocolate." said Ares. Krys nodded. "What about TV shows? What TV shows do you like?"

"I like wrestling."

"You don't talk much, do you?" asked Ares. Krys giggled. "So… what do you want to do?" Krys shrugged. "Anything you want. Name it- and we'll either do it today or tomorrow."

"I don't know. What about you? What do you wanna do?"

"This isn't about me. This is about you." said Ares. Krys shook her head and pointed at Ares. He laughed. "Okay… well, first we should get you some clothes, then we'll worry about what we should do."

"Okay." said Krys. Ares waved his wand, and the cereal disappeared. He waved his wand again, and the bowl went shiny. "Wow. That was amazing." Ares smiled, then opened his arms. Krys stood on the chair, then he picked her up. They disapparated and landed in his house.

"Mommy!" called Ares. Ms. Delgado walked out of a room. She smiled when she saw Ares.

"What happened?" she asked. "And who is this?" She walked up to him and looked at Krys. "Who _is_ this?"

"Krys."

"I was hoping I was wrong." she said. "How did this happen?"

"They think it was a subconscious spell."

"Okay- what do you need?"

"I'm supposed to take care of her." said Ares. "She needs clothes until I can buy her some more."

"Okay- look in the hallway closet." said Ms. Delgado, as she took Krys from him. "Hi."

"Hello." said Krys shyly. Ms. Delgado smiled and walked into the kitchen.

"What do you want to do today?" she asked.

"I don't know." Krys said sweetly.

"Do you like Disney movies?" Krys nodded. "Do you like Cinderella?" Krys nodded eagerly.

"I like the story."

"Me too. I like that movie. Would you like to see the movie?" Krys nodded. "Who's your favorite character?"

"I like Jacques." said Krys. Ms. Delgado laughed.

"Well me too." she said. "Do you like to read?" Krys nodded. "What's your favorite book?"

"The Count of Monte Cristo." Ms. Delgado's eyes widened and she nodded understandingly.

"Do you read it yourself?" Krys shook her head.

"Razzie reads it to me."

"Mom! I found them." called Ares.

"We're in the kitchen." said Ms. Delgado. Ares walked in with a bag.

"I don't know what to do. I'm nervous."

"Bathe her. Feed her. Groom her. Entertain her. Feed her. Read to her. Put her to bed. Its really simple."

"I'm just a bit scared."

"You talk about how you want kids. Prove that you can take care of one. And this is one that you love."

"No… I love her as a friend and I loved her as a girlfriend."

"Actually- for seven of the nine years, you loved her as a friend, whom you wanted to _be_ a girlfriend. Then you learned to love her as a girlfriend."

"But won't it be creepy? You know, loving her as a girlfriend then taking care of her as if she's my child?"

"No. Not really. Because once she turns back into that nineteen year old- will it change the way you feel about her?"

"_Felt_ about her." said Ares. Ms. Delgado laughed.

"Yeah- you keep telling yourself that." she said. "Its not gonna make it true."

"What's your problem?" asked Ares.

"Excuse me?"

"Forget it."

"Why are you marrying this girl?" Ares groaned.

"Is that what this is about?"

"Actually- no, it was just a question. If- no- _when_ I asked you why you wanted to propose to _you know who_, you listed me a _million_ reasons, all of which were wonderful and you didn't have to be asked twice. This is the same exact instance. Why are you marrying this girl?" Ares didn't say anything. "Oh- we're still on reason number _none_. If you can tell me why you're doing this- you have my full blessing. If you can say that she makes you happy, you can marry Emily. Not that you couldn't if you don't but- is she who you want?" Ares looked at Krys and picked her up.

"We have to go." he said.

"I'm talking to you." said Ms. Delgado. Ares groaned. "If you're doing this because you're mad at her, you'd better think twice."

"What do you mean?" asked Ares.

"I mean- there is _no limit_ to what that girl will do for you. So, you'd _better think twice_."

"What are you talking about?"

"She wants to see Cinderella. She most likely has the movie in her collection."

"Mom- what are you talking about? What does everyone else seem to know?"

"Get the movie." said Ms. Delgado. "Tell me when she gets back to normal." Ares groaned, then disapparated. When they arrived at Krys' house, he set her down.

"So… you want to see Cinderella?" he asked.

"We don't have to, if you don't want to." said Krys.

"No, I want to." said Ares. "Um, do you know how to take a bath yourself?" Krys nodded. "Okay- good. Lets go." Ares picked her up and ran up the stairs. He took Krys to her room and got her a towel. "You know how to dress yourself too, right?" Krys nodded. "Okay. You stay here."

"Okay." said Krys. Ares nodded, then ran to Thai's room. He knocked on her door. She finally opened it after a minute.

"Can you do me a favor, Thai?" asked Ares.

"What happened?"

"Can you watch after Krys in the bathroom?"

"Sure. You got clothes?"

"My mom gave me some stuff- I'm just afraid that it's too girly and that she won't like it."

"Well- I've been looking through my drawers and we have some of Angie's old stuff here. Krys even got her some Krys like things." said Thai as she pulled a bag from behind her door. "What are you guys gonna do today?"

"I have to try and find Cinderella." said Ares. "I don't know what to do with her."

"What did you guys usually do?" asked Thai. "Actually- no, I don't want to know. You know everything about her. And my dad said that she hasn't changed. You can find something to do. Remember how Krys organizes her movies."

"Yeah- from greatest to worst." said Ares.

"Just watch all of her favorite movies. Even the movies that are from a different time." said Thai. "But first- show her the Cinderella movies. Krys has every version made. And every addition." Thai walked out of her room, and they walked to Krys' room. Thai walked in the bathroom. Forty five minutes later, she and Krys came out. Krys was wearing a Spiderman t-shirt with baggy black pants. Her hair was in braided pigtails. Ares smiled as he crouched down and opened his arms. Krys walked to him, then he picked her up.

"You ready?" Ares asked her. Krys nodded. "You gonna talk?"

"I'm ready." Krys said with a giggle in her squeaky high pitched voice. Ares laughed, then started to walk to the movie room. "How old are you?"

"Twenty." said Ares. "Why?"

"I don't know."

"There has to be a reason that you wanna know." said Ares. "Its okay, I'll answer any question."

"Do you really want to watch Cinderella?" asked Krys. Ares laughed.

"Is that what this is about?" he asked. Krys nodded. "Whether I wanna watch it doesn't matter."

"What matters?"

"That you wanna watch it." said Ares, as he smiled at Krys. Krys gave her cheesy smile, and her little dimples appeared. Ares laughed. "Well- we're also gonna watch '_Who Framed Roger Rabbit_', '_Will Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_' and a few other movies that you'll like. How does that sound?" Krys nodded. "Please talk." Krys giggled.

"What are your favorite movies?" she asked. Ares looked thoughtful.

"I like X-Men and Star Wars." he said. Krys smiled.

"I like Star Wars. I never heard of an X-Men movie."

"You wanna watch it after Cinderella, Roger Rabbit, and Willy Wonka?"

"What is it about?"

"Just like the cartoon or comic." said Ares. "What's your favorite cartoon?"

"X-Men."

"What other cartoons?"

"He-man, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and Justice League."

"You like superheroes." said Ares. Krys nodded.

"Do you like Cartoons?" she asked.

"Of course." said Ares. "But you probably don't know them."

"What cartoons do you like?"

"I like Dragonball; original, Z, and GT, Ed, Edd and Eddy, Codename: Kids Next Door, Family Guy, American Dad, The Avatar, Kim Possible and Teen Titans." listed Ares. "Oh- and TinyToonAdventures. Plus- all the cartoons that you like."

"What's going on?" asked Krys. Ares looked down at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know any of you. Everything's changing. I'm not at home with Dread-Head and Razzie. Who are you?" Ares smiled.

"You're very smart for your age." he said. "Just think of me as a friend."

"That doesn't help." Ares laughed.

"Well- I care about you. That's why I'm here. As for what's happening- I don't know. The change is like magic." he said.

"Magic?"

"Its like magic. You know how thing change rapidly."

"Earlier- when you cleaned the cereal bowl… was that magic?"

"Can you keep a secret?" asked Ares. Krys nodded. "You promise?"

"Promise."

"I'm a warlock." whispered Ares. Krys rolled her eyes. "What- you don't believe me?"

"Its not that." she said.

"What is it?"

"I already knew that." she said. Ares laughed at her small voice.

"But- its not something that everyone knows."

"You were either crazy or magic- and we teleported. That's just like the NightCrawler." Ares laughed, and set her down in a chair. Krys looked around.

"What do you wanna watch first?"

"Um… X-Men." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Are you sure you don't wanna watch Cinderella first?"

"I've seen Cinderella already." Ares nodded.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure." she said. Ares nodded, then put X-Men in. He sat down next to Krys, then handed her some M&M's. "Thank you."

"So… you can read, right?" Krys nodded. "What's your favorite book?"

"The Count of Monte Cristo."

"You read that by yourself?"

"No. Razzie reads it to me."

"Along with Annabel Lee?"

"Yes. Poe is scary and some of his poems are written like a kid. But- Razzie says that's what makes him so brilliant."

"Confucius- or Sigmund Freud said that children are less ignorant that adults." said Ares. "Confucius was the Chinese man that created _Filial Piety_."

"What's Filia Pie-? What is that?" asked Krys. Ares smiled.

"It is the belief that children should be respectful and worship adults."

"But that's a given." Ares laughed. "So… this movie is made from X-Men?"

"Yes. Have you ever read the comics?" Krys nodded. "Who's your favorite mutant?"

"Rogue."

"Why?"

"I like that she wears gloves so that her power won't hurt people."

"You like the fact that she protects people?" asked Ares. Krys nodded. "Previews are done." Krys looked up at the screen. She had to strain because she couldn't see. Ares laughed. He tapped her on the shoulder. "Can you see?" Krys shook her head.

"No." she said. Ares smiled, then tapped the chair with his wand.

"Better?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Thank you." she said.

When they were done watching X-Men, Ares looked at Krys. "Did you like it?" he asked. Krys nodded frantically.

"Mystique is crazy." she said. Ares laughed.

"She's really the best looking one in the movie." he said. Krys laughed.

"You like scaly blue women?" she asked. Ares looked at her.

"You're too smart." he said. Krys shook her head.

"Not smart." she said.

"What does ignorant mean?"

"Razzie says it means _not knowing_. But Dread-Head says it means _not knowing and not caring_."

"That's smart." said Ares. "I didn't know what ignorant meant until I was ten." Krys laughed. "Do you want to watch the sequel to X-Men?"

"How many movies are there?"

"The X-Men series is a trilogy." said Ares. "Do you want to watch the rest of them, or do you want to watch something else?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Whatever you want to do." Krys smiled.

"Well- I want to do whatever you want to do too?" she said unsurely. Ares laughed.

"Same here." he said.

"Okay- I wanna watch the rest of the X-Men movies." said Krys. Ares nodded, then put in X2: X-Men United.

"Oh- are you hungry?" Krys shook her head.

"No, thank you." she said.

"You know- if you want something, you don't have to be afraid to ask." said Ares. Krys looked at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"I'm _otay_, too." said Ares. Krys laughed.

"Dread-Head and Razzie say that I'll be able to say it soon." she said. Ares smiled.

"Don't worry. It's very cute. But- once you get old, then you have to worry." he said. Krys giggled.

"You're funny." she said. "Ooh- its on." Then she looked at the screen. Ares laughed, then looked up also. When the movie was done, Krys was smiling.

"What?" asked Ares.

"Isn't this when Jean turns into the Phoenix?" Ares nodded.

"You read too many comics." he said. Krys smiled and shook her head.

"You can't read too many comic books." she said. Ares smiled at the struggle to pronounce the '_k_' sound. "In the cartoon, the girl with the claws was Stry- Stry- Stry-ker's daughter."

"Yeah- and she looked more like an insect." said Ares. Krys laughed and nodded.

"She looked like a giant roach." she said, before she started to shudder.

"Are you cold?" asked Ares. Krys shook her head.

"So why did you shiver?"

"Roaches scare me." Ares smiled.

"Are you hungry?" Krys nodded.

"A little."

"You want to order some pizza?" Krys nodded. "Extra cheese?" She nodded again. "So… you can watch the movie, I'll be back." Krys shook her head. "You want to come with me?"

"Yup." said Krys. Ares got up and opened his arms. Krys stood on the chair and reached for him. Ares smiled and picked her up. They walked to the kitchen. Ares set Krys on the counter.

"Are you afraid of heights?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"Nope." she said, as she puffed air into her cheeks. She pressed her palms to her cheeks, and deflated them. Ares laughed.

"You want anything else on the pizza?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"Cheese is the best part." she said. Ares nodded.

"I agree." he said, before he ordered the pizza. When he was done, he sat on a stool near Krys.

"Do you like dogs?" asked Krys.

"I love dogs." said Ares. "What about you?" Krys nodded.

"They make me sneeze." she said. Ares nodded and got up. He walked to the refrigerator.

"Do you like cats?" he asked. Krys shrugged.

"I do and I don't." she said.

"Are you thirsty?" Krys nodded. "Do you want juice, soda, or water?"

"Juice." said Krys.

"Capri Sun, Sunny Delight, Kool Aid Jammers, or Arizona?"

"Sunny Delight." said Krys.

"Tangy or smooth?"

"Tangy, please." Ares nodded and handed her a tangy Sunny Delight.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Why was your mommy mad at you?" she asked. Ares looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "I can do that." Ares laughed.

"Show me." he said. Krys nodded, then raised her eyebrow.

"I can wiggle my ear too." she said.

"Really?" Krys nodded.

"Yup." she said, before she started to wiggle her ear. Ares chuckled. "So- why was your mom mad at you?"

"I'm getting married." said Ares. Krys nodded, and took a napkin from off of the counter. She started to fold it.

"To who?" she asked, as she continued to fold. Ares pulled out his wallet, and showed Krys a picture of Emily. "Cyrano." Ares laughed.

"You've read that play?" he asked.

"Razzie read it to me, and we saw the play. The picture moves." said Krys, as she continued to look at the picture. "She looks nice." Ares chuckled slightly. "Who's this?" asked Krys, as she pulled out a picture of Ares and her older self. In the picture, she was on his back, and kissed his cheek. She showed it to him, and his eyes widened. Then he laughed.

"Searching through my wallet?"

"Sorry." said Krys, as gave it to him. "Who was that?"

"A friend."

"More." Krys said, as she handed him the napkin.

"More what?" asked Ares, as he looked at what she made. She made him a paper boat.

"Than a friend." said Krys. Ares looked at her.

"You're three." he said. Krys smiled.

"Do you love her?" she asked.

"You're three." said Ares.

"Stop saying that."

"I wouldn't be saying it if it weren't true."

"Okay. Why is your mommy mad at you?"

"Because I'm getting married." said Ares.

"Why would that make her mad?"

"Why are we talking about me?" asked Ares.

"You're interesting."

"You should be finger painting, not psychoanalyzing me."

"Finger painting is messy."

"That's why its fun."

"No- play dough is fun." said Krys. "Why is your mommy mad at you?" Ares laughed.

"I thought we just left this subject." he said. Krys shook her head. "I thought wrong?" Krys nodded.

"You thought wrong." she repeated. Ares laughed. "Please?" She stuck her lip out.

"Put the lip away." said Ares. Krys narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Is this working?" she asked after a while. Ares shook her head. "Okay." She took a sip of her juice. "Why won't you tell me?"

"You're too young." said Ares.

"To know what?"

"The question that you're asking."

"I'm too young to know why your mommy is mad at you?"

"You're too young to understand it." said Ares. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said.

"You don't want to know anymore?" asked Ares.

"I still want to… but- if I won't get it- I don't want to know about something that I wont understand?" Krys closed her eyes. "Does that make sense? Um… by the time I understand it- I won't want it anymore. I don't want something that I… can't use. Does that make sense?"

"Enough that I think you'll understand." Krys giggled.

"Iceman!" called a near voice. Ares put his wallet away, as Jason walked into the kitchen. "Who's the little slice cutie pie?" Ares and Krys looked at him. Jason's eyes widened when they connected with Krys'. Ares nodded.

"Yeah." he said. Jason walked over to her.

"What happened?" he asked. "What happened to Krys?"

"Nothing- I'm right here." said Krys. Jason chuckled.

"I remember her talking about the speech impediment." he said.

"Who are you?" asked Krys. Jason stuck out his hand. Before Krys shook it, she looked for Ares' consent.

"You have a problem." Jason said to Ares.

"What?" asked Ares.

"Your crazy Aunt Lauren-"

"Don't pin that woman on me." said Ares. Jason laughed.

"Well, she wants your cousin to come to the wedding."

"Which cousin?"

"The crazy perverted one that's in love with Jezzie...and your picture of -, _you know who_." said Jason as he nudged his head towards Krys.

"Anthony?"

"No-, Antonio." Ares groaned.

"That's worse. Antonio is crazy. The dude used to make his own snakeskin wristbands." he said. Krys giggled. Ares and Jason looked at her.

"What? That's funny." said Krys. Jason laughed. "What's the problem? He's your family."

"He's crazy." said Ares. "And he has this weird obsession with the girl in the picture."

"Which one? The one you're marrying- or the one who's just a friend?" asked Krys, as she stuck her hand out.

"My friend." said Ares.

"Can I see the picture again?" asked Krys, as she stuck her hand out farther. Ares shook his head, and gave her the wallet. Krys started to look for the picture. "Is this the same girl?" she asked, as she showed him another picture. Ares looked at the picture of him and Krys in fifth year, and nodded.

"Krys, can I see that?" asked Jason. Krys nodded and handed him the two pictures. Jason looked at Ares, who was staring at his hands, and gave the pictures back to Krys. "So… when's the wedding?"

"Emily found a place for the rehearsal dinner, and she thinks we should have it going by next week." said Ares.

"So… how do you feel about that?" asked Jason. Ares smiled, then pointed to it.

"I'm happy." he said.

"So… you don't have any left over feelings for-?"

"Of course, but I _love_ Emily."

"Do you love her like you used to love-?"

"Don't ask me that." said Ares. Krys giggled, and both Jason and Ares looked at her. Ares smiled, then shook his head. "That's like me asking you if you still have feelings for her."

"I never loved her like you love her-"

"Lov_ed_ her."

"No- you keep telling yourself that. Everyone else knows the truth-"

"Hold on. What is the truth? If you know why she broke up with me, tell me now."

"Ares- its not my business." said Jason. "Look- just because you're under Emily, doesn't mean your over your _Bunny_." Ares glared at him.

"Really, it does." said Ares.

"Is that why you two have the same relationship that you've always had?"

"What does that mean?"

"You two flirt like nothing else. You have a better relationship with her, after the breakup, than you'll ever have with Emily." Ares rolled his eyes, and groaned. "I have to go." Jason disapparated on the spot and Krys stared at the spot her was previously in. The doorbell rang. Ares picked Krys up, then walked to the door. He handed the pizza man the money, and took the pizza. Ares and Krys sat at the counter. He set a slice in front of her.

"Why are you and him fighting?" asked Krys. Ares smiled, at how she started to blow on the pizza.

"He thinks I'm in love with the girl in the picture." said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"Are you?" she asked. "Hold on- the friend or the one you're marrying?" Ares laughed.

"The friend." he said.

"Are you?" Ares shook his head.

"No." he said.

"Okay. I believe you."

"Is that sarcasm?" Krys shook her head.

"It was…tru- sincere." she said. Ares laughed. "What?"

"You're way too smart to be three." he said. Krys gave a cheesy smile.

"Thank you." she said. "Is that the same reason your mommy is mad at you?" Ares nodded. Krys took a bite of her pizza, and chewed it cutely. Cutely, which ironically would look horrible on anyone else.

"So… you want to watch the next movie after this?" asked Ares. Krys nodded.

"What happened?" she asked. Ares looked at her. "With you and your friend?"

"We broke up."

"She was your girlfriend?" Ares nodded. "Why'd you break up?"

"She dumped me."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"So… she dumped you for no reason?"

"I don't know. I think she just didn't tell me the reason."

"Sounds like a bi- she sounds mean." Ares looked at her and shook his head.

"No. She's not mean. She's my best friend. I mean- we can always talk about anything- everything." Krys nodded. "What about you? Who's your best friend?"

"There's Dread-Head and Razzie." said Krys. Ares nodded.

"What about people your own age?"

"They don't like me at home. The only ones that do, are Dread-Head and Razzie. Everyone else is… I don't know how to describe it." Ares smiled and nodded. "Where's your dad?"

"He's dead." Krys nodded.

"Sorry." she said. Ares shook his head.

"Don't think about it." he said. Krys nodded.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Ares nodded.

"I have a sister."

"Big or little?"

"She's younger than me."

"What's her name?"

"A.J."

"What does that stand for."

"Apolla Jade."

"Nice." said Krys. Ares shrugged. "What's your mommy's name?"

"Julia Jade."

"Nice. And your name?" Ares groaned and Krys stuck her lip out. Even as a three year old, she had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Ares Raphael." he said. Krys nodded, then took another bite of pizza. "You want to eat and watch the movie?" Krys nodded. Ares let her down from the stool and picked up the pizza. When they got back to the movie room, Krys and Ares sat down.

"What are we watching?"

"X3. It's the last movie." said Ares. Krys nodded, as he put the movie in. When Ares sat back down, Krys looked at him.

"Are you adopting me?" she asked.

"You'll be staying here for a while." said Ares.

"You're gonna give me back?" asked Krys. Ares shook his head.

"You'll be staying here for good. You might even be my flower girl." he said. Krys shook her head.

"I hate dresses."

"Then we'll get you some nice dolls to play with." Krys continued to shake her head. "And… an easy bake oven." Krys nodded.

"If I get to eat what I make." she said. Ares laughed.

"Do you like fairytales?" he asked. Krys nodded. "Disney?"

"And Grimm." she said. "Razzie says that its best to know both. She says that Disney fairytales are good way to be happy. And she says that Grimm fairytales are a way to recognize kar- that what goes around comes around." Ares smiled and nodded. "Ooh- the movie is on." she said, before she focused all of her attention on the screen. She was one of those children who didn't talk through the whole movie. She watched silently and in anticipation. When the movie was done, Krys looked at Ares eagerly.

"What do you want to do now? Do you want to watch more movies?" Krys nodded. "What?"

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit." Ares nodded, then put the movie in. He and Krys sat back and relaxed. They were in the middle of the movie when Thai walked in, followed by Emily. Thai sat down next to Krys, and put her on her lap.

"Emily!" said Ares, as he stood up. He kissed her on the cheek. "Um- you've already met Thai… twice. But- I bet you two have never been formally introduced." Emily looked at Thai, then waved halfheartedly. Thai waved back with the same essence. Krys waved at Emily, when Thai did.

"Ares- you didn't tell me that Krystathaili had a daughter." said Emily. "Poor thing probably doesn't have a father." she muttered. Krys looked at her.

"I'm Krys." she said, as she tried to stand up. Emily looked at her, then back at Ares.

"Is there something that you're not telling me?" she asked.

"Krys, this is my fiancé." introduced Ares. Krys waved at Emily.

"You're the lady from the picture." she said. "You're Ar- Ares' fiancé." Ares laughed, and picked Krys up.

"Ares, can I speak with you?" Ares nodded, and started to walk away from his seat. "Alone." Emily emphasized. Ares put Krys down and followed Emily out of the movie room, and into the hallway.

"You're taking care of her?" Emily asked. Ares nodded.

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" he asked.

"You were supposed to be helping me make the seating charts."

"That's an easy thing to do."

"How so?"

"Let people sit where the hell they wanna sit."

"Ares! It is a lot more complicated than that. Aunt Simone can't sit next to my mother. My father cannot sit next to Rachel. And- don't even get me started on-"

"Emily- if they don't get along, why would they sit next to each other?"

"You're supposed to be helping me."

"Emily, need I remind you who is letting us have the wedding at her beach house? Do I have to remind you who is letting you have a tent put up on her private beach area? The least I can do is-"

"Take care of her daughter."

"That's not Krys' daughter. That's Krys." Ares said exasperatedly. Emily looked at him.

"Oh. So those _are_ her real eyes." she said. Ares looked up to the ceiling.

"Oh Jesus." he murmured. "How did you know where I was anyway?"

"Ronald was hanging out with Harry and that… man-"

"You mean Jason?"

"Yes. They were hanging out with him." she said, as she started to play with his shirt. She started to kiss his neck. "Ares," she cooed, "You know what I feel like doing?"

"We're in someone else's house, Emily. I wouldn't disrespect any of my friends houses like that." said Ares.

"Whatever." Emily said coldly. "You can call me when you're ready to spend time with me. Not your little friend in there. Not all your little Levebons friends. Me, okay? When you're dedicated to me and only me, _then_ you can call."

"Emily- in case you haven't noticed, I haven't asked anyone else in there to be my wife. So- when you're ready to stop acting self-centered and foolish, _you_ can call _me_. Does that sound good?" Ares asked scornfully, as he walked back to the movie room. Thai and Krys were looking at the door. "You two were listening?" They both nodded. Ares laughed, and Krys reached over for him. He picked her up and sat her in his lap. Emily stomped in a minute after him.

"Ares!" she yelled. They all looked at her.

"Are you ready?" Ares asked. Emily sat down next to him and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry, baby." she said, before she kissed up his jaw. When they started to blatantly snog, Thai took Krys, then they watched.

"Its interesting, yet disgusting at the same time." said Thai. Krys giggled.

"You're funny." she said. Thai smiled.

"You know- I think you have to be one of the cutest things I've ever seen." she said. Krys gave her cheesy smile.

"You have green eyes." she said. "Like Razzie." Thai nodded.

"And you have brown and blue eyes. Very beautiful eyes." said Thai.

"Thai."

"Krys."

"Where's Harry?"

"He went on and interview."

"Oh." Finally Emily and Ares broke apart. Emily started to kiss Ares' neck, but while she did that, she glared at Krys and Thai. Krys looked at Thai, who laughed and picked Krys up. Thai walked out of the room with Krys. She walked Krys to the kitchen where Angel and Luis were.

"Is this your little sister Angelica?" asked Angel. Thai looked at him and shook her head.

"This is Krys." she said. Luis and Angel looked at Krys.

"She's cute." said Luis. Thai nodded, then walked with Krys to her room. When they got to Thai's room, she set Krys down on the bed. The door knocked.

"Come in!" yelled Thai. Angel walked in.

"Hey." he said. Thai nodded.

"Hey. What happened?" she asked. Angel shook his head.

"I just wanted to talk to you, but… I'll do it later." he said. Thai nodded.

"Okay." she said, as she started to tickle Krys.

"Um…Thai." Thai turned around, and looked at Angel. "Um…I'll see you later?" Thai nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "See you later." Angel smiled slightly, then walked out the door. Thai looked at Krys, who was looking at the door. "What happened?"

"You guys act just like Dread-Head and Razzie." Krys said. Thai looked at her.

"And how do they act?"

"Well- I don't know. Razzie always blushes… and your father laughs a lot." Thai laughed uncomfortably, and Krys pointed. "Like that." she said.

Later that night, Ares set Krys down on her bed. She yawned, then spread out. Ares laughed at the look on her face when she saw her bedspread.

"Elmo!" she said. Ares smiled and nodded. "Are you going to read to me?" Ares looked at her.

"What do you want me to read?" he asked. Krys looked thoughtful for a minute.

"What books do you have?" she asked. Ares walked over to Krys' bookshelf.

"Um… Moby Dick?" he suggested. Krys shook her head. "Pride and Prejudice?"

"I hate that book."

"Mrs. Dalloway?"

"I've already read that."

"The Count of Monte Cristo?"

"Not tonight."

"A Tale of Two Cities?"

"Nope."

"Hamlet."

"Sad."

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas?" Krys shook her head.

"I like the cartoon better."

"Do you want to see the movie?" Krys nodded eagerly. Ares waved his wand, and Krys' bed turned in the direction of the TV. Ares lied down on the bed and Krys' small body was sprawled across the bed. She got under the covers and tried to fix her pillows (which were bigger than her) so that she could watch TV while lying down. Ares started to fluff them for her.

"Cold." said Krys. Ares nodded, then started to tuck her in.

"Better?" Krys nodded. Ares laughed, then started the movie. Krys watched the whole movie in anticipation. When the movie was done, it was 9:30.

"What are we gonna do now?" Ares looked at her, and laughed.

"You're going to sleep." he said. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said, as he started to walk out of the room. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to bed." Ares said. Krys shook her head.

"Razzie usually sleeps with me." she said. Ares laughed, and sat down on the bed. Krys shook her head.

"Okay." he said, as he lied down. Krys nodded, then turned her back to him.

"Night night." she said, Ares laughed, then smiled when she turned back to him, and lied on his chest. "Goodnight, Ares."

"Goodnight, Bunny." Ares said softly, as the lights went out.

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Hermione sat on her couch thinking. She hadn't slept since the previous night, when Ron kissed her. All of these thoughts were roaming through her head, without a place to rest. Hermione was broken from her reverie when her door knocked. She groaned, and opened the door. Ron was standing in the hallway, with his hands in his pockets. The silence between them stood heavy.

"Hey." Hermione finally said.

"Hey." Ron replied. "Um… can I come in?" Hermione nodded, and opened the door wider. Ron stepped in, and looked around. "Nice."

"Thanks." Hermione said, as she sat on the couch. "So…um…so, about yesterday." Ron shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry." he said.

"Are you thirsty?" Ron looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Juice or soda?"

"What about the water option?"

"What about it?" Ron shrugged.

"I'd like to be asked if I want water." he said. Hermione looked at him.

"Do you want water, Ronald?" she asked. Ron shook his head.

"No thank you. I prefer soda."

"What kind?"

"That stuff that Krys is always drinking."

"Okay." Hermione said, before she walked to the kitchen. When she walked out, Ron was looking around. She cleared her throat, then handed him the soda.

"Um… can I ask you something?" Hermione nodded. "Are you mad at me for kissing you?" Hermione looked at him.

"Should I be?" she asked. Ron shrugged. "I mean… I'm not gonna say that I didn't like it… I'll just… never admit that I did." Ron laughed.

"So you're not mad at me?" Hermione shook her head.

"I've done it to you. And… you understood when I apologized. What type of hypocrite would I be?" Ron laughed, then walked to her.

"Would you be mad if I did it again?" he asked, as he lightly touched her cheek.

"Um… no." Hermione squeaked. Ron smiled, and rubbed his nose against hers.

"Good." he said, before he kissed her lightly.


	8. A Regular Day in Heaven and Hell

Ron and Hermione sat on Hermione's bed, talking.

"So- what was your real reason for not going out with me in Hogwarts?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at him.

"Premeditating that you'd leave me, and we wouldn't be friends anymore." she said. Ron nodded.

"Okay. And why did you think that?" Hermione shrugged.

"Maybe I was stupid."

"Hermione Granger? Never." Hermione huffed, and Ron pecked her on the lips. Hermione groaned, when he pulled away. Ron laughed, and kissed her again. This time, the kiss led them to lying on the bed. Ron was under Hermione. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, before Hermione pulled her shirt off. Ron gave her a look, as if to say, 'Are you sure?' Hermione nodded. "I love you." Hermione nodded.

"I know." she said. Ron raised his eyebrow, and Hermione chuckled slightly. "I love you too." she said, before she turned of the light. In the dark, Ron navigated his hands around Hermione's body well enough to pull off her jeans.

"You're so beautiful." Ron said, as he kissed her stomach.

"You can't even see me." Hermione said. Ron touched her.

"But I can feel you. And you feel beautiful." he said, before he unhooked her bra…………

Ron and Hermione lie in her bed. Hermione was lying down on his chest.

"Wow." Ron said. Hermione looked up at him and nodded.

"Yup- I'm a home wrecker." she said in a panicky tone. Ron shook his head, and hushed her.

"No, you're not. Kay and I aren't anything exclusive, and its not like she's never cheated on me." he said.

"Then what's all the talk about marriage?"

"Kay is crazy." Ron said.

"Then why are you with her?"

"Its better than being alone." Hermione laughed.

"You're a twenty year old man. You shouldn't be worried about being alone. You should be worried about partying, and… having sex with a lot of different women. You shouldn't be in a committed relationship."

"Well- I won't be, if you don't want me to." Ron said softly.

"I want you to be." Hermione said. Ron looked at her.

"What?"

"With me." Ron smiled, and kissed her. Ron slid his tongue over Hermione's bottom lip, but Hermione pulled back and laughed.

"That kinda hurt my pride." Ron said. Hermione shook her head.

"No, its not that." she said.

"What?"

"I feel like a huge slut, right now."

"Why?"

"Well… the first time I did it, was with someone else's boyfriend, and we're not even in a committed relationship." Ron looked at her, and smiled.

"Well- that's what I want." he said.

"Well- you're gonna have to work for it." Hermione teased. Ron growled at her, and Hermione laughed as he started to tickle her. "Stop." Ron shook his head.

"Nope." he said before he nuzzled her neck. "I love you."

"Good." Hermione said. "I love you too."

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When Krys woke up, she was sleeping on Ares' chest and he was cradling her head. She rolled out of bed, brushed her teeth, then took a shower. Krys walked straight to her closet and put on a pair of baggy light blue jeans. Her shirt was a spray painted t-shirt with Venom, the anti Spiderman on it. Krys put on her black uptowns, then left her hair in silky ringlets. Krys sat on her couch. She watched Ares sleep. He rolled over, then started to pat the bed space next to him. He groaned, then sat up. When he saw Krys, his eyes widened. He smiled, then walked to her bathroom. Thirty minutes after Krys heard the shower turn on, she walked in and sat on the sink. "So… you decided to come back last night?" she asked. Ares stuck his head out from behind the curtain and shook his head.

"Pass me the towel." he said. Krys tossed it to him. Ares stepped out of the shower with the towel wrapped around his waist. He walked out of the bathroom. "Yesterday- you were the _three year old_ Krys." Krys looked at him.

"What?"

"You were three years old yesterday." said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"You're serious." she said.

"Yeah- I just figured that you would remember some things." said Ares. Krys shook her head.

"I don't remember anything." she said. "But- there's a change of plans… I have to pick Angel and Jamie up today. Razzie and Dread-Head are going to Milan today. I got a good deal on some wonderful seats… and they said it'd be more convenient for them, last night- two nights ago."

"Oh. Well- Emily says that the caterer that she wanted fell through… and we're getting married in the next week, hopefully."

"Cool." Krys said, as she looked around her room. "Are you doing anything today?" Ares nodded. "Oh- okay."

"I'm going with you. Aren't we supposed to take Jamie and Angel to Toys R Us?"

"Oh yeah. Good thing I have no life, and a loser best friend with no life, otherwise that wouldn't be possible."

"That was mean." said Ares. Krys shook her head, then threw him a robe.

"Get dressed." she said.

"No clothes. I spent the night here." Ares said. Krys nodded, then walked to her closet. She came back with a black t-shirt, and light blue jeans. She tossed them to Ares. "Where the hell did you get this?"

"You didn't get your clothes when you left that night." Ares nodded. Krys picked up her cell phone, and started to talk about Brooklyn. Then she gave an address.

"Who was that?"

"Um- I was just getting the limo for Razzie and Dread-Head. He'll be outside of their apartment in half hour. They have to be at the airport in an hour and a half. That's just enough time for everything.

"Okay… so- what are you going to do about Thai's friends?" Krys looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean how her little brother and sister will be here. What if they tell Razzellie and Jason?" Krys shook her head.

"They won't. Trust me. Angel is one of the coolest little sisters ever… and Jamie won't care, 'cause he'll be with me." Ares laughed and nodded."

"Okay." he said. Krys snapped, and his clothes put themselves on. He was wearing a black t-shirt, baggy blue jeans, a black fitted, and a black hoodie.

"So ghetto." Krys teased. "I wonder what Emily would say if she could see you now." Ares laughed.

"She'd say the same thing that you always say."

"What's that?"

"Oh me, oh my." Ares teased. Krys gave him the finger, then pulled him to the hallway. She snapped her finger, and two doors placed themselves on the sides of her room door.

"I have to keep those for Jamie and Angel. When I was with them… we were usually in Vermont or we saw plays and stayed in the Plaza hotel. She hasn't been here since the last time we were all here together." Krys pulled Ares into the room with little angels on the door. The walls where the bed was, were painted like a forest, and the bed canopy was green. In the green mesh were little butterflies. The ceiling was painted like the night sky, with swirling stars that move and twinkle. The wall opposite the bed had a painted moving waterfall. The water fell, and hit the rocks at the bottom of the wall. On the consecutive wall to the left, was a park, with swings, with a moving wind and a shining sun. On the opposite side of that wall, was Krys' room. It was only a painted version, but it was her room. Ares looked around and nodded. The room had everything that a child could want.

"This is amazing." Ares said, as he touched the wall that had the park painted on it. Once he touched the wall, he and Krys were pulled into a park. Krys skipped to the swings. Ares looked at her with his eyebrow raised.

"_What_? This is nice." Krys said. Ares nodded frantically and started to push her.

"I didn't say that it wasn't. I'm just amazed that you did all of this for her visit." Krys shook her head.

"I love it when that little girl comes here. If she isn't a witch, she'll be one hell of a lawyer." Ares laughed, then looked thoughtful.

"But- you can always test if she's a witch. All you have to do is hand her your wand." Krys stopped swinging, and shook her head.

"Yeah- I could do that. But- it would compromise the sense of achievement. You know- that, and the mystery." she said. Ares grabbed her hand, and darted back for Angel's room. They stood in the center again. Ares looked at the waterfalls, then at Krys questioningly. "She loves waterfalls." Ares nodded. "She wants to go to Angel Falls...in the Guiana highlands, you know- in Southeastern Venezuela. It's the worlds highest waterfall. Everyone thinks that because Niagara Falls is the most famous, that it's the highest. But- its not. Angel Falls beats Niagara Falls… with a difference of… 3,025 feet. Niagara falls is only 187 feet at the highest. Angel Falls is 3,212 feet. I want to take them there… I just want her to see it. But… even if I don't get a chance to take her to see the real thing… I can always just give her this."

"Sounds amazing." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"It really is. I mean- Niagara Falls is amazing too. But- that's because its supposedly the most romantic place that you can take a person."

"Tell me about it. I _know_ that you know." Krys laughed.

"Well…legend says that the waterfall is so powerful and moving, that you'll propose on the spot. And- muggles think that that's because of the scenery, but… this world says that the mist is made of Amortentia _Insufficient._"

"What is that?" asked Ares.

"An incomplete love mist… its like humidified Amortentia. So… when the water hits the rocks instead of water… the mist is Amortentia."

"What makes it _insufficient_?"

"The moment only lasts a short while… like any love potion. But- its more of an _in the moment_ thing." Ares laughed.

"That's really interesting. What about the sky?"

"At night, there'll be shooting stars and they'll twinkle, and they'll bleed into different parts of the walls. So- it'll show Angel falls at night, and the park at night. And… for my room, I'm thinking about changing the walls. I want her to have a little part of Puerto Rico also- or Jamaica. She loves being there… both of them. So- I think that, instead of my room, I'll split the wall, and it'll be Jamaica and Puerto Rico. But- if she wants to get to my room, I- I don't know what to do about that yet." Ares smiled at her enthusiasm.

"I like what you do for them. I mean- they seem to have a great home life, but…you try to make their lives magical." he said. "You make their lives magical." Krys looked at him, and smiled.

"Thank you. If I tell you something- do you promise that you won't laugh at me?"

"I promise." Ares said, as he walked out of the room with Krys. They walked to Jamie's room. In the room, there were thick plastic cases with hot wheels and match box cars. There were cars everywhere. There were different sections with different types of cars, from different eras. Jamie's bed frame was a thick plastic holding case, with 1950's cars in the plastic. There was a caption underneath every car. There were also alphabet and number cards bordering the room.

"This is what I want to do." Krys said. "I mean- I like being a Healer and everything- and…I want to stick to it. But- this is what I want to do with my father's money. This is what I want to do-"

"Design rooms for children?" Ares asked. Krys laughed, and shook her head.

"No…I want to run an orphanage. I don't know where… but- I-" Ares looked at her.

"But Krys, you were-"

"I know. But, that's why. I want…I want to be able to actually save some poor child's life. I mean- who knows how I would've turned out if- I mean, I know- its stupid. Just forget I said anything, please."

"Krys." Ares said. Krys looked at him. "I'm sorry, I don't think that you can do it." Krys nodded.

"I know- it was stupid. Just forget I said anything about it."

"Krys, shut up. If there's anyone that can keep track of kids, in an orphanage… its you. I was going to say that I know you can do it." Krys glared at him playfully.

"Do you know how scared you had me? You scared the shit out of me." Krys said. Ares laughed, and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Come on, Krys. You _know_ that _you_ of _all_ people can make anything happen." he said. Krys smiled, and they disapparated. When they got into the Paris house, Razz was sitting in a big chair with bags on either side of her. She was reading a magazine. Krys looked at her and smiled.

"Razzellie." she said. Razz looked at her and smiled.

"Kryssie." she cooed. Krys laughed.

"Okay-"

"Razzie, who are you talking to?" Dread-Head asked, as he walked into the living room. Krys laughed, and looked at him.

"She's talking to me, Dread-Head." she said.

"Ah- the _grown up_ angel-demon." Krys laughed.

"Don't start with me, old man. I am wonderful." she said. Dread-Head nodded.

"So- how'd he treat you yesterday?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"What are you talking about? How did _who_ treat me?"

"Ares was the one who was supposed to take care of you yesterday. Did he?" Dread-Head asked, as he sat down. Krys shrugged.

"I don't remember anything about yesterday." she said.

"Well- what's supposed to happen with a subconscious spell, anyway?" Razz asked. Krys looked at her.

"A subconscious spell binds a person to how they feel. So- I probably felt like a child the other night- so… I became a child. Or- I could want to have changed something in the future… I have no idea… but- I don't know. I could've been feeling slightly vulnerable… it could've been a number of things." Razz nodded.

"Well- in psychology, they say that the average person, is most vulnerable, when they need to depend on another… or when they're young and feel a slight twinge of being lonely. You should probably look into it from all different points of view." Krys nodded.

"I should." she said. "So- are you guys ready? Your limo is here… right… _now_." Razz and Dread-Head looked at her.

"Limo?" Dread-Head asked. Krys nodded.

"Limo." she said. "And… a limo driver at the place in Italy. Ready to take the lovely couple wherever they wish to go." Razz laughed.

"Krys, you didn't have to do that." she said. Krys nodded.

"I did. You guys deserve it… but- all I ask in return is…love." Then she started to sing. "L, is for the way you look at me. O, is for the only one I see. V, is very, very extraordinary. E, is even more than anyone that you adore. And Love, is all that I can give, to you. Love is more than just a game for two. Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it, love was made for me and you." she sang, as she twirled and jumped around. When she was done, she struck a rock star pose and laughed. They all started to laugh with her. "I love that song."

"Classic." Dread-Head said. "Remember our favorite song, Monkey?" Krys laughed. "Each day through my window, I watch her as she passes by." he started to sing. Krys smiled brightly.

"I say to myself, you're such a lucky guy." she continued with him. "To have a girl like her, is truly a dream come true. Out of all the fellas in the world, she belongs to me. But it was just my imagination running away with me. It was just my imagination running away with me." By then they all joined in. Krys laughed. "Good song." They all nodded. "Okay- you guys can just go downstairs. The car is out there." Razzie and Dread-Head nodded, then hugged and kissed her. "I love you guys."

"Love you like a star, Monkey." Dread-Head said, as he carried Razz's bags to the door.

"Love you too, Kryssie." Razzie said, as she carried the smaller bags. Then they both walked to the rooms, and got the kids. They all hugged and kissed. Krys looked at James and Angelica. They were hugging Dread-Head and Razzie. Angel was about 2-3 feet. She had dark brown hair, that was in braided pigtails. She was small and cute, with green eyes and pouty pink lips. She looked just like Razzie and Thai, except she had Dread-Head's hair color. Jamie looked like a small version of Dread-Head, with dark brown eyes, and dark brown hair. He had Razz's small button nose, and pouty lips. Even as a two year old, he was completely gorgeous already. Krys smiled, as Angel and Jamie looked at she Ares. Angel and Jamie ran to Krys, and hugged her, and her leg. Krys laughed, and crouched down to their heights. She kissed both of their cheeks about a hundred times, and squeezed them both into tight yet gentle hugs. Jamie pulled back, and looked at Ares. He walked over to him, and made a fist. Ares laughed, then gave him a pound. Krys walked Angel over to Ares, and introduced them.

"Angel, this is Ares. You've met before- but, you were only two." she said. Angel stuck out her hand, and Ares shook it.

"You've gotten big." Ares said to her. Angel smiled.

"So have you." she said. Ares laughed and nodded.

"Okay- so… I've been thinking about what we'll do this week. And…I…" Krys started. She could see Jamie and Angel getting more and more anxious with each word that she uttered. "Um… I think it'll be a surprise." Angel and Jamie whined. "Surprise… it's a surprise. I have no idea what to tell you guys. I might not even tell you until we get there." Ares laughed, as he watched Krys tease them.

"Okay- well, the drivers down there. So, we have to go." Razz said, as she hugged and kissed Jamie and Angel again. She looked at Krys, and kissed her, then she hugged Ares. Dread-Head hugged and kissed Angel and Jamie, then kissed Krys' cheek. Then, he looked at Ares and shook his hand. Then, they walked out of the house. Krys picked up Jamie, and Ares picked up Angel. They apparated back to Krys' house. When they got there, Ares set Angel down, and she looked around.

"This is amazing." she said. Krys chuckled, and led them to the kitchen. She set Jamie down on the counter, and snapped. A bowl of Fruit Loops set itself in front of him, and a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles set itself in front of a stool next to him. Ares set Angel up on the stool and sat next to her. Krys sat on the opposite stool, and started to eat a chocolate chip cookie cake type of thing. Ares looked at her weirdly.

"Krys, what is that?" he asked. Krys laughed, and started to eat it with a spoon.

"Its…Prongs made it for me." she said. Ares looked at it, and nodded.

"Yeah." he said. Krys laughed, and continued to eat it.

"Its good… it just looks horrible. Its just like a giant chocolate chip cookie. Which is wonderful." Ares laughed, and Angel ate her cereal. Krys watched Jamie chew his cereal sloppily, but cutely, and laughed. "Okay- Ta-Thai!" About a minute later, Thai walked into the kitchen. As soon as she saw Angel and Jamie, she hugged and kissed them.

"Angie. Come on. You get to hang out with me." she said, as she picked her up off of the stool. Thai picked up the cereal, and held Angel's hand They walked away, and Krys laughed.

"She's pulling out the adorable little sister card." she said. Ares looked at her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Okay- you never used A.J to find out things about a girl that you liked?" Ares looked at her, while nodding and laughing. "Okay- well, if you had a much younger sister, then you'd have probably gotten cuter and better- more accurate results." Ares laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean- have you ever been like- in love with a child. You just meet a little kid, and you fell in love with them immediately. Like- a child that had you wrapped around their finger." Ares nodded. "Well- Angel can be that child. She's adorable. And… she asks the most- the questions that she asks, you wouldn't think she was four. That's the little sister affect. To find out if a guy likes you or not."

"Krys, I know about that. I used it on you- but, A.J didn't get good results, because you didn't say anything."

"No- I never said that I liked you. I said things… I just never _said_ that I liked you. They would ask, and stuff. I would just say that you were okay." Ares laughed, then Jamie started to slurp his cereal. Ares and Krys looked at him, and laughed. "Are you still hungry, Jamie?" James shook his head. "Well then, I have a surprise for you." Jamie's eyes widened, and he nodded.

"Good." he said. Krys laughed, and picked him up off of the counter. They all walked to the doors on the sides of Krys' door, and walked into Jamie's room. Krys let him down, and he ran to the car cases, and stared at them. Then he ran back to Krys, and hugged her legs. "Thank you." he growled, in his little boy voice. Krys nodded, and laughed. Then, she set something down on his dresser, and left. She walked to Thai's room and knocked on the door. Angelica was on Thai's bed, with Thai and Angel. Krys looked at them.

"Okay- so, I have to go do my laundry, and when I get back… I'm taking Jamie and Angel. But- I probably won't be back for a while, because… I have a lot of clothes. Check on your brother. His is probably the room with the fake exploding car sounds." she said. Thai laughed.

"So then, he's a lot like you." she said. "You know- with the fire obsession. And the insanity." Krys shook her head.

"I am completely sane. And I have an idea to run by you teenagers. Its about Jamie and my Angel's surprise." she said. Angelica pouted. "Its not working." Thai and boy Angel laughed, as Angelica huffed, then put the lip away. "Check in on your brother." Thai nodded, and did something with her cell phone. "He can be alone for about an hour without wondering where everyone is-"

"No, in that room you gave him, he can be alone for about ten days."

"Oh- don't take Angel to her room yet. Have you seen it?" Thai nodded.

"I still wonder why you didn't do that for me."

"Because I gave you a credit card without a limit. Do it for your damn self." Thai glared at Krys playfully, and Krys put her hands up defensively. "I said nothing. I love you, Ta-Thai… enough. My Angel, tell Thai that I love you more than her." Thai laughed, then threw a stuffed bear at Krys. "Too damn old, with too much attitude. That's why. Okay- really, bye." Krys walked out of the room with Ares, and to her room. On her floor was a bunch of laundry bags. Each bag was a different color.

"Where are we going? Don't you have a washer machine here?" Ares asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah- but, I love Laundromats." she said. "Do you not want to go? We don't have to." Ares shook his head.

"No- it can't be that bad." he said. Krys laughed and took off her shirt and pants. She was wearing a tank top and short, extra short girl boxers. She walked to her drawer and put something else on, after putting her current outfit in the bags. "You can't just start stripping out of nowhere." Krys laughed.

"Oh- I'm sorry. I just- its a ritual." she said. She changed into a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt. Ares nodded, and picked up two of her laundry bags. Krys snapped, and picked up her hoodie, car keys and wallet. She and Ares walked sown to her driveway. Krys walked to a Nissan Pathfinder, and hopped into the drivers seat. Ares laughed, and got in next to her. "Me and my dad would never do laundry at the house. We always go to this Laundromat in Compton, and wear laundry clothes. We'd take the Nissan Pathfinder, and we'd go to the laundry where no one would recognize him. It was just- its what we'd do. Laundry day was a fun day. 'Cause- we'd wait until we had enough dirty clothes… we wouldn't make Ms. Banes do it, she did enough. So- he'd take off from work- it'd be right after this long ass business trip, and… we'd do a shit load of laundry. I even have a special laundry detergent." Ares looked at her.

"That's weird… the laundry detergent. So- you like doing laundry, because it was you and your dad's thing." Krys nodded, and started to turn corners. "I can understand that."

"Thank you."

"See- that's what I love about you. You have these weird, quirky little… things." Krys laughed, and nodded.

"You're right. I have a bunch of whacky things that I do- but, its hardly admirable. I guess its just- I- I want to keep what I know. I don't want to all of a sudden, become this Prima Donna that can have everything she wants with a snap of her finger. And- I don't want to be the rich little heiress that can have anything with the touch of a button. Sure- I am sort of those things, but… I hope I only use it in situations where I can't come off as lazy or just power struck."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay- well If I use magic for every major thing, I'm power struck. If I use it for every little thing, I'm lazy. I hope that I'm somewhere in between. Same goes for the money. Okay well- in this world, when I was younger… I wanted to be a lawyer. And… the plan with my dad was… if I wanted to, I would go to college after doing all the schooling I could in the magical world. And… I'm still thinking about keeping the options open. I already took SAT's- and I got my GED, a few summers ago. So- I could always go to a community college, then transfer once I show any promise. But- I want to be able to make it… and not always have to go into daddy's money to get it. And I don't have to-because the house has been paid for, and I own it. All the houses are owned by me- but… I'm still in daddy's pocket. So- I want to find a way to do what I need, without pulling the rich card. Do you know what I mean?" Ares laughed and nodded.

"Krys, don't worry about the rich card. I mean- yeah, you shop a lot…but, you're responsible. And… its not like you buy weird spoiled shit with your money… you just- I've never seen you go into a store just because its name brand. You go into stores, because you like what you see. And somehow that makes your money spending seem justified. By the way, how is your financial thing coming?"

"Well- I… what I do is, I check everyone's company spending and see if anyone's embezzling or not." Ares laughed. "And… if I see that they're having real money problems, I… give them a few thousands bonus." Ares laughed.

"Out of your own pocket?"

"Yeah. Because- when my dad gave me those business books, he said that you shouldn't take money from the company for personal bonuses." Ares nodded.

"So- the empire is doing well." Krys nodded.

"Yeah- I mostly check on the accountants, anybody that can screw me over in an instant." Ares laughed and nodded. They stopped talking, as Krys pulled into the parking lot of a small Laundromat. Ares took three of her biggest bags, without breaking a sweat. Krys whistled, then grabbed two smaller bags and her bag of detergents. She closed the car, and walked into the Laundromat, behind Ares. He set her bags down and looked at her.

"Your clothes are heavy as hell." he said. Krys laughed.

"Yeah- well, this is nothing. All of my jackets and a lot of my clothes have to be dry cleaned. This-" she pointed to the biggest bag- "is underwear." Ares looked at her. "What?" Krys walked out of the Laundromat, and got the last two bags. She went back in, and Ares looked at her. "These are jeans, shirts, hoodies. Most of my skirts have to be dry cleaned." Ares nodded. Krys laughed, and started to put her clothes in machines. When they were done putting all of the clothes in, Krys and Ares sat on a table. Ares pulled his wallet out, and showed Krys a picture of him and Emily.

"This is right after I proposed." he explained. Emily was showing the ring, and smiling broadly. Krys looked at it, and nodded.

"Cool." she said. "Listen- I have a friend… and he bakes and designs famous wedding cakes. Well- he's really nice, and he won't charge you a shit load, even if its gorgeous and gigantic. You should give him a call." she said, after a moment of silence.

"Thanks Krys- but, Emily has her sights on this French guy named Simon De-some shit. And she won't settle for less." Krys laughed.

"She did with you." she joked. Ares looked at her, and poked her in the stomach. "I'm joking."

"I know."

"Well- I have a _big_ surprise for you. My friend. His name is Simon Dulaine. He is the famous wedding cake man." Ares looked at her. "Its Ms. Banes'… 'friend' from cooking class in Paris." Ares laughed. "His cakes usually go for more than ten thousand."

"What the hell?" Krys shrugged.

"They're very good… and nice. The dude can make candy pearls and he makes sugar crystals. The cake can come out looking like… its crazy. Maybe I should show you so you can take Emily." Ares looked at her, and smiled slightly.

"Thank you." he said. Krys shook her head.

"Its nothing." Ares nodded. "So- can I ask you a question?" Ares nodded. "Why are you getting married now?"

"What do you mean?"

"It isn't like this is a wonderfully planned wedding, no offense. Everything seems so rushed. Oh- I'm sorry. That sounded wrong- just forget I said it." Ares shook his head.

"Never. I'm gonna hold that over your head forever." he said. Krys laughed.

"I'm sorry." she said.

"Don't be. This is rushed. Every time I suggest waiting until I'm fully funded, she sees that as me saying that I don't want to marry her." Krys nodded.

"Well- I could always lend you the money." Ares looked at her.

"I wouldn't feel right." he said. "I already owe you $2,097.23. I really can't ask you to do that. And the beach house- I _really_ can't ask you to do that."

"You didn't. And… lets think about it this way. I didn't pay for your tattoo like I was supposed to. You paid for mine." Krys said, as she took out her wallet. She tried to hand him a fifty. Ares looked at his head, but smiled slightly.

"That's very sweet, but- I feel like a bum already." Krys laughed.

"Well- you were a 'working boy'. I can pay you for all the lovin'." she said. Ares looked at her.

"That wouldn't work." he said. Krys laughed.

"Why not?" she asked. She couldn't stop laughing.

"Well, because- I think I wanted and liked it more than you did." Krys laughed some more.

"Well- maybe you could help me." she said, once she calmed down. "I think I could find a job for you."

"What job?"

"You cold be my personal assistant. You know. You'd basically have to help me watch Jamie and Angel, and you'd help me run my errands."

"You wanna pay me for a job that I would've paid you for, in Levebons?" Krys looked at him with her eyebrow raised. "You wanna pay me to hang out with you all day."

"Now it makes _me_ seem like the loser." Krys said. Ares laughed.

"Thanks for the offer, Krys. But-"

"Okay- I didn't want to have to do this… but- instead of money. Instead of paying you… I'll just set Emily up with the people that I know. Show her a bunch of places run by people that I know, so that she can get it free, or on a wonderful Kryscount." Ares laughed.

"A Kryscount?" Krys nodded.

"Yup." she said. "A discount where you pay less half." Ares looked at her, then pointed to her washing machine.

"Your clothes are done." he said. Krys got up, and got a cart, She started to pull her underwear out of the washing machine. She put all of her cotton underwear in a dryer, then walked over to the table with her cart. She started to throw her bra's over the pole on the cart. Ares looked at her, then her bras. He picked up a black and pink satin bra, and started to feel it. "This feels good." Krys looked at him and laughed.

"Please stop touching my bras."

"Why do you have this anyway?" Ares asked. Krys looked down at her chest, then up at Ares. "No- I didn't mean bras. I mean why do you have this bra? Why do you have satin panties? Why are they so fancy."

"The satin just feels really good against the skin." she said, before she started to throw the rest of her bras over the pole.

"What smells so good?" Ares asked, as he started to sniff around. He started to sniff her clothes and made a small humming noise.

"Please stop doing that. Its creepy." Krys said, as she started to pull her clothes away. Ares laughed.

"No- its just that your clothes smell really good." he said. "Like coconut and…vanilla. Kinda smells like that lotion that I used to rub on you." Krys nodded.

"Its made from coconut and vanilla extract." she said. Ares nodded, and started to sniff her bras again. "Okay- yeah, stop it." Ares laughed, and pulled away.

"Sorry… I just-"

"Yeah, I know. Anytime I smell apple cinnamon and vanilla, and soap… I go crazy. That was your scent. And you always smell very good." Ares laughed, and pointed to another machine. Krys skipped over to the machine, and put her clothes into the dryer. She put all the rest of the clothes in the washer machines, in the dryers. When all of her clothes were in the dryer, she sat down on the table with Ares again.

An hour after Krys' clothes were dry, she and Ares were in the middle of folding her clothes. Ares looked at Krys as she folded her underwear.

"Why are you folding your underwear?" he asked her.

"So that they don't wrinkle."

"Why do you care if your underwear is wrinkled or not? Who's gonna see them?" Krys looked at him with a smirk.

"Don't make me answer that." she said. Ares shuddered.

"I don't even want to know." he said. Krys laughed, and continued to fold her underwear, while Ares folded her pants. Ares looked into the cart and laughed. "What's with all the cartoon characters on your underwear. And why do you have Bevis and Butthead?" Krys laughed.

"Bevis is sexy." Krys said. Ares looked at her. "Plus- I only have characters on my cotton panties. The silky stuff-"

"What is _this_?" Ares asked, as he picked up a lacy pink baby doll, with a spilt down the middle. Krys looked at it, then at him, with a raised eyebrow. "Oh-oh. I remember these." Krys laughed.

"Where'd you get this?"

"Victoria Secret Platinum line." Ares looked at her. "Why?"

"I swear…the day you wore this, I thought I was gonna die." Krys looked at him.

"Why?" she asked.

"I'll show you the drawing."

"You still have that?" Ares nodded. Krys started to fold something else, when Ares' eyes widened. "What's wrong?" Ares shook his head, and hopped down from the table.

"Lets go." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Why? What happened?" she asked. Ares shook his head.

"Just throw your clothes in the bag, and lets go." he said. Krys nodded, then started to put her stuff in the bag. When she turned around, she saw a woman holding a newspaper. The newspaper wiped the smile right off of Krys' face. The headline on the front page was 'Billion Dollar Princess of Rod Co. a Little Orphan Annie?'. Under the headline there was a picture of Krys, and a caption. The captain said, 'As told by the late Joshua Rodriguez's ex-fiancé, Persephone Bryant.' Before Ares knew it, all of the lights flickered, the washers and dryers stopped, and everything glass shattered. The shattered glass enabled the torrential downpour to get into the Laundromat, and all that could be heard was thunder. Ares watched a tornado twister stir, and it seemed the only thing that would stand ground was the Laundromat. The woman who was holding the newspaper was crying and having conniption in the corner. Then, as fast as everything started, it stopped. Ares looked around, and everything was restored to perfect mint condition. Everything, except for Krys. Krys, who hadn't made a sound, but cried silently. Ares looked at her, and for the first time, had no idea what to say to her. He just took her hand, and used all his strength to lift all of her bags to the car. When they got to the car, he had to get the keys from her pocket, and literally put her in the car. She still seemed paralyzed from the shock. Most of the ride to her house was normal, until Krys started to stare out the window. All of a sudden, the torrential downpour started again. All through the sky, the lightening could be seen and thunder could be heard. Ares had no idea what to do, when the tornado twister brushed through everything in its way, and towards Krys' car on the road.


	9. Natural Disaster

Harry, Jason, Ginny and A.J sat in the food court of the mall. All of a sudden Harry got up. They all looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. Harry looked around, and without a word, went to the newsstand near the food court. His eyes widened when he saw the cover. He handed the man a fifty and picked up all of the papers. He walked back to the food court and gave Ginny, Jason, and A.J each a paper. All of their eyes widened, when they saw it. "She's gonna flip out, when she sees this." Harry nodded.

"And there's nothing that we can do." he said.

"Why?" A.J asked.

"Because she's already seen it." Jason groaned.

"Who is she with?" he asked.

"Ares." Jason looked at him.

"Then he can handle it, right? Isn't he her trigger?" Harry nodded.

"Yeah- but he doesn't think that he is. So- he's not even going to try." A.J said. Harry looked at her.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Genius." Jason said, as he skimmed thorough the paper. "Holy shit."

"What?"

"There are pictures of Krys' back in here." Harry groaned, and A.J looked at him and Jason.

"What about her back?" she asked.

"The scars."

"What scars?" Ginny asked. Harry answered.

"When it happened- Padfoot had a bunch of scars on her back-" he said.

"There are no scars now."

"A spell book. 'Healing Body Disfigurement' or something like that. She could only get rid of scars that didn't cause her any severe emotional stress. Before that- she had a bunch of horrible scars." Harry finished. Jason showed the girls the pictures.

"Oh my god." Ginny murmured. Harry nodded.

"Yeah- she's calmer now." he said. They all looked at him.

"Do you think she's gonna be okay?" A.J asked. Harry exhaled deeply, then started to walk away. They all followed after him, and went to the car. Harry started to speed along the roads, and didn't notice that no other cars were moving. He sped until he drove into a huge mess. All over the streets, garbage cans were all over, street signs were on the floor, trees were on the floor, and stoplights were on the floor. But even though everything was a mess, no cars were harmed, and nor were the people. There was only one car and one person that was harmed. Harry hopped out of the car and ran to the Nissan Pathfinder. Only one side was hit by the tornado. Only the passenger side was dented. Only Krys was hurt. In the drivers side, Ares was trying to help a busted up Krys out of the car. Harry walked over, and blew the passenger door off. Ares ran around to the passenger side, and helped Harry get Krys out of the car.

"Is-is-is she gonna be okay?" Ares asked, as he held her. Harry looked at her. Krys had a big knot on her forehead, and blood was running down her face. There was also a tear on the arm of her shirt and her arm was positioned at an odd angle. Harry took Krys from Ares.

"I'm gonna take her to St. Josephs. A.J, you drive the car back to her house. Guys just drive to her house, then apparate. Once I get there- I'll get time going again." Harry said. Once he said that, he disapparated. When they got to St. Josephs, Harry stomped his foot making the people move again, then ran to the receptionist. "Hey- my sister was in a car accident, and she- I- I need you to help her."

"Um- I need you to take a seat and calm down." the receptionist said. She didn't even look up at him. Harry looked at her.

"Okay- what is your name?" he asked.

"I'm Phoebe Clearwater."

"Yeah- well, I'm Harry Potter, and I need you to help her!" The receptionist looked up as soon as he said his name.

"Harry Potter? As in _the_ Harry Potter? Harry Potter who killed You-Know-Who?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"Look- I don't care about all of that. All I care about, is helping her. Please- I'll do anything. Just- get her in to see a healer." The receptionist nodded.

"Just fill out this form, and we'll try to find her a healer as soon as possible." he said. Harry took the form and snapped his fingers.

"Its done." he said. The receptionist took it and pressed a button.

"Healer Rothman please." she said. A minute later, a healer walked out to her desk. "Um- we have a nineteen year old female, blood type o, pureblood."

"What's her case?" the healer asked.

"A hit to the head, and a broken arm." Harry said. "Plus- she's out cold." The healer nodded, and levitated her to a stretcher. Then he took Krys to a room. Harry sat down in the waiting room, and took deep breaths. "Okay- she's survived malnourishment, the black bone shadowing, the killing curse, asthma attacks, blackouts, food deprivation- and she seems her weakest after a car accident that she controlled. Huh." Harry looked up and down the waiting cubicle. A few minutes later, the healer walked out of the room, with a clipboard.

"Um- who's here for… Krysta- something Black?" he said. Harry stood up.

"Me." he said.

"Well- I need to know her case. Her medical history. What types of illnesses she's had. What she's survived."

"Magical and muggle?" The healer looked at the clipboard.

"Well- yes. You know- whether she's had dragon pox… things like that."

"Well- she's never had dragon pox. She's survived the black bone shadowing…she's anemic, asthmatic, she has allergies… she takes food injections. I- I don't know what else to- what else to tell you. " Healer Rothman nodded.

"Okay… well, I'll just run a few more tests." he said. "The good news is that her arm is healed, and she isn't in comatose state. She's awake now. There's only a bump on her head… and the bump doesn't seem to be anything serious, which is why I need to run the tests." He checked the chart once more, before he went back into the room. Harry sighed heavily, and almost jumped when Ares, Jason, A.J and Ginny popped up in front of him. 

"How is she?" Ares asked, before Harry could say anything.

"Well- her arm is fixed, and she's awake. All they need to do now is run some tests." Harry said. Ares breathed a sigh of relief and took to pacing, as the others sat down. When the healer came out of the room, he was laughing as he stood in front of them. "So, how is she?" Healer Rothman shook his head, and continued to chuckle.

"She's alright. She's a little loopy and very relaxed right now." he said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well- I had to give her a relaxing potion. And she wouldn't relax after the second vial of the potion, when its normally supposed to kick in immediately… so I had to give her about three more vials. So now…she's feeling _really_ relaxed." Harry nodded. "You can go in to see her now." They all went into Krys' room. She was sitting up in the bed with her arms out. She was making airplane noises, and waving her arms around.

"Hey, Padfoot. How are you?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him, and clapped enthusiastically.

"Yea Prongsie! Prongsie's here! Ooh, and he brought J.J and A.J- ooh! That rhymes. J.J and A.J" she sang. Then she stopped and looked at Ginny. "And you brought Pumpkin. Oh Pumpkin. Pumpkin and Prongsie." Ginny held down her chuckles. Krys looked around, and blew a kiss at Ares. Then she puckered her lips. "Hi." Ares turned his chuckles into a believable cough, and waved.

"How are you?" he asked. Krys looked at him and whined. Then she shook her head.

"Not good." she whined. "Everyone knows." Ares nodded. "And you don't get it."

"Get what?" Krys shook her head.

"You're _so_ cute. Like a kissable… puppy. I want a kissable puppy. I want you to be my kissable puppy." she said. A.J let a chuckle escape, then sat on the couch. Krys pointed at A.J. "You have a kissable puppy." She then pointed at Ginny. "You have a kissable puppy." Then she pointed at Ares. "You have a kissable… she's not cute like a puppy, but she can pass for an okay looking turtle." A.J, Ginny, Harry, Jason _and_ Ares started to crack up, but that didn't stop Krys. "_You_ guys have puppies." Krys said to Jason and Harry. "Ron would have a kissable puppy, if he got smart. Leave the blondie and go for my Bon-bon- brownie- ooh! That's my new nickname for Apollie. Brownie- Apollie Jade Del- Eirson. Apollie and Jason Eirson! Pumpkin! Ginervie Pumpkin Potter! Ginervie and Harry Potty- Potter!" They were all just staring at her. "Aw- where are my Angels? Where's my little Angelica?"

"She's with Thai and James, back at the house. How are you feeling?" Harry asked. Krys laughed, and put her hands out. "What?"

"My breath smells like…" She started to make weird faces. "…vanilla. I want it to smell like mint. _Your_ breath smells like mint-" Krys said as she pointed at Harry. Then she pointed at Ares. "_Your_ breath smells like…… watermelon jolly ranchers! I love watermelon jolly ranchers." Krys leaned in to Ares. "I love them… because they remind me of the night that we… oh god. That was a fun night. Wasn't it a fun night? But- I like mint… its better than stupid vanilla. But its not better than watermelon. Watermelon is _good_. Mint reminds me of the night we… Ooh chocolate- no- mint. I want mint. Mint is my favorite. Mint is…chilly-… _cool_ as ice." Harry nodded, then snapped. Krys jumped back when the toothbrush appeared in his hand. "_Amazing_." Harry nodded, then handed her the toothbrush and toothpaste. Krys looked at it, then put a bunch of toothpaste in her mouth. She leaned in near Harry's cheek, and gave him a kiss with the toothpaste in her mouth. Harry closed his eyes, and pulled away from Krys, before he wiped away the glob of toothpaste on his cheek. She had a bunch of toothpaste around her mouth and looked like a rabid raccoon. Finally, she started to spit the excess out of her mouth and started to brush her teeth. As she brushed her teeth, she sang the Barney song. "I never let the water run." As she sang, she spit toothpaste out of her mouth and onto her sheet. When she was done, she took the water from her bedside, and splashed it in her own face. Then she wiped her face with her sheet. "When you're smiling, when you're smiling. The whole world smiles with you." she sang. "When you're- going the wrong way down a one way street… I feel happy." They were all laughing in the corner. The door knocked, and Harry answered it. Healer Rothman walked in.

"See what I told you?" he asked, referring to A.J and Ginny who were laughing in the corner. Harry nodded. "Well- I just came here to tell you that she's alright… or at least, she _will_ be." Harry laughed, and walked over to Krys.

"Do you know that we've all done _it _with _someone _in this room?" Krys whispered to him. Harry laughed, then walked to Ginny and A.J. Ares was looking at Krys, who was using her socks as puppets and singing 'Where is Thumpkin?'. They all watched her, as she went into a full blown conversation with her socks. Finally, she threw her socks on the floor, and started playing with her toes. "This little piggy went to the market." Krys started, before she started to put her leg behind her head. A.J and Ginny had to stop her. "Would you be sad, if I was hurt?" A.J and Ginny nodded. "Why?"

"Because, we love you." Ginny said. Krys frowned, then covered her head with a pillow. A few seconds later, she whipped the pillow off of her head, and sat up.

"Do you love me?" she asked Ares. He nodded. "Why? I'm a bad, bad girl. I couldn't control the twister…I could've hurt you. I'm sorry." Ares nodded.

"Its okay. I _still_ love you." he said. Krys' eyes brightened.

"Really?" she asked hopefully. Ares nodded. "Then why are you with the turtle?" she whined. Harry started coughing, then walked to Krys' bedside.

"Padfoot, maybe you should get some sleep." he suggested. Krys shook her head.

"No." she pouted. "Kingie…I'm in l-"

"Padfoot, we're gonna go to- go to Toy's R Us, if you're good today."

"No, Krys. Say what you were going to say." Ares said. Harry shook his head.

"Padfoot, I'll give you some candy." Harry said, as a bag of Pop Rocks appeared in his hand. Krys nodded frantically. "Promise to be quiet?" Krys nodded frantically. Harry tossed the bag of Pop Rocks to her, and Krys poured some in her mouth. She giggled, as they all heard the Pop Rocks in her mouth.

"You want some?" she asked Ares. Ares shook his head.

"No, thank you. I want you to finish what you were saying." he said. Krys looked thoughtful, then poured more Pop Rocks into her mouth.

"I don't remember." she said, as they all heard the popping. "But…can we go to the pet shop?" They all looked at her. "Someone that I can talk to. I want an animal. A puppy possibly."

"Krys, you're allergic to dogs." Ares said.

"It was a metaphor." A.J told him. "She wants a boyfriend." Krys shook her head.

"No- I want a snake." she said. "I want an actual anaconda… or a fishy. A dolphin! Prongsie, what happened to the dolphin you promised to steal for me? Or- a penguin… like Mumble and Gloria. I want a private fishy collection!" Ares sat down at Krys' bedside.

"So…how are you feeling about the newspaper?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him and shrugged.

"Can I see it? I didn't even read it." she said, as she tried to blow her bangs out of her face. Harry handed Ares two newspapers. Ares looked through his copy, then looked at Krys.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, before he moved the stray curl from her eyes. Krys' cheeks tinted slightly, and she smiled at him. They just stared at each other for a minute, before Ares shook out of it. "Are you sure you want to see it?" Krys took a deep breath and furrowed her eyebrows.

"My breath now smells like raspberries and vanilla… where's the mint?" she whined. Ares laughed and shrugged. "I want to see it."

"Okay." Ares said, before he handed her the paper. She started to read it, and they could see her body tense with each word that she skimmed. Before they knew it, she was turning the page, and a mess of tears ran down her face. The paper burst into flames while in her hand, and she laid back on the bed.

"Why would anyone do that?" she asked. Ares shook his head.

"Its okay." he said. "Come on…whatever you want to do. Anything that'll make you feel better." Krys smiled, and made a small moan. "Are you okay?" Krys nodded.

"Mmm." she sounded. "Anything?" Ares nodded, then looked thoughtful, and gave a cross between a head nod and shake.

"Within reason." he said. Krys gave a cute cheesy smile that showed her dimples, and Ares laughed.

"I want to go home." Ares nodded.

"To do what?"

"Sleep." Krys said. Ares nodded, then looked behind him to where Harry and the others were supposed to be, but they were gone "No- I wanna go to the aquarium."

"Well… when? We can't just leave the kids at home."

"We have kids?" Krys asked. Ares closed his eyes and laughed.

"No- your godchildren. Thai, Angel, Jamie and Thai's friends. You just got Jamie and Angel today. Razzie and Dread-Head went to Milan." Krys nodded.

"Yeah- I remember. I can….- I just feel like saying stupid things. I know what I'm saying… but I'm really relaxed, so I can't help it." Ares nodded.

"You're drunk." he said. "The potion is made from Firewhiskey residue." Krys laughed.

"I wanna go home." she said. Ares nodded, and helped her up. She was only wearing a hospital gown.

"Okay- you get dressed, and I'll come back." When Krys got up, she slipped and Ares had to catch her.

"Dizzy." Krys said. Ares nodded.

"Okay- can you get dressed?" he asked. Krys tried to stand, and started to wobble. "Krys- I don't have my wand. I can't help you change your clothes."

"Can you just help me get dressed?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her. "Please." Ares nodded, then went to get her clothes. When he walked over to her, Krys was sitting down. Ares sat down next to her, and started to take off the hospital gown. He stopped at it was just off her shoulder, and only enough to see a bra strap.

"Oh- if you're sitting down, you can do this." he said. Krys nodded, and took the clothes from him. Suddenly, she lied her head in Ares' lap.

"I feel dizzy." she said. Ares nodded, then started to rub her back, until he saw that that was loosening her hospital gown.

"Krys, come on. You have to get dressed." he said. Krys nodded, then sat up. She stared to pull off the hospital gown, but Ares stopped her.

"What happened?" Krys asked. Ares shook his head. Krys nodded, then took off the hospital gown quickly. Ares was relieved that the 'bra strap' was just a short black cotton/spandex adjustable undershirt, with the Winnie the Pooh crew on it, and she was wearing matching black cotton boy shorts. She wasn't wearing any socks, and her hair, was loose and naturally perfect.

"Not so uncomfortable." Ares said, after he breathed a sigh of relief. It took everything that he had, to turn away and not watch her. But, he soon caught himself staring at her again. "Not again."

"What?" Krys asked, as she walked towards him. When she turned around, he saw the shield tattoo, and the 'beauty mark' for the body. She followed his eyes to the mole, and smiled. She walked towards him, and lightly touched the scar on his cheek, then she started to touch his arm. She kissed the tattoo on his forearm, then moved his arm to her waist. Ares' breath got shallow and husky, as she pressed her whole body against his. The part that disturbed him the most, was that he didn't want to stop her. He wanted to _reciprocate_. He wanted her to continue, and he didn't want the feeling to end. Krys' fingers lightly touched his bottom lip, before she stood on the tips of her toes. Ares finally got to his senses and stepped back once, but immediately regretted it by the look that overtook Krys' face.

"Krys, please don't be sad. Please don't be." Ares begged. Krys shook her head and gave a small chuckle.

"I was just wondering what it'd be like." she said. Ares nodded, and handed Krys her shirt. Krys put her clothes on, and looked at Ares. When they got to Krys' game room, the answering machine was full of messages. Krys sat down next to Ares and listened to the messages. When they were all through, Krys looked at Ares.

"Turn it into a positive, Krys. They want to interview you. Latina wants to interview you- People, In Touch and Cosmo want a cover story on you." Krys shrugged.

"I don't want to do it." she whined. "Its no one's business."

"True- but, you can give them the _real_ story. The story from your point of view. Don't let anyone else tell your life." Krys looked at him, with big eyes. She touched his cheek.

"I still say that you're like a puppy. Not in a sad and pathetic way- but, your face. You're so… _cute_." Ares laughed. Krys crawled off of the couch, and started to walk lazily to the air hockey table. She crawled on top of it, and sat Indian style. "Has there every been anyone that you wanted to give your everything?" Krys asked, out of nowhere. Ares nodded. "I just- I feel so bad that the person that I wanna give everything to- I can't give anything. And- its not even like I have something to give… but I at least want the option of being a _complete_ person."

"What are you talking about? You're a complete person." Ares said. Krys shook her head.

"I- I…when I think about all the things that my life could've been- all the things that my life could've had… I feel horrible. I mean… all the things that I _could've_ had." Ares walked over to the table, and wrapped his arms around her.

"Krys, come on. Its okay." Ares said, as he stroked her hair.

"No, its not. I mean… I gave up a lot… and I didn't even break even. My life is…empty. And…I have Thai, and I have Jamie, and Angel…and you, and Prongs, and Jason, and A.J, and Gin, Hermione, Ron- I have you guys but-…you have Emily, and Prongs has Gin, and Jason has A.J, and visa versa for A.J, and for Gin and Prongs too- and…its empty. I mean…when I had you, I was happy-but…now everyone has someone. Everyone has someone to be with… everyone has someone to…you were my someone. And you're gone now."

"I'm not gone, Krys. I just- we're not a couple anymore. That's all it is." Ares said.

"Ares…you're gone now. You have your turtle." Krys said.

"I'm not go-" Ares started. Krys put her finger to his lips.

"You're gone now." she said. "Its okay. Really, it is. I understand it- I mean…I was horrible to you. I was always horrible to you. I was cold and distant-"

"Krys… you weren't. You were anything but…I mean, compared to how you could've been…you're pretty much an angel."

"Ares…my reasons for dumping you…they show that I'm far from angelic."

"Just tell me." Ares said softly. "Krys, whatever it is. You can tell me…you can tell me anything." Krys nodded, as the tears ran down her face. The stayed silent for a while.

"Ares, I wa-"

"Padfoot, I got you something!" Harry yelled, as he walked into the game room. Krys jumped up, and looked at him like he was her savior. Harry had a bag in his hand, and he was holding it out to her.

"Prongsie, what is it?" Krys asked, excitedly. Harry laughed, and gave her the bag. Krys opened it and pulled out a potion vial. It was filled with a golden potion. Krys looked at him.

"It'll course the relaxation, and get you back to normal, uptight, flaky self." Krys opened it, and gulped it down. A few seconds later, her eyes shot open and she sat down. "How do you feel?" Krys looked up at him.

"What?" she said. "What the _hell_ am I doing _here_?"

"Well- you were in a car accident, and you broke your arm." Harry said. "The doctor used the relaxation potion on you-"

"And you gave me the norm." Krys said. "That's why I only remember up until the car got hit with the twister." Harry nodded, and Krys looked at Ares. "Are you okay?" Ares nodded.

"How are you feeling about the newspaper?" he asked.

"I just- I can't believe that she would do this. The pictures…they were copies from the case. My dad used them to send her to jail… and…I just- I don't understand why she would go through this to- I don't get it. But- I'm better now. I just- she- I have no idea what to say."

"Latina, Cosmo, People, and In-Touch wants to do cover stories on you." Krys shrugged. "Lets have dinner tonight." Ares suggested. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Okay." she said. "Are we talking 'me and you'? Or are we talking 'me, you, the missis'?" Ares smiled at her and shook his head.

"I would never do that to you. It'll be me, you, the missis, Ron, Hermione, and Kay." Krys laughed and nodded.

"Okay." she said. Then, she looked at Harry. "Are you gonna come?"

"Nope- I have to be one of the people here to watch Angel and Jamie." Harry said. Krys nodded, then got up.

"I… I'm gonna go out." she said. Ares and Harry looked at her.

"Um…where are you going?" Ares asked. Krys smiled.

"Mall…my place of peace." They both looked at her with a mass of concern. "Don't worry. Shopping is the ultimate remedy. For me, at least. I'm always happy, when I'm buying something. And…I'm okay. She didn't break me. At least…I'm no longer scarred for life." Krys laughed.

"Its not funny." Harry said.

"Really not funny." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. "I apologize. I'm genuinely sorry." Ares smiled and nodded.

"You need help." he said. Krys laughed and nodded.

"You need me… to get you anything?" They both shook their heads. "I'm just gonna go buy some stuff." she said. "I-I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I promise I won't go crazy and almost kill myself. I will not have an attack where a twister comes at me." Krys said. Ares hugged her, and kissed her forehead.

"Stop saying crazy shit like that." he said. Krys smiled, and walked out of the game room. As soon as she left Ares looked at Harry. "She was just about to tell me why we broke up- you _knew_ that." Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I did." he said.

"Why don't you want me to know? This is exactly what I need to get over her! This is what I need to get on with my-"

"You don't want to get on with your life! You really shouldn't use her like that." Harry said.

"What the fuck are you talking about 'use her'?" Ares asked.

"She was loopy enough to tell you anything."

"What's wrong with wanting to know why? Everyone knows! My _mother_ knows! Why the hell can't I know?!" Harry didn't say anything for a while.

"She doesn't want you to." he said. Then he just walked away.

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When Krys got to the mall, she walked into the first store in sight. The store was Against All Odds. Krys ran in, and immediately saw a dress that's he had to have. "**I cannot be a tomboy anymore**." she muttered in Spanish. The dress was a black hoodie zip up dress, with graffiti print all over it. Krys looked through the sizes and got a size two. After she picked up the dress, she walked over to the men's section. Krys started to look through shirts with Sylvester and Bugs. Krys started to pick up all the shirts and pants in her size, and held them up to herself. She was finally beginning to forget about all of her problems, when she dropped a hanger. She leant down to pick it up, and ended up banging her head against someone else's. "**Bitch, bitch, bitch, motherfucker**!" she cursed. When she looked up, she was greeted with a white, toothy grin, attached to a man. He was black, with dark brown eyes and a toasty brown complexion. When Krys looked at him, two words came to mind: _Very Sexy_. He was chuckling, while grinning. '_Okay, Krys…walk away._' Krys looked at him, then started to look through more shirts. She finally found one that was solid black, with Bob Marley spray painted on it. Krys looked for her size, and finally found two of them. She held it to herself, when someone touched her shoulder. Very Sexy was touching her shoulder.

"Um- can I ask you a question?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"**Yeah, what happened**?" she asked…in Spanish. He looked at her.

"You don't speak English." he said. "That's wonderful…you have no idea what I'm saying. Its always the pretty ones." He looked at her for a minute. "Very pretty." Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Very pretty?" she asked, in a heavy Spanish accent. The man nodded.

"Very." he said. "Okay…bye." Then he walked away. Krys looked through the rest of the shirts, and started to pick up each in her size. She walked around to the pants section, and started to pick up all the matching pants in her size. After a few minutes, she felt another tap on her shoulder. Very Sexy, _again_. "I'm probably stupid for asking this. I'm really sorry- and you have no idea what I'm saying… but, I know you from somewhere." Krys looked at him questioningly.

"**What**?"

"Back to the Spanish, I see. You know what? My bad." Very Sexy said, before he walked back to the pants section. Krys looked in her hands, and decided she couldn't carry anymore, before she walked to the cash register.

"Um- your total comes up to $1025." the cashier said. Krys nodded, and took her credit card out. After buying her clothes, she ran to put her clothes in her car, then ran back into the mall. When she got back in there, she ran to the Sharper Image. When she got in there, she stared at the massage chairs.

"Um- can I help you?" one of the workers asked. Krys turned to him and smiled.

"Oh, well…are there any chairs that you recommend?" she asked. The man walked to what looked like the most expensive chair in the store, and gestured for Krys to sit. Krys looked at it, then sat down. The man started to work on the controls, and Krys laughed. "Ticklish." The worker laughed.

"Sorry- I should use a lighter control." he said. Krys nodded, as the chair's massage softened.

"Okay- that's better." she said, before she hopped up. "Okay- can I have this delivered to my house?" The worker nodded, then put his finger up.

"Follow me." he said, as they walked to the desk. He handed Krys a form to fill out. Krys looked through and filled it out, before she handed him the clipboard and credit card.

"Thank you." Krys said, before she left the shop. She looked around the place, and stood in the middle of a mass of people. She looked around, then ran to the Apple store. As soon as she got in, a sales rep walked up to her. "Okay, you don't have to worry about any sales pitchy crap… please show me a nice laptop… nice high tech features… and really cute." The rep smiled and walked Krys over to a bunch of different models of laptops. Krys finally picked one green one, and a blue one.

"You want both of them?" the rep asked. Krys nodded.

"Yes… and… if you have a nice desktop…I'll want one too… oh-oh, printers… and a green iPod." she said. The rep looked at Krys and nodded skeptically.

"Yeah, alright."

"Thanks… can I get that delivered to my house… or do I need to take it now?"

"Listen, please don't waste my time. I work here, and this is what I do. I don't come to your obviously meaningless- meaningless, especially if you have to come down here and interrupt other people at work- job and interrupt your coffee pou-"

"Okay, excuse me… I just wanna know if you treat all of your customers like this, because if so, you _really_ don't need to be in sales." Krys said. "Second of all, my obviously meaningless job… well, let me just say- it'll pay _your_ commission. _Thirdly_, I really want my desktop, two laptops, printer, and iPod… well- now! Now, I apologize if my words contrast my exterior, and you didn't believe that I knew a way to make you feel so stupid with few words, but…lets just say this… I studied on my _last_ computer. The computer that I broke, and now need to replace! So, can you get my stuff, now?!" The rep didn't say anything. He just nodded, then went to the back. When he came out, he came with five boxes on a cart. He walked straight to the cash register.

"Um… your total is $900." he said. Krys nodded, then pulled out her Visa. When she was done charging it, the rep handed her the receipt. "Um…do you want this to be delivered to your house immediately?" Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Thank you." she said in an immature voice. He handed her a form, and Krys read over it, then signed it.

"It should be there later today." the rep said. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Thank you." she said, before she walked out of the store. Krys looked around again, then ran to her all-time favorite store. Krys jogged to Best Buy. When she got in, she inhaled the scent for a moment before she ran to the TV's. She looked around, and saw a big plasma wall television. "So beautiful. I swear…I want this damn TV." she said to herself, aloud.

"I thought you didn't speak English." said the voice behind her. Krys turned around to see Very Sexy lounging in a chair in front of the TV. Krys laughed.

"See- I never _said_ that." she said. "I just- _why am I explaining myself to you_? What the hell is wrong with me?" Krys looked at him, then walked off.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey- I'm sorry." Very Sexy said, as he ran to catch up to her. Krys looked at him and nodded. "Okay- I really feel like I know you from somewhere."

"Yeah, I know. School…probably." He shook his head. "Yes, I know you from school." He squinted. "Eric Josephs. Dolphintail. Most popular boy in school. I was the fourth year that you asked out, a few months before you graduated." His eyes widened.

"The nerd." he said. Krys laughed. "Holy shit- I thought I was just going crazy. Is that why you were avoiding me?" Krys shook her head.

"I just didn't want to see you." she said.

"This is just like when you called me repulsive." Krys shook her head in mock shame.

"You remember what I said to you… but you can't- forgot… I don't look the same." she said. He nodded.

"Yeah, you do. But- I was asking you out because…you were this smartass and you were cute. See- now… it seems more appropriate- me not being able to stop looking at you-"

"Were you following me?" Krys asked. Eric shook his head.

"No." he said. "See- I came in here… and… _hoped_ that I'd see you. So- I've been looking for anyone with black curls…and it worked."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're creepy?" Krys asked. "Just a little." Eric laughed. "Okay, so…I'm gonna cut the conversation short… and say 'bye'. Well- bye." Krys started to walk away.

"Wait, wait, wait- wait." Eric called after her. Krys turned around and looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Okay- see… we had a nice conversation just now…and you didn't even give me your number." Krys nodded.

"Okay?" she said. "Now- since when has it been _my_ obligation to offer my number out to strange men- who not only don't ask for it, but who I don't even know?"

"Since you've liked me since you were fourteen." Eric said. Krys laughed.

"Actually… I didn't remember who you were, until I saw you. Out of sight, out of mind…shows how much I like you." she said. Eric laughed, and gave her a card.

"Since you're so bashful and reserved, you can have my number." he said. Krys looked at the card, and flicked it. She handed it back to him. "That's mean."

"Look on the back, you thirty year old mallrat." Krys teased. Eric laughed and turned it around.

"Oh- your number. Looks like you like me." he said as a smug look spread over his face. He pulled out his phone, and started to dial the number. "Gotta make sure you're not trying to get rid of me."

"That's sad." Krys said, as she started to walk away. Krys walked to a sales rep. "Um… excuse me. Can I have something delivered to my house?" The man nodded, and Krys' pulled out her phone. She looked at the phone and laughed, before she turned it off.

"What do you need?" he asked. Krys started to walk him to the TV section.

"The big plasma." she said. He nodded and looked at the ticket on the TV. He wrote something down on a notepad.

"Okay." he said, as he ran to one of the desks. Krys ran behind him. "Total. $750." Krys nodded, and took out her credit card. After she charged it, he gave her a receipt and a form to fill. When she was done, she ran to the DVD section, and bumped into Eric again.

"Oh Jesus." Krys said. He looked at her and grinned.

"Couldn't stay away."

"Annoying as hell, can you stop stalking me?"

"What?"

"Oh- that's my new name for you. I call you _annoying as hell_, because I can't _remember_ your name." Krys said teasingly. Eric nodded and laughed.

"Well- seeing as we're developing such a wonderful relationship, I should ask you out now."

"I'll go out with you, if you can remember my name." Krys said, as she folded her arms over her chest. Eric looked at her for a minute.

"Rodriguez." he said. Krys laughed.

"Okay- I'll make it a bit easier for you. What color are my eyes?" she asked, as she covered her eyes with her hand.

"Why are you covering your eyes? Its not like that's your real eye color anyway. Speaking of… where did you get those contacts?"

"Same place where I the hair color and the curls. See- that little place called momma and poppa's genes." Eric laughed.

"That's your real eye color?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah. My real hair color, my curls and my eye color." Eric nodded.

"So- will you go out with me?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"Call me at about six thirty… and I'll tell you when and where to meet me for dinner." she said. Krys skipped twice, and looked back at him. "By the way, my name is Krys." Then she continued to walk away. Krys was walking around, when her stomach growled. She immediately ran to the Cheesecake Factory.

"How many?" the man at the stand asked.

"One."

There's a table." he said. Krys nodded and walked in. When she sat at the table, she looked through the menu that the waitress placed in front of her.

"Excuse me, miss… I just know that I've seen you- oh dear." the waitress said. "Oh my God, you were in the newspaper." Krys looked at the woman murderously. The waitress seemed to get the hint. "Um- do you know what you'd like?"

"One plain cheesecake for the table, and two to go, please. And… for a drink, I'd like a Pepsi, please." Krys ordered. The waitress nodded, and wrote it down. Krys sat in the place and looked around. No one seemed to recognize her. "Thank God." After a few minutes, a crew of waiters and waitresses walked to the table holding one plain cheesecake, and Krys' Pepsi. This got the attention of some people. Krys looked up, and one of them gasped. "Um- thank you." They all nodded, and walked away slowly. Krys looked down at her cheesecake, and started to pick at it. A few minutes later, a man came up to her table. Krys looked up at him. He was white, in his early fifties. He had a white mustache, and he was wearing a serene smile.

"Um, excuse me, are you Krystathaili Rodriguez?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Yes." she said. "Do I know you?"

"Um- no. I read the article that they did on you, this morning… and even though I don't know you, I think that considering the circumstances, you've come out a fine young woman." Krys' eyebrows furrowed, even though she was smiling.

"Thank you." she said.

"That London or France girl, is always in a scandal. You seem to be doing okay." Krys smiled.

"Thank you." she said, as she stood up. "I'm sorry- I have to go." She picked up her wallet, and dropped a hundred on the table. "Um- it was very nice speaking with you. Thank you, Mr..."

"Thomas. Michael Thomas."

"Well, thank you Mr. Michael Thomas. I needed to hear what you just said. Bye." Krys said, before she waved and walked off.

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Hermione was sitting at the kitchen counter, when the door knocked. She got up and walked to the door. She peeped through the hole before she opened the door. Ron walked in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey." he said, as he walked in. Hermione smiled.

"Hey. Are you hungry?" she asked. Ron looked at her.

"I've never seen you cook." he said. Hermione nodded and leaned against the counter. Ron walked up to her.

"That's true, but… I can make peanut butter and jelly."- Ron pecked her on the lips- "And toaster strudels."- Ron kissed her again.- "And microwaveable pizza." Ron smiled and kissed her again. This kiss lasted longer. Ron nibbled on Hermione's lip, making her open her mouth wider. Then the tips of their tongues touched. Ron pulled his tongue back a bit.

"You taste like licorice." he murmured into her mouth. Hermione smiled, then pulled back completely.

"Is that a good thing?" she asked jokingly. Ron nodded.

"That's a _very_ good thing." he whispered, before kissing her again. Hermione giggled into his mouth, then wrapped her arms around his neck. But, she pulled back quickly.

"Oh, oh- Krys is coming home soon. She promised, and she called me a few minutes ago. She said that she was on the way to her house." she said. Ron looked at her.

"I don't get it, why don't you just tell her?" he asked.

"Why won't you tell your girlfriend?" asked Hermione. Ron didn't say anything. "Okay then."

"I hate hiding it." he said. "I just don't want to hurt her." Hermione smiled sadly, and touched his cheek lightly.

"This whole thing… if you want to go back to Kay, I won't be mad." she said. "And I won't hold it against you. We can just forget it, if that's what you want." Ron looked at her as if he'd never seen her before.

"Hermione, I've wanted this since I was eleven." he said. Hermione nodded.

"Me too." she said.

"I'll tell her." Hermione nodded.

"Take as long as you need. I'll need the time to write my longwinded speech for Krys." Ron laughed, then kissed Hermione's cheek.

"I love you." he murmured into her ear.

"I love you too." Ron pulled back, and kissed her cheek again.

"I have to go." he said. Hermione nodded, and walked him to the door. When he walked out the door, she called him.

"Hey Ron." He looked back. "Just a little peek of what you're missing." she said, as she opened her shirt, to reveal a lacy yellow wonder bra. Ron's eyes widened, and she heard him whimper. "Love you." She blew him a kiss, then walked back into the apartment.

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"Bon-bon, guess who I saw today." Krys said, as she walked into the apartment with a bunch of bags. Hermione looked up from her toaster strudel.

"I have no idea. Tell me." she said.

"Eric Josephs. He was the cause of the charm that Ares and Jason put on me. One day my Transfiguration Professor called me, Jason and Ares into her classroom. And she told us that we would run the after school O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's program."

"How old were you?" Hermione asked.

"Fourteen."

"Well then-" 

"It was like an IB program for magic. You know- international baccalaureate. I took the program already, and Jason and Ares were good too. Enough of that. So- A.J said that when we did it, I'd get asked out by a lot of older guys. I said I wouldn't, and that's how the thing started. Well- I wouldn't go out with him cause I liked Ares, and I didn't think my dad would approve. Then again I sort of had to go out with Krum because they thought it'd be nice if I showed him around Levebons- off topic. Well anyway, I saw him today, and he's gonna be my date to dinner tonight."

"What dinner?"

"The dinner that I invited you to."

"Oh… is he cute?"

"Not cuter than Ares." Krys said softly. Hermione looked at her.

"If he looks one fourth as good as Ares, he'd be Brookes." she said. Krys laughed.

"So, what's going on with you? He has a lot of friends. I can always get you someone for that bullshit dinner Ares invited us to."

"Nothings going on. Ares invited us to dinner? Oh- what the hell, I'll go. And… yeah, I could use a date. Do you think he'd have someone for me?"

"Of course. I'll call him." Krys said, as she pulled out her phone. "Hey… yeah, yeah- I know… um… you think you have a friend for my friend?… Oh, okay. Thank you… yeah- Zanaro's. Eight o'clock, party of six under the name Delgado. Okay- so, yeah… I know the rules. Wait three days- I know. Yeah, but- I've never been one for rules. See you later." She hung up the phone. "Yeah, he does."

"Was that flirting, on Krystathaili's part?" Krys rolled her eyes. "Who's taking care of Jamie and Angel?"

"A.J and Jason. Harry and Gin. Thai is going out with her friends tonight." Hermione nodded. "So- I'll see you later?"

"What time?"

"You should come to my house at about 7:00."

"Okay. See you later."

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"Krys, can I borrow your black knit top?" asked Thai. Krys looked at her with her eyebrow quirked.

"The one with the very noticeable cleavage?" she asked. Thai laughed.

"If that's how you describe the top that you _had_ to have." she said.

"Who're you dressing up for?" asked Krys.

"No one." Thai said. Krys laughed.

"You and Angel…" she trailed off. Thai shook her head.

"He likes someone else." she said. "But, I'm okay with it. I'm going to just let loose tonight… and just be Thai."

"That usually helps."

"I just- can I ask you a question?" Krys nodded. "Without you telling Ares, or Harry?"

"I can't actually keep your thoughts from Harry, but- I can try." said Krys. Thai nodded.

"Good enough. I just- about sex." she said. "I just wanted to know how you know you're ready." Krys' face contorted into different hilarious expressions.

"Wow." she said. Then she started to tap her head. "Um… well. Sex is a very important decision… you _know_ that. I mean- its dangerous. I mean… it can cause you a life of pain… and- okay. Um…why are you asking me this?"

"I just want to know."

"Okay well, sex is… I mean, its a very important decision to make. I mean its painful, and not even that go- okay yeah, it _is_ good, but- not always and not with everyone. And- its not painful with everyone because of different size- oh my God. Just remember its only really good if you care about the person… love preferably. I mean- for me it was good- okay, I'm uncomfortable." Thai laughed.

"Krys, can I just borrow the knit top?"

"No. You should wear the wine colored tank top and matching crocheted sweater. And my black mini, the one with the attached belt and the matching boots." Thai looked at her.

"You may dress like a bum, but you know what looks good." she joked. Krys laughed, then flipped her off. "Can't believe this; my godmother is three years older than me." Krys snapped her fingers and the outfit and floated in front of Thai.

"Is that good?" she asked. Thai nodded.

"Very. What about my hair?"

"Curls. Soft curls though. Then leave it out. And… I have a jewelry set that you should wear." Krys said, hopping up. She walked to her vanity and opened her jewelry box. She pulled out a little plastic bag and gave it to Thai.

"Thanks."

"You go in the shower and I'll do your hair when you get out."

"Thanks Krys."

"Its nothing, Princess."

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"Krys, I'm done." Thai said, as she walked into Krys' room. Krys was sitting at her desk reading.

"Yeah, Princess?" she asked.

"I need help."

"Okay. Go put the clothes on, and I'll do the rest." Thai nodded then walked to Krys' closet. She walked out with the outfit on. Krys nodded, then sat her down at the vanity. Krys took the towel off of Thai's head, and put leave-in conditioner in. Krys snapped her finger and Thai's hair fell into soft ringlets. Krys gave a mock sniffle. "**Ay, my little girl is growing up.**" Thai laughed. Krys turned her around in the chair, and looked over her vanity. Krys chose three different lip glosses. There was burgundy, pink, and clear. Krys put the clear on first, then a dab of pink, then mixed it with some burgundy. "Smudge." Thai started to rub her lips together. Krys looked at the color and smiled. "That's a good color. Now, I have to arrange your hair."

"What do you mean?" asked Thai. Krys put her bangs to the left, then handed Thai a headband. Thai put the headband on, where the part ended.

"You look so cute." said Krys. "So, so cute." Thai laughed.

"Please stop."

"I can't help it. I mean- I always wished that my mum- _mom_ could've given me that whole talkie thingy before I got dressed up to go on my first real date-like group outing. But- you know. So… I just feel so… oh God. You look so cute. And it works because of your complexion, and the fact that you don't have acne. You're like the perfect buttery pancake, with mahogany hair. You're _so cute_." Thai laughed.

"You sure the skirts not too small?" she asked, as she stood up. Krys looked in her drawer. Krys pulled out a small stun gun, and a little pepper spray. "Krys."

"Thai, if anything goes wrong, you don't even have to worry about me not being there. The only way I'll let anything happen to you, is if I'm dead and buried. And even then, you still have Harry and the others. And, keeping you safe is what I'm here for- if that means that I apparate to you while a bunch of muggles are around, then that's what I'll do. This is just for the extra stuff."

"I know, _Krys_tathaili Darling."

"Good, Krysta_thai_li Darling. Where's your phone?" Thai pulled her Sidekick from her case. Krys picked up her wallet, and handed Thai some fifties, twenties and a bunch of smaller bills. "You look adorable." Thai stood in front of Krys with a burgundy tank top, covered by a short, tight crocheted sweater. She was wearing a black miniskirt with an attached belt. On her feet were black knee high boots, with burgundy stitching. Her hair was in soft ringlets that reached her shoulders. Her bangs were all to the left side, and she wore a burgundy hair band. In her ears were white gold studs with a garnet stone in each. She wore a matching necklace and bracelet. Her lips were a mix between a slightly transparent burgundy/pink.

"Thank you." said Thai. That's when Krys' door knocked.

"Come in!" yelled Krys. Harry and Jason walked in. They looked at Thai, then looked at Krys questioningly. "Hey, Prongsie, J.J."

"Harry, Jason." said Thai.

"Is that how you greet your all-time crush?" Harry teased. Thai glared at him.

"I don't like you." she said.

"Yeah, you _really_ like me."

"Harry, stop bothering the kid." said Krys.

"Um Krys- the stuff that you ordered came. Your plasma screen, the computers, the iPod and the printer. Oh- and the massage chair." Jason said. Krys nodded.

"Can you put the plasma in Thai's room, the massage chair in the game room. The green laptop and iPod are for you, Thai. Put the blue one in my room. And… the desktop in your room, Harry." Krys said. "Ta-Thai, call me the moment anything happens- or call Harry." Thai nodded.

"Dude, you got me a plasma?" Thai asked. Krys nodded. "Dude!" Krys laughed and shooed her away jokingly. "Okay, Krys, bye. Bye Jason." she said, as she glared at Harry, then she walked out of the room.

"Where's she going?" asked Jason.

"They're going to the movies, in the mall." said Krys.

"How are they getting there?"

"Vinny."

"The driver with the crush on you?" asked Harry. Krys looked at him.

"He doesn't have a crush on me. He's known me since I was fourteen." she said. Jason and Harry nodded.

"Whatever you say. That would explain why Ares hated him." said Jason. "As soon as you two broke up, he went on a rage about how you left him for your limo driver."

"That's insane. I mean, its _Vinny_."

"Yeah. Who ever heard of workers liking their bosses?" Jason said sarcastically. "So, who are you going to this dinner with, anyway?"

"Eric."

"Eric…?"

"Dolphintail Eric. From the study session." Jason's eyes widened, and he shook his head frantically.

"No- no, don't. Not him." he said. Krys looked at him questioningly. "Just don't."

"Sorry- I already did. He's gonna meet us at the restaurant."

"Krys… don't. Please don't."

"Why not?"

"Just don't."

"Jason- I would really listen to you, but- I already… its all set up." Krys said, as she walked to her closet. She walked out with a little black dress and boots. Jason and Harry looked at her like she was crazy. "Oh yeah- my one chance to actually get over him, and I can't wear what I want to wear?"

"Exactly." said Harry. Krys gave him the finger, then walked into her private bathroom. She took a shower and washed her hair. Then she put the outfit on. She walked out of the closet, and twirled around.

"How do I look?" she asked. Harry and Jason looked at her.

"Can you lend that dress to A.J?" Jason asked. Krys raised her eyebrow, then looked at Harry.

"Yeah… then can you lend it to Gin?" he asked. Krys groaned, then walked back to her closet. She took off the dress, then chose something new. She chose a solid black halter with a gold stitched design. Then she chose black slacks, and she kept the boots. She looked at the dress in her hand, then made two copies. She hung the original back up, then she put on the outfit, and walked out of her closet.

"How do I look?" she asked, as she threw the two dresses at Harry and Jason. "Never mind- doesn't even matter." Krys snapped her fingers and a black leather jacket flew out of her closet.

"Um- about Angel and Jamie." Jason said. Krys looked at him.

"Angel doesn't eat seafood because of Finding Nemo. And they're all pizza heads. Extra cheese- remember what I told you about pepperoni- none of them eat it… and I don't want you eating it either. You can roll around with a masticated cow in your mouth, just no pork. Mad cow all you want- just no Wilbur. And chicken is always okay." she said, as she ran her hand through her hair. Her hair dried and fell into silky ringlets. She started to shake it out, and her bangs placed themselves perfectly to the left. Krys looked in her mirror and dabbed clear pink lip gloss on her lips. She turned, and Jason threw a bag at her. She caught it, then glared at him.

"The purse thing that women carry. Where else are you gonna fit all your shit?" asked Jason. Krys laughed, and pulled out her Sidekick and Blackberry. "Why do you have both?"

"Because I do." she said. Jason rolled his eyes. "Because I got Thai a Sidekick, and my Blackberry conducts my all businesses and the houses."

"Whatever." said Jason. Krys rolled her eyes, and put in her gold stud name earrings. She wore a black and gold cartilage bar. She put on her yellow gold name chain and name bracelet. "You're going all out for Eric, don't you think?"

"Okay- in case you don't remember, Ares is getting married. And- to a heartless bitch, at that. If I can't get past the fact that he's not coming back to me, where does that leave me?" Krys asked. Neither Jason or Harry said anything. "Okay. Now, I'm not gonna say that I don't love him… but I'll finally be able to say that he no longer loves me. And- that's all my fault, if we can all remember what happened. Now- he still has no idea why I broke up with him, and if he doesn't get that I had a reason, then maybe I'm better off. If he doesn't get that it was in his best interest, then- I can't do anything about th-"

"You can tell him." said Jason. Krys shook her head.

"No I can't." she said, as she ran her hand through her hair again. This time her hair went silky straight. It curled at the ends. Her bangs stayed in the same spot, they just straightened. Krys picked up a gold hair clip, and pulled her hair back.

"Leave it out." said Jason. Krys looked at him, and he nodded. Krys playfully threw the clip at him. "Beautiful."

"Thank you."

"I was talking about the throw." teased Jason. Krys laughed.

"And it was still a compliment." she said, before she put all her stuff into the bag Jason had thrown her. She walked to her desk and picked up her wallet. She threw Jason two fifties that were in the shape of paper planes, then put the wallet in her purse. She walked to her couch and sat down. She picked up her phone and called Hermione. "Bon-bon, where are you?" she asked after a while. "Hermie… okay… alright."

"Where is Hermione?" asked Harry. Krys looked at him.

"She'll be here in twenty minutes." she said. He nodded, then sat down on the couch next to her.

Half an hour later, Hermione popped into Krys' room. Krys hopped up. Hermione was wearing a strapless black dress that just covered her knees. On her feet where black open toed Jimmy Choos. Her hair was in elegant curls and she waved at Krys. Krys hopped up.

"Jacket?" she asked, as she snapped her fingers. Another black leather coat whizzed through the air. The only difference between the two was that Krys' had a collar and the one for Hermione didn't. Jason and Harry looked at them.

"Hermione, where were you?" Jason asked. Hermione looked at him.

"I was at home." she said. "Why?"

"Padfoot was in the hospital." Harry said. Hermione's eyes widened. "She went crazy-"

"I didn't not go crazy." Krys said.

"You caused a tornado twister." Jason said.

"She went crazy because of the newspaper article." Harry said, as he tossed Hermione one of the newspapers.

"What the hell happened?" Hermione asked, as she looked through the paper.

"Car accident. No one else was hurt, but her." Harry said. "The twister avoided everyone else but her. And she was in the car with Ares. It avoided him too."

"Can we just get over this. We're about to be late to this dinner." Krys said.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"Of course. I'm always okay." she said.

"Who are we going to dinner with, anyway?" Hermione asked.

"Ares, his pet toucan, her and Ron's pet bitch, and Ron. Oh- and Eric, and his friend."

"I don't want to go to dinner with them again." Hermione said.

"It'll be fun." Krys said. Hermione snorted. "Please?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What car are you driving?" asked Hermione.

"Toyota. Eric doesn't exactly know, and I wasn't about to tell him. Then again, I'm doing a photo shoot for Latina soon. And if he reads People, In Touch, Cosmo, Latina and the newspaper, he might know who I am soon. Although I don't think he does."

"Okay." said Hermione, as they all walked out of Krys' room.

"Have fun." Jason and Harry said, as they walked the to the door.

"Sure." Hermione said. Krys hopped down the stairs and ran to the Toyota. She got in, and Hermione sat in the passenger side. Krys drove off and turned on the iPod. 'Fat Lip' by Sum 41 started to play.

'Stormin through the party like my name is El Nino,

When I'm hangin out drinkin in the back of an El Camino,

As a kid, was a skid,

And no one knew me by name,

Trashed my own house party cause nobody came,

Well I know I'm not the one you thought you knew back in high school,

Never go and never showin up when we had to,

Attention that we crave, don't tell us to behave,

I'm sick of always hearin act your age,

I don't wanna waste my time,

Become another casualty of society,

I'll never fall in line,

Become another victim of your conformity,

And back down,

Because you don't know us at all,

We laugh when old people fall,

But what would you expect with a conscience so small,

Heavy metal and mullets is how we were raised,

Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised,

'Cause we like havin fun at other people's expense,

And, cuttin people down is just a minor offense,

And, it's none of your concern, I guess I'll never learn,

I'm sick of being told to wait my turn,

I don't wanna waste my time,

Become another casualty of society,

I'll never fall in line,

Become another victim of your conformity and back down,

Don't count on me, to let you know when,

Don't count on me, I'll do it again,

Don't count on me, it's the point you're missing,

Don't count on me, cause I'm not listening,

Well I'm a no gooddick lower middle class brat,

Backpack and I don't give a shit about nothing,

You'll be standin on the corner talkin all that kufuffin,

Well you don't make since from all that gas you be huffin,

Cause if the egg don't stain you'll be ringin off the hook,

You're on the hit list, wanted in the telephone book,

I like songs with distortion,

Drinking in proportion,

The doctor said my mom should've had an abortion,

I don't wanna waste my time,

Become another casualty of society,

I'll never fall in line,

Become another victim of your conformity,

And back down,

(Waste my time again) Casualty of society,

(Waste my time again) Victim of your conformity,

And back down'

"Cookie, I wanna talk to you about something." said Hermione. Krys looked at her.

"What happened, Bon-bon?" she asked. Hermione looked at her and shook her head.

"We shouldn't talk about it right now. Put on Bleed American." she said. Krys looked at her.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah." Krys nodded. Listen- about you being in the hospita-"

"Bon-bon, its cool. How the hell would you know?"

"I just- I'm so sorry. I didn't even know about the paper."

"That's okay. Don't be sorry, its me."

"Krys, I haven't seen you in two days."

"Yeah, I know… I'm sorry. I've been hanging out with Ares a lot. I've been trying to help him with his wedding- I just… I'll stop leaving you. I'm so sorry. And…going shopping without you today…I should've come to get you- I'm so sorry."

"No, Cookie…don't be." Hermione said. "I just-"

"Lets leave it. I'm so sorry. Bleed American, here we come."

The next song that came on was '_Bleed American_' by Jimmy Eat World.

'I'm not alone cause the TV's on yeah.

I'm not crazy cause I take the right pills everyday.

And rest, clean your conscious, clear your thoughts with speyside with your grain.

Clean your conscious, clear your thoughts with speyside.

Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt.

Our hearts littering the topsoil.

Tune in and we can get the last call.

Our lives, our coal.

Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt.

Our hearts littering the topsoil.

Sign up it's the picket line or the parade.

Our lives.

I'm not alone cause the TV's on yeah.

I'm not crazy cause I take the right pills everyday.

And rest, clean your conscious, clear your thoughts with speyside with your grain.

Clean your conscious, clear your thoughts with speyside.

Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt.

Our hearts littering the topsoil.

Tune in and we can get the last call.

Our lives, our coal.

Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt.

Our hearts littering the topsoil.

Sign up it's the picket line or the parade, our lives.

(I bled the) greed from my arm.

Won't they give it a rest now?

Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt.

Our hearts littering the topsoil.

Tune in and we can get the last call.

Salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt, our hearts littering the topsoil.

Sign up it's the picket line or the parade.' Hermione was pretending to play the drums, while Krys laughed at her.

"Are we almost there?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"Okay, I have a little song I want you to hear." Krys said, as '_Your Winter_' by Sister Hazel started to play. Hermione laughed.

'The grey ceiling on the earth

Well it's lasted for a while

Take my thoughts for what they're worth

I've been acting like a child

In your opinion, and what is that?

It's just a different point of view

What else, what else can I do?

I said I'm sorry, yeah I'm sorry.

I said I'm sorry, but what for?

If I hurt you then I hate myself

Don't want to hate myself, don't want to hurt you

Why do you choose your pain?

If you only know how much I love you, love you

I won't be your winter

I won't be anyone's excuse to cry

We can be forgiven

I will be here

The old picture on the shelf

Well it's been there for a while

A frozen image of ourselves

We are acting like a child

Innocent and in a trance

A dance that lasted for a while

You read my eyes just like your diary,

oh remember, please remember

Well, I'm not a beggar, but what's more

If I hurt you, then I hate myself,

And I don't wanna hate myself, don't wanna hurt you

Why do you choose that pain?

If you only knew how much I love you

I won't be your winter

I won't be anyone's excuse to cry

We can be forgiven

I will be here

I won't be your winter

I won't be anyone's excuse to cry

We can be forgiven

I will be here'

"Did you have to bring up the song?" Hermione asked. Krys laughed.

"Yes." she said.

"I loved that song, until I saw you and Ron screw it up with your horrible dancing." Krys gave a mock gasp.

"I didn't ask to do you and Ron a favor. I'm sorry. Plus- I made you look good."

"You made me look spastic." Hermione said.

"Ingrate."

"Plus… I helped you out more! I took Brookes off you hands."

"Oh yeah… new song!" The next song that played after was '_Can't Take It_' by the All American Rejects.

'You speak to me

I know this will be temporary

You ask to leave

But I can't tell you that I've had

Enough

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well do it alone

And I'll watch you go

Step up to me

I know that you've got something buried

I'll set you free

You set conditions but I've had

Enough

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well just do it alone

And I'll watch you go

Come back home

Wont you come back home

You step in line you got a lot to prove

It comes and goes

Yeah it comes and goes

A step in time

You've got a lot to move

Know this will be temporary

I know this will be temporary

I know this will be but I've had

Enough

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well just do it alone

And I'll watch you go

Enough

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well just do it alone

And I'll watch you go'

"I've got something to tell you." Hermione said. Krys stopped at the red light, and looked at her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I did it." Hermione said.

"What?"

"I healed the faux scar tissue. That's what I was doing when you called."

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione shook her head. "Oh my God-" Krys started to breath deeply, as a huge smile spread across her face. "We're here." Krys said, as she stopped the car. Hermione looked at her. Krys hopped out the car and tossed the valet her keys. Hermione linked her arm with Krys' and they walked into the restaurant. Krys walked up to the host. "Delgado, party of six."

"Right this way." the host said, as he pointed to the back room. Krys dragged Hermione to the back room. At the table was Ron, Kay, Ares, Emily, Eric and one of his friends. Ares was sitting next to Emily, who was sitting across from Eric. Eric had an empty chair next to him, and his friend occupied the chair next to the empty chair. Krys looked at Hermione and groaned.

"Now or never." said Hermione, as she walked up to the table, dragging Krys behind her. Eric stood up as Krys approached the table.

"Hey." he greeted. Krys smiled, and he kissed each dimple in her cheek. "Can I take your jacket?" Krys nodded.

"Sure." she said. Eric took her jacket off, and threw it over his own on the back of his chair. Krys sat down after Eric pulled the chair out for her. "Um… Mike, you remember Krys." Mike nodded, and shook Krys' hand.

"The fourteen year old hottie that turned you down. If I'd have known, I'd have asked her out myself." said Mike. Krys looked past him, and to Hermione who was sitting across from Ron.

"Yeah…sure, okay. _Dude_, this is Hermione. Hermione, _I'm_ repentant Krys, and _he's_ forlorn Mike, from what I can tell. Actually- I'm _pretty certain_ that he's contemptible." Eric, Ares, Hermione and Ron laughed.

"Still funny." said Eric. Krys nodded.

"Yup." she said.

"Well, you look beautiful." he said. Krys nodded, and Eric raised his eyebrow.

"Oh yeah- thanks. And you look… nice." said Krys. "Oh- shi-oot. I didn't introduce you guys." Eric shook his head.

"Its okay, we've met." he said.

"Yeah, we all went to the same school, you _should've_ met."

"No Krys, we've met… _recently_." said Ares. Krys looked at him. He was sitting across from her.

"How?" she asked. Ares put on a tight smile, then drank his water in one gulp.

"Well, Ares here is the newest member of my crew in the N.A Ministry. We just met two hours ago to discuss him getting the job." said Eric. Krys looked at him.

"You're an auror?" she asked. Eric nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"So that means that-"

"Yeah, Krys. Eric is my new boss." said Ares. Krys nodded, then started to play with her napkin. Emily reached over the table to shake Eric's hand.

"Wow. It _is_ a small world." she said. Krys nodded, while Hermione chuckled slightly.

"Guy, how old are you?" asked Krys. Eric looked at her.

"I'm twenty three. And… you were fourteen when I graduated… you should be about nineteen, right?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"I'll be twenty in August." she said.

"You're nineteen?" asked Kay. Krys nodded.

"So, what do you do?" Eric asked.

"Oh- she doesn't work." said Emily. Krys laughed and looked at Eric.

"Says the hairdresser who I can buy and sell." she said. The guys held their chuckles with different methods, while Hermione laughed outright. "Hermione and I are conducting a study. I don't work for any particular place, because-"

"It was too hard for her to choose." said Hermione.

"You can always sweep up hair at the shop, if you're running low on galleons." said Kay. Krys laughed.

"Oh, little Kay. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. In case you don't remember sitting in my house in Italy, or the wedding that'll occur at my beach house; I can buy and sell your ass."

"In the land of the muggles." said Kay. Krys laughed and looked at Ron who was mouthing '_sorry_'.

"So… _why_ aren't you working?" asked Eric. "You were one of the smartest fourteen year olds that I ever met. You knew things that I hadn't learned until sixth year."

"Well- you never met this one." Krys said, as she pointed to Hermione. "She was way smarted than me."

"I couldn't do a Patronus until I was sixteen. This one over here earned when she was thirteen." Hermione said, as she pointed at Krys.

"Now- that only makes my question make more sense. Why aren't you two working?" Eric asked.

"She got too many offers." said Hermione.

"You got more than me." said Krys.

"Well Cookie, I'm better." joked Hermione. Krys and Ron laughed. "No, the only reason that I got better than her was because, she didn't go to the _mandated_ job fair."

"Why didn't you just choose the place with the highest salary?" asked Ron. Krys looked at him.

"You wanted me to work at Hogwarts?"

"What about Madam Pomphrey?" asked Ron.

"She's retiring next year. They want someone to be her assistant, then that person will became the head healer of Hogwarts." said Hermione.

"Nemonora had the most to offer. The starting salary wasn't much. But since we did what we were supposed to, Hermione and I made history. And… we're making a lot of money because of it." said Krys. She then turned to Kay. "And Kay-Kay, its not in the land of the muggles. I make more money than you, in _both_ worlds." Kay glared at Krys. Krys smiled sweetly.

"So… you're working- you're just not working." said Eric. Krys shook her head.

"No not really. Because, we got a grant to see if we could do it-" she started.

"Do what?" asked Eric. Krys looked at Hermione, who nodded.

"We've already done it. No longer top secret since we're teaching a class on it soon." said Hermione. Krys laughed.

"We're the first and youngest-" she started.

"_You're_ the first and youngest healer to cure lycanthropic scars." said Hermione. "I learned from you." Krys rolled her eyes.

"Please. You came up with the potions." she said.

"But they don't compare to the spell that _you_ created." said Hermione.

"Are you serious?" asked Eric. Krys nodded. "At nineteen?"

"No, she did it at seventeen." said Hermione. Krys looked at her. "It's the truth, Cookie."

"Well congratulations, Krys." said Ares. Krys smiled, her dimples breaking free.

"Don't forget Bon-bon over there. _She's_ the one who deserves the praise." she said.

"No, I-" started Hermione.

"Dumpling, shut up. You deserve it." said Krys.

"Okay, Muffin."

"Yeah, congratulations, Hermione." Ron said. Ares nodded in agreement, and congratulated her too. Krys nodded.

"Please congratulate Hermione. She's made history. Her name will be in all major books, and… under quotes it'll say, 'I came, I saw, and all of you bitches helped me conquer'." she said. Ron, Hermione, and Ares laughed.

"That had to be the cockiest speech ever." Hermione said. Krys nodded. "Hey, what about _your_ speech?" Ares and Ron laughed.

"I'm the only one that you didn't say that you loved." Ron said.

"Well Ronniekins, te amo. Ego amo te." Krys said. Ron laughed.

"Now I don't feel horrible and unloved." he said.

"Yeah, but your speech was-" Hermione started.

"No- I was scared. Everybody was looking at me." Krys said. "Anyway- back to me congratulating you, Hermione. You deserve all of the praise that you get- being the brightest witch of your age, and all. One of the brightest witches, ever."

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione asked. "You are… phenomenal."

"Excuse me, Ms. Polyjuice. Don't start on phenomenal. You were Head Girl." Krys said.

"But, weren't _you_ supposed to be the Head Girl of Hogwarts?" Ares asked Krys. Krys looked at him, and narrowed her eyes.

"Were you?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her, and shrugged.

"They said that it was the running between me and some other girl… and because of my O.W.L's against her prefect status, it was a hard choice." Krys said. Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Okay- they said that I had a better chance… but, it was a hard decision because of them knowing your reputation and how you worked. But you were a phenomenal Head Girl, and when I knew that it was you- I knew I made the right decision."

"_You_ made the right decision?" Hermione asked. "_You_ turned _them_ down? _You_ were gonna be Head Girl?"

"No?" Krys lied horribly. Hermione laughed.

"Cookie, you should've taken it." she said. Krys shook her head.

"I can't plan dances. I wouldn't've planned any."

"But- how did you turn them down, I got my letter at the right time."

"The gave me early heads up. I got my letter for Hogwarts, while I was still at Levebons. I told them no, the day that I went to boxing camp." They all looked at her.

"_That's_ where you were? That's why I didn't see you for the whole summer?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"I told you that. It was supposed to be the whole two months, but they wanted me to fight this big bitch… and she was really scary." she said. They all laughed.

"Your real reason?" Ares asked.

"I was already featherweight camp champ. Then it became overall girls division. It was a fight to see who was intra-weight '_camp champ_'. It came down to me and her, and no one was gonna be there to cheer me on, so I left. I took my pretty girl 'silver gloves' and left." Krys said.

"You're a boxer?" Emily asked. Krys looked at her and nodded. "Are you any good?" Krys shook her head.

"I'm horrible." she said.

"And when she says that, she means horribly brilliant. I've never seen such a small person throw such a power packed punch." Ron said. Krys shook her head.

"Lies." she said.

"No Ron, she's right." Hermione teased. "She's horrible now." Krys nodded.

"Hermione throw a pretty wicked punch, also. I'm terrible. Now I'm more focused on kickboxing. I wanna finish that- then, I wanna go and try kung fu." she said.

"And I will be long gone, when she starts that." Hermione said. "She tried to make me take a beginners boxing class on weekends, so that she and I could practice sparring."

"Would that be fair?" Eric asked. Hermione and Krys shook their heads.

"She suggested it after I gave some random man her number." Hermione said.

"Anyway… can we all raise our air glasses to Hermione." Krys suggested, as she gave Hermione a thumbs up. "Good. Now… I want some cake. So… I want some cake." As soon as she said that, a waiter walked over to the table. Krys looked at the dessert menu.

"May I help you?" asked the waiter. Krys nodded.

"Chocolate cake, no nuts… extra chocolate...and Pepsi, please?" she asked. The waiter nodded. Krys looked at Hermione who was looking at Ron, while the others ordered. Krys seemed to be the only one who noticed how they were looking at each other. "None of my business." she muttered.

"So… what else is there to talk about?" asked Hermione.

"Oh shit-ake." started Krys. "Thai went out. She looked so cute." Hermione laughed.

"She's only three years younger than you, Kryssie." she said. Krys shrugged.

"I have a picture of what she wore today, you wanna see?" she asked. Hermione nodded. Krys took out her wallet and showed Hermione the picture.

"She does look cute. She's adorable… in a 'grown up' way."

"See." said Krys.

"I wanna see. But first, who _is_ Thai?" asked Eric.

"My goddaughter." said Krys, as Hermione handed her the picture.

"Pretty cute." said Eric, as Mike took the wallet from him.

"She's sexy. How old is she?" Mike asked Krys. Krys looked at him.

"Too and for. Meaning _too _young _for_ you, you mongoose." she said.

"Yeah, but how old is she? I wouldn't mind taking her for a ride." Krys, Hermione, Eric, Ron and Ares looked at him. "Ouch!" yelled Mike. "Who just burned me?" They all looked at Krys, who was innocently playing with her napkin.

"What?" she asked without looking up.

"I wanna see." said Ares. Krys snatched the wallet from Mike, 'accidentally' slapping him with it, then tossed it to Ares. Ares looked at Krys. "When was this?"

"Today." said Krys.

"Where is she going?"

"Mall with Angel, Alex and Luis."

"How did she get there?"

"Vinny took them." Ares rolled his eyes. The waiter walked to the table, with everyone's drinks. Krys started to sip on her Pepsi.

"Is that a tattoo?" asked Eric. Krys nodded. "Since when?" he asked dramatically. Krys laughed.

"Since I was fifteen." she said. Eric looked at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be eighteen?" he asked her. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said.

"What about you, Her- pretty lady? When did you get your tattoo?" asked Mike, as he slung his arm around her shoulder. Hermione and Krys looked at him, then his hand.

"I got it last year." said Hermione. All of a sudden Mike's hand whipped from off of Hermione's shoulder.

"Ouch." he said. Krys smiled sweetly, as Hermione, Ron and Ares looked at her and laughed.

"So, do you have any more tattoos?" Eric asked suggestively. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"And you'll _never_ see them." she said. Eric grinned.

"That's cold."

"The truth." Krys said, as she laughed.

"Its still cold." Krys shrugged, then looked at Ares, who was looking at them. Krys stuck her tongue out at him, and he chuckled slightly. "So, you've grown up." Eric noted. Krys nodded.

"I have. Not mentally, but- yeah." A few of them laughed. "I grew about three inches taller. You still look the same."

"Good." said Eric. Krys looked at her hand and kissed it a bunch of times. When she looked up, they were all looking at her.

"Oh… my lip gloss. I was wearing a lot. So… I blotted with my hand." Krys looked at Hermione who was guzzling down her Whiskey sour. Krys looked at her, then at Mike. All of a sudden, she felt a hand creep up her leg. She looked next to her. It wasn't Eric's hand, but it was Mike's. Krys took her fork and started to stab at his hand just enough to hurt but not penetrate.

"Ouch!" yelled Mike. Krys looked at him.

"The next time, it'll be my heel in your temple." she said.

"Wait, he touched you?" asked Eric. Krys looked at him and shook her head.

"No, it was about the Thai thing." she lied. That's when her Sidekick started to ring. "Sorry." she said, as she flipped the screen. There was a message from Thai.

'_Krys, come get me, please. I don't wanna stay here.'_

'_Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes. R U ok?' _Krys typed back. A minute later, another message was sent.

'_Jennifer, Victoria, Robyn and Rachel are here. And, Angel is groping her in front of me. Its disgusting, its like animal planet, when the zebras hump each other.'_ Thai sent back. Krys laughed slightly, then looked at Eric.

"Um… I'm sorry. I have to go get my Thai." she said. Eric nodded.

"Do you want me to take you?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"Its okay, I have my car. Bon-bon, you wanna come?" she asked. Hermione looked at Mike and nodded frantically. "Ares, do you think you can come with us? I kinda need you there for a reason." Ares didn't even look at Emily, before he nodded.

"Yeah, lets go." he said. Krys nodded, then looked at Eric. He stood up and put her jacket around her shoulder. Krys dropped a hundred on the table. But before Krys could turn around to leave, Eric leaned down and kissed her. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him. The funniest part was that Krys didn't do anything to object, until Hermione tapped her lightly on the shoulder. Krys pulled away, with a thoughtful expression on her face. Eric kissed her cheek, then tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Still cute." he said.

"Bye." Krys squeaked, as Ares pulled her towards the door. Krys didn't say anything as she walked out of the restaurant. When the valet saw her, he walked away. A few minutes later, he brought her car around. Krys walked to the car, and Ares and Hermione got in.

"Heiress of Rod Co. Snogging Ex-boyfriend's Super-Hot Boss. I can see the headlines now." said Hermione, as Krys started to drive. Ares looked at Hermione in the back. "What?"

"I liked you so much better when you were quiet and helping me." said Ares. Hermione laughed, and Ares turned around to look at Krys. "So… you're dating my boss." Krys didn't say anything. "Awkward."

"I don't think so. I always had a thing for him… but when he asked me out, I was hung up on you- so now, its easy. Its possible. But dating?" she lied. "I don't know. You think he'll call me back?" she mused mockingly.

"Well, the very public, very outright kiss was an indication that he just might." said Hermione. Krys laughed.

"So, where are we going? What happened?" asked Ares.

"We have to go pick Thai u-"

"What's wrong with her?!" Ares panicked.

"Nothing. She's just very uncomfortable with the fact that Angel is groping your little sister in front of her."

"Angel can't be groping A.J, she-"

"He's groping _Jennifer_. The one that he's dating." said Krys. Ares turned up his nose.

"Isn't that the guy that Thai likes?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"He likes her too. He thinks that she likes some other guy that asked her out last week, so now its all game playing. But Thai isn't into the games, so she's just giving up." she said.

"Why is it that the guy is expected to make all the moves? Why can't Thai say something?" asked Ares. "I mean, honestly why is it that if a girl flirts with a guy, he's supposed to ask her out? Why can't a girl ask a guy out?"

"Because guys always think they're all macho and shit." said Krys. "I mean… they've kissed each other like ten times since spin the bottle. And they're still completely clueless."

"Krys, don't even start on clueless." said Hermione. Krys laughed.

"Okay, this is coming from _you_. You, Ms. I'm-gonna-wait-until-he's-gone-to-wanna-be-with-him." Krys retorted. Hermione nodded.

"Ares snogged you twice, and you still didn't know how he felt." she said. Krys' face was priceless.

"Okay… instead of kissing me a bunch of times, why couldn't he just tell me that he liked me?" she asked.

"'Cause he didn't. He _loved_ you."

"The moment we're in a car alone with Ron, I swear." Krys threatened.

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots." Hermione teased. Krys laughed, and sped up a bit.

"You've created a monster, Krys. She used to be so nice. A year and ten months with you turned her into… _this_." Ares said, pointing to Hermione. Krys laughed.

"Can I have your headphones?" asked Hermione. "I don't want to hear the lovers banter." Krys winked, and the headphones appeared on Hermione's lap. Hermione nodded, and plugged the headphones into the iPod in between the driver and passenger seat.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ares asked Krys. Krys stopped at the light and nodded.

"Yeah, what happened, Kingie?" she asked.

"Why Josephs? I mean- he's my boss, Krys." Krys looked at him, for a minute, before she drove at the green.

"I didn't know that he was your boss. I just- I didn't know." she said. Ares nodded.

"Okay. I have no idea what to say about the fact that I've had sex with my boss's new girlfriend. Maybe if I give him some tips on how to get you going, I'll get a promotion." he said. Krys didn't say anything. She felt the energy in the car shift, as she identified the kick in his voice as edge.

"Okay, Ares. I can tell when you're joking, and when you're being fucked up. And this-" she waved her hand around him- "is fucked up. You can joke with me all you want. I can take a joke, I'll laugh with you- you know that. You can joke about our _whole_ relationship, and if I know that you're joking- I won't be serious about it, and I won't act stupid. And if you wanna act like an asshole, you can do that. Just be a man about it, when you spit some slick shit out your mouth. Don't try to hide it in some fucking punk ass joke."

"So you're telling me that you're not dating Eric to spite me dating Emily." Ares said. Krys' driving got a little faster and rougher.

"You have some fucking nerve! You think I went looking for him, knowing that he was your boss?! I mean- I knew you were gonna get the job at the N.A Ministry, but, I didn't know that _Eric_ was your boss. I'm not stalking you, Ares. Big fucking deal, I'm trying to get things back to the way that they were-"

"Yeah, you mean me pining over you, and doing everything that I can to make you happy?!" Ares yelled.

"You know what- fuck you! Okay- I won't lie and say that I didn't make stupid mistakes with our relationship. I'll be the first to admit that I did stupid things for even _dumber_ reasons. But- lets think about my seventh year. Okay… I finally leave Levebons and move to England, where I spend most of the summer fighting the war, through my dreams! I go to a new school where my entire past unfolds itself! I learn that the whole world is depending on me and Harry to keep evil at bay, yet no one knows that we're doing it! I find out that my best friend wants to be with me and I wasted seven years lusting after him, while we could've been like… dating! I find out all this stuff about my family, only to learn that they're all dead. I see my parents for about twelve hours, and find out that the anniversary of their dating, is the anniversary of their deaths. My mother died to save me. My dad died to save me. Daddy number two dies. I had to relive the big fucked up situation- that made me the psycho that I am, for about a month, before I woke up to my miserable parentless life. I inherited an entire empire. I find out that when I turn twenty one, I get the _full blown_ rights to said empire, and get another eighty billion, on top of the forty billion that I inherited when I was seventeen. I'm making more money than I know what to do with, and… I get to see my dirty laundry aired in the national inquirer. And now… when I go shopping, I have to carry a stun gun to ward off stalkers, because of the interviews that I did. Now, I found all of this out when I was seventeen, and I've been learning how to deal with that since. Is that good?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her and smiled.

"How do you do that thing with your tongue?" he asked. The corner of Krys' lip almost twitched, before she shook her head.

"Not working." she said.

"Well, what about that thing with your back?" Ares asked. "You know- when you used to twi-" Krys shook her head frantically. "Maybe if I give him some tips on how to make you frisky, I'll get a promotion." Krys gave a small snicker.

"Stop. I don't like you." she said.

"You love me."

"Not enough to forgive you." Krys said.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a jackass. I mean… _Eric_ is a jackass. He's old."

"He's only twenty three, Ares. I mean- when I got to Switzerland, some thirty year old donut guy asked me out. Yeah… _then_ he told me that if I married him, a fourth of the donut shop would be mine." Ares looked at her.

"Krys, I don't want to know that." he said. Krys shrugged.

"It was true." she said. "Plus, its not like there's anyone else that's interested in me. I mean, I'm frumpy."

"No you're not, Bunny." Krys looked at him, then drove into the mall paring lot. When she parked the car, Ares jumped out first and ran to the entrance. Krys and Hermione were behind, because of their heels. Ares was at the soda machine waiting for them. "Krys, where is she?!" he yelled.

"They're in atrium of the movie theatre." Krys said, as she ran to him. Krys almost tripped on her last few steps, before Ares caught her by the waist. He looked at her hip for a minute, before he let go and shook from his thoughts. "Lets go." she said, as she speed walked to the escalator. Ares waited at the bottom for Hermione, as Krys hurried to get to the top floor of the mall. When she finally reached the last floor, the movie line was ridiculous. Krys looked at Hermione and Ares, who were having the same thoughts as her. Ares ran over, and Hermione hastened to the best of her abilities. When she got there, she started to speak.

"Krys… flirt with a man and try to get to the top of the line. Ares- you… find a woman, and work your _pretty boy _magic." she said. Krys and Ares looked at her like she was stupid. "I'll take your coat, Cookie." Hermione said, as she started to force Krys out of the coat.

"I don't know how to flirt." Krys said. Hermione and Ares laughed sardonically, when she said that. "I don't know what to say. What do I say?"

"Um… I don't know." Hermione said. "Any suggestions, Ares?" Ares glared at Hermione. "Thai may be in trouble. So… we'll need you to tell us what turns you on about Krys. What about her struck _your_ fancy?"

"The tattoos were a… turn on. Remember the day we got tattoos together." Ares said deadpan. Krys looked at him, with slightly tinted cheeks and nodded. "Yeah- I'll go find a lady." Krys looked at Hermione, then walked to a man. She walked up to the man that almost at the top of the line. He was about eighteen and looked like he still lived at home and once ran the projector. Krys walked up to him.

"Um…" she started. "Hi."

"You want tickets, don't you?" he asked. Krys looked at him and nodded shyly.

"Yeah. Sorry." she said.

"What movie are you seeing?" he asked in a disappointed voice.

"What movie are _you_ seeing?" Krys asked. The guys smiled shyly.

"How many tickets?"

"Three." Krys said. The guy walked up to the ticket booth and asked for four tickets. When he walked back, he handed Krys three tickets. Krys handed him a hundred.

"It was only thirty dollars." the guy said. Krys nodded.

"So, what's your name, anyway?" she asked.

"David. David Wright." he said. "And you're probably… Angel or…Madison, Jennifer, Rachel, Christine, Veronica, Victoria… Olivia… one of those names that labels a girl unreachable. All the names of the girls with the footballer boyfriends, who stuffed me in my locker." Krys shook her head.

"No. I'm a Krys." she said.

"A Crystal." Krys shook her head.

"Nope. A Krys. And thank you for the tickets, David Wright." Krys shook his hand, and smiled slightly. Then she skipped over to Ares, who was getting a number written on his hand. Hermione was standing apart from both of them, with her arms folded across her chest. Krys dragged Ares away, then got Hermione.

"You got the tickets." Ares said. Krys nodded, then started to walk towards the security. He checked their tickets, and they walked into the atrium. Krys looked around for Thai. Thai was sitting on a bench, with a bunch of guys surrounding her. Krys whistled loudly, and Thai looked around. Krys didn't wait for Thai to see her. Krys just walked straight to Thai and pushed through a crowd of guys, until someone pinched her butt. Krys inhaled deeply, then exhaled. She grabbed Thai's hand and pulled her through the crowd. Thai made a small sound, and Krys stopped and looked back at her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"One of these motherfuckers just grabbed my ass." Thai said. Krys pulled Thai through the crowd, until she realized that the guys were following them.

"Did you want to be in that crowd?" Krys asked. Thai looked at her like she was stupid.

"No, I didn't. I just didn't want to stun anyone for sitting near me. And being harassed by a bunch of frat boys is better than watching Angel grope his girlfriend." she said, as Krys walked her to Ares and Hermione.

"You okay, little Krystathaili?" Ares asked Thai. Thai nodded.

"I'm good." she said, before Ares slung his arm over her shoulder.

"Okay… lets go in the movie." Krys said, as she looked behind herself. Two guys were standing there. They both looked about twenty two, twenty three.

"Hey." one of the guys said. Krys nodded. "So… look- I know we don't know each other. But- I feel like I've seen you somewhere before." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said, before she turned to walk away with Ares and the others. But, the guys grabbed onto her hand. Krys turned around and looked at him.

"Hold on, I wanna talk to you." he said.

"Why- why- why-why-why-why are you touching me?" Krys asked. She started to stutter out of anger. Ares turned around.

"Son, get off of her." he said.

"What are you gonna do?" the guy asked. Krys pulled her arm out of his grasp, then put all of her strength and weight into dragging Ares away.

"Aren't you the type to punch somebody in the face?" Thai asked, as Krys pushed her into the theatre. Krys rolled her eyes, and hugged Thai.

"You know- next time a bunch of asshole frat boys roll up on you, just stun them." she said. Thai laughed and nodded. They all sat down in the last row, so that they wouldn't see the others in the side of the theatre. Thai sat at the end, and Hermione sat next to her. Ares sat next to Hermione. And Krys sat next to Ares. Krys got up, but someone touched her hand.

"Where are you going?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and smiled. "Don't go. Come on, you don't need Milk Duds and M&M's that much, Bunny." Krys smiled again, then it died down.

"A bunch of old ass losers tried to touch my Princess Thai, Kingie. Those motherfuckers are older than _us_. I can't deal with that. I have to… at least one-"

"No. Because you've never _looked_ for trouble. If you get to beat the shit out of someone, let it be their fault. Let the trouble come to you."

"But- when its _your_ battle, you can run to the trouble?" Ares nodded. "Why?"

"Because, I've _watched_ you kick box. You're crazy and untouchable on any and every basis. You're looking for an excuse to hurt someone who can't really hurt you back. That's basically abuse. Plus- I've seen you take a hit- its _really_ creepy how you keep getting up." Krys laughed.

"But, I really want some Milk Duds and M&M's." she said. "And some Pepsi." Ares smiled, and got up. They walked out to the concession stand. Ares slung his arm over Krys' shoulder and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and handed Krys a twenty. When he pulled out the bill, something small fell out. Krys bent down to pick it up. When she looked at it, her eyes widened., then she smiled. It was a picture of the two of them in their fifth year.

"What's our thing?" Ares asked. "I buy Dippin Dots, while you buy gigantic sodas and candy." Krys smiled, then handed him the picture. Ares looked at it. He cleared his throat, and took it. "Um… so, are we doing that today?" Krys nodded.

"Yeah. You go get the Dippin dots." she said, as she pulled out her wallet. When she pulled out some singles, a bunch of small papers fell on the ground. Ares bent down and picked them up. One the floor was a bunch of pictures. There was a picture of their dance, the night they got together. There was the picture that she took of him during their summer together. There was a picture of him and Jason. And there was a picture of them altogether during her last Christmas with her father. Ares handed her the pictures, one by one as he looked at them. Krys nodded, as she took each of them. She was happy that a certain photo hadn't dropped. As soon as Ares got up, he smirked at her, then walked off to the Dippin Dots machine. Krys groaned, until it was her time on line. Finally, she stopped, and ran to the Dippin Dots machine, after time seemed to freeze. Ares was standing face to face with the guy that'd been talking to Krys. The only two people moving in that mall, were Krys and Ares. Krys ran to him. Ares' jaw was tightened, and he looked angry as hell. Krys looked at him. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it. So, can you please go back to where you were?" Ares asked. Krys huffed jokingly, then ran to the line. She snapped her fingers and started ordering from the lady. When she looked around, the guy was on the floor and Ares was being held back by a bunch of unfamiliar faces. Krys walked over to them, after she got the candy and soda. She stuck Ares' soda out to him, not at all affected by him thrashing around crazily and being held back.

"I got him." Krys said to one of the men holding Ares back. "Kingie, its okay. I love you for it." Krys held his soda out to him. "Smile, you're with me. Bring the energy down from the sun, and filter out _all_ negativity." Ares looked at her for a minute, before he laughed, and took the soda from her. Krys stopped at a bench and sat down. Ares sat down next to her. "So, did you look for trouble, or did trouble find you?"

"Trouble seems to find me when _you're_ near." Ares said. Krys laughed and shook her head.

"I'm an angel." she said.

"You're no angel, Krys. You may look like one, but… you're no angel." Krys looked at him.

"Ouchie." she said. Ares laughed, and started to drink his soda.

"Oh shit- I almost forgot." he said, handing Krys her Dippin Dots. "Still cookies n cream?"

"Of course. Remember the last time we were here?" Krys asked. Ares started to choke on his soda as he nodded. "Sorry."

"No- I'm laughing at how you choked on your Dippin Dots, because you started to eat them through a straw."

"Those plastic spoons are dirty." Krys argued. "Come on, Kingie. Lets go."

"I'm also laughing about how we-"

"Come on, Kingie." Krys said a bit louder. Ares laughed and got up. They walked back to the theatre, where Thai and Hermione were watching Angel and Jennifer's every action. "You should go over there and meet her." Krys whispered. Ares looked at her. "Please. Lets just go and meet her. You know- she'll probably like it." Ares looked at her and smiled.

"You're such a loser." he said. Krys' eyes widened.

"That's my line." she said. "Plus, I'm far too gorgeous to be a loser." Ares laughed and kissed her cheek. Then he took her hand and walked over to Angel and Jennifer. Krys tapped on Angel's shoulder. Angel looked at her and smiled. "Come on, babe. Lets take a little walk."

"Don't tease me." Angel said. Krys laughed, and dragged him over to her and Ares' seats. Krys watched Ares and Jennifer. She watched Ares' jaw twitch, then tighten, as he got up and walked out of the theatre. Krys hopped up and ran after him. He was walking off, before Krys grabbed his arm. Ares whipped around with such force, that Krys was thrown against the wall. Once he saw what he did, Ares ran to her side.

"Krys, are you okay?" he asked. Krys growled at him. Ares pushed her hair -which was now out of place- back, and tucked it behind her ear. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you."

"You didn't hit me. The charm is what knocked me into the wall...the stronger your anger and the more you love me, the farther away it'll push me from you. Because, _crazy angry motherfuckers_, tend to take their anger out on the ones that they love." Ares moved her hair back, and helped her up. Krys started to glare at him, in her anger. But once she remembered her reason for following him, her look softened. "What happened?" she asked, as she wiped the beads of sweat away from his forehead. Krys hugged Ares, and started to rock side to side. "Come on, tell me. Tell me what happened."

"I told her who I was. And she said, 'Oh, you mean that _other woman's_ children. The ones he didn't want.'" Ares said quietly. Krys laughed, and looked at him. She took his hand, and slapped him with it.

"Why the hell are you listening to the seventeen year old slut-butt, that's giving it up to Angel?" she asked. Ares laughed. "Kingie, your dad loved you… so much. I mean- I could show you things about how crazy your dad was about you. And… Ares, your dad wanted to stay with your mother. Okay- she could take care of you… Carla wouldn't've been able to take care of the girls. Your dad loved you, your mom loves you- I love you. That's gotta count for something, right?" Krys asked, as she scratched his hand softly. Ares' mouth twitched slightly, then curled into a smile. "Come on. Think about it this way. Your dad was always missing work, to do family things with you, A.J and your mum… when he went with Carla, he was a workaholic." Ares groaned.

"Krys, he still cheated on my mom. He had the first one, then stayed and had two other kids by this woman." Krys looked at Ares, and shrugged.

"People are looking for different things, Ares. When something happens in the moment, its hard as hell to understand what's going on, until its done. And- moments can be relived over and over again, Ares. It is tough as hell to get away from something, once you're a foot in." Ares looked at her.

"Stop trying to make me feel better, Krys." he said. Krys laughed, and looked at him.

"How about if I sic Thai on her?" she asked. "We spent the summer taking kickboxing last year." Ares nodded, then shook his head. "Are you okay?" Ares nodded.

"I love you too, Krys." he said, before he walked her back into the theatre. Krys walked to her seat and got her Dippin Dots, before she walked back to Ares at the back of the theatre. They were stranding against the wall. She started to suck her Dippin Dots through a straw, when she saw Jennifer yelling at another one of Ares' sisters. This one looked a bit younger and had an angry look on her face, as she spoke to her sister. It looked like they were having a fight. She walked towards Krys and Ares. She looked behind herself to see if Jennifer was watching, then walked up to Ares, with her hand stuck out. Ares looked at her, before he shook her hand. She had Ares and A.J's hazel eyes.

"I'm Robbie Delgado." She shook Krys' hand. "I just wanna talk to you… I'm not like Jennifer- or at least I hope not… and I just want to speak with you. Briefly, if you prefer. But- whatever's good for you." Robbie said to Ares. Ares looked at Krys, who nodded.

"Robyn…" Ares said gravely, as he looked at her. "-never tell a strange grown man, that you'll do whatever's good for him." Robyn closed her eyes and laughed.

"I thought you'd hate me." she said, just loud enough for them to hear. Ares shrugged.

"Why?"

"Well, you've met my mom's pride and joy, her oldest child. The one who looks just like her, and the one that everyone adores. And also, as you can imagine it- the one who gets away with murder when she does shit, like taking her younger sisters to her dry hump session, where she rides the boyfriend- who doesn't want her, I might add- like Seabiscuit." Ares spit out his soda, and choked on his own laughter. "I just- I don't want her to hear me. I don't wanna have to fight her when we get to the hotel." Ares nodded.

"Are you coming, Krys?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"Don't you think that you guys should talk alone?" she asked. Robyn and Ares shook their heads simultaneously.

"I just- I think you'll do well as a buffer." Ares said. Krys shrugged, and walked out after them. She sat next to Ares on the bench, as he sat next to Robyn. "So… I never thought I'd be sitting here talking to you." Robyn nodded.

"I could say the same thing." she said. "So… Ares, how old are you?"

"Twenty. And you?"

"Fifteen- I'll be sixteen in July. So… I just want to know about you. Is this your girlfriend?" Robbie gestured to Krys, who like Ares, was blushing. "What's what?" said Robyn. Ares looked at her, as Robbie stared at him. "If I didn't know who you are, I swear I'd have spent so much time stalking you." Ares and Krys laughed. "So… is this your girlfriend? If so- how long have you guys been dating?"

"Actually, the question would be: how long _haven't_ we been dating? This is my best friend, and ex-girlfriend, Krys."

"Does that _ever_ actually work? Oh- I'm sorry. Its none of my business. So… how do you know Angel?" Ares shook his head.

"I don't really know Angel. I know Thai." he said. "Thai is Krys' goddaughter." Robbie nodded, and started to stare at Krys, until Krys looked back at her.

"I'm sorry. I just- I know that I've seen you somewhere before. I just- I-… oh yeah… no- the newspaper. From my muggle studies class. No- you were in the paper today." she said. "You're that young heiress bachelorette. And you were in the tabloids about- Oh- I'm sorry. I'm in your business and shit- I apologize." Krys shook her head.

"Its okay." she said.

"So… you're sure that you guys aren't dating?" Robbie said. Ares nodded.

"I'm sure." he said.

"Cause- Cheyenne says that its called 'safe dating'." Krys laughed.

"You mean from that episode of Reba?" she asked. Robbie nodded. "No- I'm sure we're no longer dating."

"Um… as a matter of fact, I'm getting married soon." said Ares. Robyn looked at him, and nodded.

"Nice. So… I'm guessing that she's a stewardess heiress or something. No offence, Krys- I just- he seems to like them… pretty." she said. Krys looked at her.

"None taken, but- what does that mean, anyway?" she asked.

"No- I just figured that if he's still hanging out with you, then you guys had a good relationship. I thought that you wouldn't go from good to worse. I just figured that if you guys broke up, that he'd have found someone better."

"Anyway- she owns her own magical hair salon." said Ares. Robyn nodded.

"Well- I just- Jennifer is a bitch." she said. Ares looked at her. "She's weighed down by too much evil, for a seventeen year old broad. I just wanted you to know, that I'm not like that. I care about what my mom did to your family- sorry, that's too deep in. But- I'm trying to lead Vicki in the right direction, but, she's in love with the _idea_ of Jennifer. I'm basically the black sheep of the family. And… I want to know about him… and about you and Apolla. And… I have no idea about our family… grandmother, grandfather. I don't even think that my mom knows about them. They had a rushed muggle wedding and… he left us a good amount to be able to live well with. A safety deposit box for each of us… and I was going to come see you guys, when I got old enough, because he left me your address and some pictures of you and Apolla. I don't know why he would leave me that stuff, and not the rest of them. He also left me this-" she said, as she pulled a chain from under her shirt. The chain had a gold wedding band on it. She took it off, and showed it to Ares. On the inside it was engraved 'forever and a day'. "I know its horrible of me, but- its his wedding band from your mother. And- I know that I seem like a horrible daughter, considering our family's relationship- I'm one of the outcomes from your parents divorce- but… Jennifer doesn't like you guys, because… she's been led to believe that she should've been his one and only little princess, and that he hated her, because she was some mild substitution for Apolla, A.J- as he wrote that he calls her, when in reality… he was a great father to her." Ares looked at her.

"How do you know all of this?" he asked. Robbie groaned.

"A few weeks before school let out, I got a letter." she said.

"Saying what?"

"To go to the headmasters office. So… I got there, and your mom… gave me a letter, and the key to my safety deposit box." Ares looked at Krys, who nodded.

"What'd the letter say?"

"That I'm the only one who was really his… and that's in a literal, and figurative meaning." Robyn said, with a laugh. "They don't even mention him anymore. And… in the envelope, were the pictures of you, him and A.J, with your mom. Some pictures of you guys, as you got older. Pictures of you, with… Jizelle and Jeremy. I also want to meet them… and pictures of you guys with Jason and Jezzie. He said that if anything went wrong, I'd find a family there."

"Aunt Jizelle and Uncle Jeremy died nine years ago." Ares said. Robbie nodded. "What would go wrong?"

"Well- other than the fact that… Jennifer hates me, my mom… doesn't like me, and Vicki… is… Jennifer's clone… nothing. I mean- Vicki's hair is blonde, like my mom's used to be, before she dyed it black. Jennifer's original hair color, is blonde, like my mom's used to be. Jen's eyes are blue… and Vick's eyes are green. Mom's eyes are brown… and dad's were hazel. My mom's parents both had brown eyes… did our grandmother or grandfather have blue or green eyes?" Ares shook his head.

"Don't hate your mother because of a letter that was written twelve years ago." he said. Robbie laughed.

"The letter didn't make me hate her. _She_ made me hate her. Look Ares- even though I was young, I still remember all the shit that happened. I remember arguments, and everything that I could understand at that point. When I read the letter, I asked myself why he would tell me all of that. Then I read the part about how your parents were trying to set up an arrangement and make it so that you and Apolla could come visit and meet us. My mom said no, and your mom said that he could visit you guys in secret. Then- he wrote about how when he realized that Jen wasn't his, he was too deep in… and he already had me. And all the while I was reading, I was thinking- what if I was on my mom's side? That's when I realized, it was evident to everyone with eyes, that my mom hates me because I _am_ a Delgado, and I _am_ Raphael Delgado's daughter. She hates me because she knew that he knew. And even though he didn't treat us any differently, she could feel it in her bitchy bones. I mean… she's treated me differently for as long as I can remember."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"'Cause I trust our father… and I trusted your mom. And daddy… he said that you would be raised with manners and common courtesy. He also said that if I needed, I'd find family in you and A.J. And your mom was really great about it… and she spoke to me, and she told me some things about him." Ares looked at her, then Krys. Krys nodded.

"Does she treat you badly? Has she done anything to you?" asked Ares. Robbie shook her head.

"No, she's afraid of that. I'm to be well taken care of by the N.A ministry's auror department. We just get into these arguments about stupid things. Just- an argument about what I want, and what Jennifer wants. Your mom already knows that. Its more like a mild thing, where Jen gets to go out, while I watch Vicki… and I don't mind that, I need to read and study anyway, but… its summer… where the hell does mommy dearest need to be? Visiting her late night booty call, probably." she said. Ares laughed.

"How did you know who I was?" he asked.

"I saw you talking to Jen, then I remembered what you look like, and recognized how much you look like him. And your mom showed me pictures of you." Ares nodded.

"Listen- I really…" he looked at Krys. She nodded. "I think that- I'd- I- how long are you here?"

"Mom is getting married again. We're moving here."

"Well- what hotel are you staying in?"

"Holiday Magical Den."

"Okay." Ares said, as he nodded. "Um… it was nice talking to you. Here-" he handed her a card. "This is how you can reach me." Robyn nodded, and smiled.

"I'm really glad that I got to meet you. Do you think that Apolla will be as…"

"Not if you call her Apolla. She only responds to A.J." said Ares. Robbie nodded. "She's my mothers daughter. She'll be as understanding." Krys smiled at the two. "We should be getting back in." They all got up, and Ares walked into the theatre. Krys held Robyn by her arm, and looked at her.

"If you have any problems, just- write to Thai." Robyn shook her head.

"Thai hates me." she said.

"I'll talk to her. Just contact Thai… or Ms. Delgado. I'll help you."

"Why? You don't even know me. I could be this pathological liar, trying to get Ares and A.J's money." Krys nodded.

"You could be. But- you're not." she said.

"Why are you helping me?"

"'Cause its important to him."

"What about this girl that he's marrying?"

"She's… _sweet_." Krys said, before she and Robyn walked back into the theatre. Robyn walked back to her group, and Krys sat next to Ares. He smiled at her, then took her hand. Krys sighed inaudibly, then started to eat her Milk Duds.

When the movie was done, they all left the theatre. Angel and Jennifer were kissing against the wall. Thai was talking to Hermione, and trying to act like she didn't care. Luis and Alex were talking on one of the benches. Luis kissed Alex's cheek and she blushed. Krys looked at all of them, then whistled as loud as she could. They all looked at her. Krys pointed to Jennifer.

"You." she said. She made the come here gesture with her hands. Jennifer looked at her like she was stupid. "Little girl- do not test my nerves- I don't care who you are, or how old you are- oh my God. How is everyone getting home?" Jennifer didn't say anything. Krys asked in six different languages. None of them answered her anyway.

"I'm apparating home." Jennifer said finally. Krys nodded.

"Where's your site?" she asked.

"I'm going with him." Jennifer said, as she pointed at Angel. Krys looked at Angel. He was looking at his hand. "Why is this any of your business, anyway?"

"I hate rude teenagers." Krys said to herself. "Because- Angel is going to my house. So… I really don't appreciate little girls, freaking off in my house- there it is. So… you need to find an apparation site, because I have no responsibility for any of you little motherfuckers, except for this little motherfucker here." Krys said, as she pointed at Thai. "Ta-Thai, Cookie, lets go shopping- I need a pair of pants or something." Thai and Hermione nodded, and walked over to Krys.

"Krys, we can't leave them like this." said Ares. Krys looked at him, then groaned. She turned around and looked at them.

"Are you guys hungry?" she asked.

"A little." said Victoria. Robbie shrugged.

"I don't care." she said. Jennifer rolled her eyes. 

"Um… well- whoever's hungry… we'll get some food, go to my house, then I'll get Vinny to drive you all home." Krys said. Angel took Jennifer's hand and dragged her with him. The rest of them followed. Krys looked at Robyn and Victoria in the back. She walked over to Victoria. "Hey." Victoria looked at her.

"Hello." she said.

"So- what do you guys want to eat?"

"I like hoagies." Krys looked at Robyn, who was rolling her eyes.

"What about you?"

"I like pizza." said Robbie. Krys nodded, then walked back up to Ares.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah, what happened?" he asked.

"I need you to ride in the car with the teenagers, I have to have a little talk with Thai." Ares looked at her, then nodded.

"You're not gonna give her advice, are you?" Krys looked at him.

"Why?"

"Cause… you're the last person that she needs her advice from."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Krys asked.

"Because- all she really needs to do is tell him how she feels. You are _bad_ with feelings." Krys looked at him.

"I told you how I felt about you. I spent an entire summer telling you how I felt." Ares nodded.

"Then you dumped me." Krys rolled her eyes.

"But I still told you."

"That's true, but- you get embarrassed easily, especially when it comes to your feelings."

"That's true, but-"

"Krys."

"This is for her. And I'll do whatever I need to, for her to be happy, and a full person. Okay- _I_ have a problem with feelings. That's okay. That's me. But Thai, she's sensitive… and she's sweet… and she deserves better than to be like me. She deserves to be able to look at someone and say, 'I'm in love with you… you're the one that I want to be with. And I don't want you to be with Em- Jennifer. I want you to be with me.' But- because of me, she can't. And- I don't know if its something that I radiate, but- she can't. But I know that I'll do anything that I can to help her. So…"

"Krys, I'm sorry. Thai shouldn't suffer from the fact that you're terrible." Ares joked. Krys laughed and hugged him. "But- he's always looking at her. That's how you know he likes her. He gives her the same look I giv- used to give you." Krys nodded, then ran up to Thai and Hermione.

"Okay… so- the three of us are driving alone. Hermione and I need to give you the talk." Thai looked at her.

"What talk?" she asked.

"What you need to do. Okay- listen… I'm not gonna give you that bullshit about making someone jealous. I'm gonna talk to you about getting what you want… with a little bit of action."

"Krys… he doesn't like me that way." Krys nodded.

"Okay. That's alright. I just want you to be sure. So… we'll talk about it more, in the car." Thai nodded, before Krys threw the keys to Hermione. "I'll be back." Krys ran down the stairs and to the jewelry store. She looked in the glass case, and pointed to a pair of emerald earrings. They were small, and in the shape of flowers. The petals were emeralds, and the usual 'green part' was a diamond.

"Um… can I have one of these, please?" Krys asked, as she pointed to the earrings. "And the small emerald studs." The woman looked at Krys and nodded.

When Krys got outside of the jewelry store, Ares was waiting for her. Krys looked at him. Without words, he got up and they started to walk. "So… what did you get?"

"I got Thai and Angel some earrings."

"That's nice. Why?"

"She has eyes as intense as Harry's. And Angel looks so cute when she wears anything green. I just- I thought that how Thai looks when she tells him, is very important."

"Its not."

"So… me looking super cute wouldn't've affected how long it took you to tell me that you loved me?"

"You _always_ looked cute. But- no."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"Because I knew that I had to. I was at the point where… there was nothing else that I wanted to do. There was nothing else to think about. Everything was about you, to me. I needed to be with you- I needed to give it a shot." Krys looked at him.

"Well… you're the first person, other than my dad and Dread-Head, that I said 'I love you' to. And… I'm glad that you were my first… everything." she said, as she looked at the limo. She jerked her head in that direction, then walked with him. She walked to the window of the limo, and looked at Vinny. He looked at her, then smiled a toothy grin.

"Ms. Rodriguez." he said.

"Vincent Torres, you are taking them to my house." said Krys. Vinny nodded, then winked. Krys rolled her eyes, then started to walk away.

"Hey Krys." he called. Krys looked back at him. "Nice shirt." Krys rolled her eyes, and jogged to her car. Hermione and Thai were talking. Krys got in the car, then tossed the bag to Thai. She drove out of the parking space, and out of the lot.

"Okay… so- what I want you to do is… don't act slutty."

"I never act slutty." said Thai.

"I know that. I'm just saying that you should be cute. I mean- you're always cute. But- wear those green Cosmo boxers that I got you… with a black t-shirt."

"Krys he doesn't want me. And- I'm starting not to want him, after seeing him grind up on Jennifer in a movie theatre. So… I'm over it." Krys looked at her.

"Oh my God- I need to stop lying around you. I'm teaching you how to lie too well. Listen to me. Just tell him."

"And get rejected." Krys looked at her.

"Imagine what it was like for me. If I didn't tell him, I would've died."

"Well- I'm not you." Krys nodded. "And I'm not telling him. Why? Because him rejecting me would be…"

"I know." Krys said. Thai nodded, then started to listen to her new green iPod. Krys looked at Hermione, who was sleeping, and laughed. Krys drove the rest of the way to her house, and parked in her driveway. Vinny pulled in after her. Krys hopped out the car, and looked at the abundance of teenagers pouring out of the limo. "What the hell did I get myself into?" She walked up to Hermione's window, and knocked as hard as she could. Hermione shot up, then glared at Krys. Krys smiled innocently, then hopped off towards the kids. Thai got out of the car, then walked straight into the house. Ares looked at Krys, and walked after Thai.

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Thai ran into the kitchen, and went straight to Krys' stash. A.J, Jason, Harry and Ginny were in there. They saw the look on her face, and didn't say anything. She pulled out gummy worms, and started to eat them one by one.

"Little Krystathaili, that's a surefire way to get rotten teeth." said the voice behind her. Thai turned around, to see Ares smiling at her. Thai groaned, and sat down at the counter, with the rest of them. "Now- when did it get so hard for the young Thai?"

"About the moment that I found out that I'm a witch. In kindergarten, I had this crush on a dude named… Diego Reyes. Well- I never told him… and he married Jennifer Torres, with ring pops, under the monkey bars. That's when it got so hard. What happened, with the monkey bars? The next day, they just fell apart. Everything got complicated when my powers started acting up. I skipped kindegarten, and and fifth grade. So- in seventh grade, nobody wanted to come near me, because weird things happened when I was angry." said Thai. "Then- I got accepted to Acklemeyers. And that's where I met _him_. Stupid Angel, and his stupid dimples, and stupid six pack!" Ares looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I mean- Jesus Christ! What does Jennifer have that I don't. Oh- wonderful… little streaky blondie will give it up… and it took _me_ five years to hug him. Okay- stay with Jennifer 'cause she's been around the block a few ti-"

"What?!" they boys yelled. Thai looked at them.

"Whoa, whoa, who- this is going on because you won't…?" asked Jason. Thai shook her head.

"Of course not. He doesn't even know how I feel about him." she said. "I mean- Krys told me that if you don't give it up, someone else will. Then she told me that- I should be the first one to _find_ someone _else_ to do it for him. But- everyone knew about Jennifer. And I knew first hand because she told me. I mean- honestly, when the hell did everything become about sex? I remember when my biggest problem was getting to the swings first… and fucking- getting home to watch Pokemon and Dragonball Z." No one said anything. "What are you guys good for? Where's the advice?"

"What do you expect? You're a punk." said A.J. Thai looked at her.

"Okay- how did you and Jason get together?" she asked.

"In the middle of the night, I went to his room and cursed him out."

"Not afraid of getting rejected?"

"I was scared as hell. But- I just figured that we were good enough friends to get past that, if he rejected me."

"Okay… well-…" Thai stopped talking. "Think about if he rejected you. You'd have to spend the entire summer in the same house, and you wouldn't be together. That's embarrassing. Rejection is horrible."

"Have you ever been rejected?" A.J asked. Thai looked at her.

"That doesn't matt-"

"Have you?" asked Ares. Thai looked at him, then looked thoughtful.

"Okay… I've never had a boyfriend." she said. "Angel was the first guy that I ever kissed… and that only happened because he was asking me how to ask out some dream girl."

"Okay- well, I got dumped twice, and I can _still_ sit in her house, without crying over every memory." Thai looked at him. "Who knew? You're almost like Krys in every way." Ares finished.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I tried that dream girl shit on Krys too. She had no idea what was going on." said Ares. Thai looked at him.

"What are you trying to say?"

"You can't be more clueless than Krys."

"Are you trying to say that he likes me?" They all nodded. "Wow… that's bull- shit." she said slowly. "If he likes me so much, he wouldn't be out there dry humping his ugly ass girlfriend. So… you know what? All I'm gonna say is screw him… and his… fucking blonde colostomy bag. Because, I don't care anymore." she said, before she walked out of the kitchen.

"Did she just call Jennifer a blonde colostomy bag?" They all laughed and nodded. "She really _is_ like Krys." said Ares.

"Who is like Krys?" asked Krys, as she walked into the kitchen and straight to the phone. She ordered pizza, then walked to her stash. She pulled out some gummy bears that only had red and clear. She sat down and started to eat the gummy bears. They all just watched her. "Who's like me?"

"Thai." said Ares. "She just went on this crazy rant about not caring if Angel liked her or not." Krys groaned.

"The girl is clueless… I swear." she said. They all stayed silent. "What?"

"Krys, you are the epitome of clueless." said A.J. "I mean… Ares tried everything to make you realize that he liked you. You just did not get it."

"Okay- well, I- in my own defense… his girlfriend- he never told me that he liked someone else. And he never kis- he- I'm not talking anymore."

"You should go talk to her." said Ginny. Krys groaned.

"Couldn't one of you do it? I'm no good at that shit."

"Krys, it should be you." said Ares. Krys looked at them. They were all nodding. Krys got up and took a deep breath.

"Um… will you pay for the pizza when it gets here, Prongs?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Okay." she said speedily. When she said it, Ares noticed that it sounded a lot like 'otay'. He wasn't the only one to notice it. He and Harry looked at each other and laughed.

When Krys got to Thai's room, Thai was sprawled out across her bed, with her headphones in her ears. She was wearing the short boxers with Cosmo on them, and a fitted black tee. Thai's toe socks had Cosmo's face on them. Krys walked over to her, and took Thai's headphones out of her ears. Thai looked at Krys, and turned away.

"Are you okay, Thai?" asked Krys. Thai turned back to her, and smiled slightly. She had tears in her eyes, and her face was wet.

"No guy's worth crying for, right? So, how come I feel like this?" she asked, as she sniffled slightly. Krys looked at her and sighed. "Krys, why is he doing this to me?" Krys shrugged.

"I don't know, Ta-Thai. But- I do know that guys are stupid. And there is no real reason for why they do the things that they do."

"Did Ares ever do anything like this to you?" Thai asked. Krys looked thoughtful, before she nodded. "Can you tell me about it?"

"So that you can feel better off of _my_ miserable teen years?" Thai nodded. "Oh- okay."

_Flashback_

Krys and Ares sat on her bed in the Room of Requirements, and looked through the potions book. They lied down, facing each other, while reading from their books. Krys was reading from the book, and going over a potion, while Ares watched her.

"Now, why can't this potion be exposed to sunlight?" asked Krys. Ares looked up.

"I don't know." he said.

"Jesus Christ, Ares! In less than three days, you have a potions exam that you're not ready for." Krys scolded. Ares laughed, and laid his back on the bed.

"Krys, I don't care." he said. Krys looked at him sternly.

"Well, I do. So- you'd better study for your fucking test."

"Krys, what's the point? Tomorrows my birthday… and I just- I want to have fun, with you, my best friend."

"Ares, that's the reason that I'm helping your ass. Note this… if you fail your potions exam, your mom is going to take you, wring your neck, then hang your ass out to dry. And guess what. I'm gonna hold your goddamn birthday gift, until I see your results. Hence, you won't get your birthday gift, if your ass doesn't pass." Ares looked at her, and smiled.

"You're _very_ weird." he said. Krys laughed, and looked back down at the book. "Okay… lets study."

"Good. Now… we're gonna have to pull an all-nighter. And since we don't have class tomorrow, anyway- its okay." Ares nodded. "Okay… what does the Polyjuice potion look like?"

"It looks muddy." said Ares.

"Be more descriptive, and… elaborate." Krys looked at the book, and searched for another question.

"Krys, I know all of this. I just- I need to relax."

"Are you sure? Are you sure, sure?" Ares nodded.

"So… what'd you get me?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"Nothing." she said. Ares looked at her again.

"You know the real reason that I asked you to help me, right?" he asked her. Krys looked at him and shook her head.

"No, I don't know." she said.

"I wanted to tell you that… I'm really starting to have feelings for Ailen." Ares said, as he stared at Krys. Krys closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. She held the breath in, and her cheeks puffed up. Krys let the air out in small puffs. Then, she turned to him.

"That's great. I mean- I hate her, but… you deserve it. You deserve to be happy. And… I could tell… there was something about you two, that told me you guys were compatible." Ares smiled slightly.

"Listen, thanks for the help. I'll see you later." he said, as he got up. He kissed Krys' cheek, then walked out the door.

The next day, on Ares' birthday, Krys woke up to A.J and Jason watching her. Krys crawled out of bed, and went straight to the bathroom. When she got out, Jason and A.J were still there.

"What?" Krys asked, as she rummaged through her drawers.

"What's wrong with you?" asked A.J. Krys looked at her, then lied back down in the bed.

"Your brother told me that he wants to be with Ailen, yesterday." she said. A.J and Jason laughed. "Is that funny?! I'm hurting."

"So, you're finally ready to admit that you like him." said Jason.

"I didn't say that. He's alright. Big deal… he came of age today. I don't wanna see him. So- you guys can take your little party to the Phoenixtear recreation room. Goodbye." Jason and A.J laughed, then walked out of the room. Krys lied back down, and after forever, someone walked through the doors. Ares walked in, and lied down in the bed, next to Krys.

"You didn't even come and wish me a happy birthday." he said. Krys looked at him, and shrugged. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. So… have you seen Ailen yet?" Ares shook and nodded his head. "Don't you think you should tell her?"

"Tell her what?"

"How you guys first got together, not because you like her, but because I begged you to." Ares looked at her.

"You look good in the morning." he said. Krys nodded.

"Um- thank you." she said.

"Always, really. Before you go to sle-"

"Alright, you're really creeping me out, now."

"Oh- sorry."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see why you haven't come to see me." Krys looked at him.

"Its early as hell." she said.

"Its three o'clock."

"I went to sleep at 3am. To me, its early as hell." Ares laughed and nodded.

"I guess you're right." he said. "So… last night- this morning, when I got to my room, Jason was gone." Krys nodded.

"And…"

"Ailen was there." Ares said.

"Did you and Ailen-_ugh_?" Ares laughed and shook his head.

"She wanted to, but- I was tired. Plus… I mean… Jason could've walked in at any minute." he said. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"And you're sharing the wonderful insights of your and Ailen's nonexistent sex life, _because_?"

"Because, you're my _bestest_ friend. And I'm seventeen. And-I can do magic outside of school now. And… I wanted you to be the first to know."

"That you and Ailen are on the verge of doing it." Krys said. Ares laughed. "Mr. Incredible, you need help."

"Come on, Elastigirl. You need more help than me."

"I bare no resemblance to Elastigirl."

"Except for the fact that I've seen you bend like a pretzel." Ares teased. Krys looked at him with wide eyes.

"You're worse than Jason." she said.

"Thank you." Krys laughed, then rolled out from under the covers. Ares looked at what she was wearing. She was wearing short boxer shorts, with little teddy bears on them. The shorts just covered her behind, and Krys was wearing a fitted t-shirt. She walked to her drawers, and picked out her clothes.

_End Flashback_

When Krys told Thai the story, Thai just stared at her.

"_That's_ the story that you're giving me?" she asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah. He was just- oh my god. Then later that night, he and Ailen were in a chair, and she was giving him a lap dance." Krys said. "He seemed to be enjoying it. I mean- he started going out with Ailen as a favor to me, then he was kissing her, and talking about how they were in love. What the hell was I supposed to think? I mean- its not like I had any other options- and I didn't want any. And I'm still screwed over, because he's marrying a big nosed bitch. And I'm gonna be stuck alone, with a bunch of cats and shit." Thai looked at Krys.

"Now my life doesn't seem so bad." she said. "My best girl friend, one of the first people I met in the school- I told her that I liked him, and the next night she's giving him a lap dance. You _gave_ Ares to Ailen, Angel was _stolen_ from me." Krys groaned.

"Then make her pay." she said. "Get what's yours. That's sounds demeaning. But- hey. Come with me." Thai shrugged. She looked at Krys and nodded.

"Where are we going?"

"Well- I want you to know that Angel is like… God's gift to the teenage girl."

"And Ares is God's gift to the female sex, in general. I mean- I've seen cats and bird stare it him and drool." Krys laughed. "Then there's Jason- who is just as se- gorgeous, but… there's just _something_ _about_ Ares." Thai said. Krys looked at her with her eyebrow raised.

"And your reason for being in love with Harry?"

"It was a mild crush." Thai said. Krys laughed and nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "A mild crush."

"And now he's like my Dread-Head. And you can't tell me that you didn't have a kiddy crush on my dad at one point."

"No- when I was younger, I was in love with your father."

"He knew." Thai said. Krys looked at her and nodded.

"Oh yeah, I told him." she said.

"He told us about that talk- and that's why you are like his favorite child ever. He said that that talk is what made you the genius child that you were."

"What did I say?" Thai laughed.

"You told him that he was a very handsome man. And he called you adorable. Then you told him that you were in love with him."

"And he said that he was very honored that I loved him like that, but he was in love with your mother."

"And you said 'I know that. Plus, I'm only three. I know- but, that is how I feel about you, for now. It will pass.' Then you said something about it being a crush, kissed him on the cheek, then ran off to talk to Razzie. He goes crazy every time he talks about that conversation." Krys laughed and nodded. "I was so jealous of you when I was younger. Everything I did- they compared me to you. I wanted to hate you when I first met you."

"They did it because- in their eyes, I'm your big sister that was taken away from them. I'm the first child that they really raised, and they watched me do everything. From the story that your dad tells me, he saved me from a teen dude, in my first few days at the orphanage. I was only about a year old. I was already talking, and walking- and… the twelve year old did something. I don't even want to remember. And your mom saw what the dude was about to do, and called your dad. It was like this _thing_. And they just started taking care of me, from then. Your mom was like my mom- and after my mom died, she was one of the only people who could feed me. When it was time to feed me, they always had to call Razzie. So- they didn't mean it like that."

"They always said I was just like you." Thai said. "When I was younger, I didn't know if I should be proud of that. Now I know." Krys looked at Thai, and had no idea what to say.

"Oh your dad was cool, man." she said.

"You are bad with feelings." Thai teased. Krys laughed and nodded. "You girls are lucky. You have a bunch of- your friends are just pretty people." Krys shrugged.

"Its wasted on me. Its not about that." she said, as she dragged Thai through the door, and they walked downstairs. Thai looked at Krys.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" she asked.

"Would I _let_ you look like you were crying?" Thai shook her head. "Then there's your answer." Thai smiled, and hugged Krys. Krys then dragged her to the kitchen, where _everyone_ else was. Everyone, included Emily and Kay. Everyone, also excluded Ron and Hermione. Krys smiled tightly, watching Emily and Ares kiss, then walked to her stash. She pulled out a gigantic Hershey's kiss and started to hit it with a hammer. They all looked at her weirdly. "What?" No one said anything. Krys sat at her regular stool at the counter. She waved her wand, and an orange Sunkist soda whizzed through the air and landed in front of her. Krys got a bowl, and sprinkled the chocolate in it, then all the chocolate melted. She started to eat it with a spoon.

"Wait a minute- are you eating melted chocolate?" Kay asked. Krys looked at her, then gulped down some Sunkist.

"Do you have a problem?" Krys asked, before she let out a large and loud belch. Emily and Kay looked at her in disgust.

"That's _very_ ladylike." Emily said. "I can see why you don't have a boyfriend." Krys laughed, then ate another spoonful of melted chocolate.

"Did you know that you're almost a textbook case of a blonde bitch?" Krys asked Emily. "Yeah- but see, the only difference between you and the shallow egocentric bitches, is that _they_ have reasons to be conceited and on their high horses. You on the other hand, only pass for human because of the man candy that you wear on your arm, and that symbol on your finger. But hey, how about this symbol from my finger?" Krys stuck her middle finger up at Emily. Emily looked at her, with flared nostrils. Everyone just watched the scene in silence, including Ares who started to hide behind Jason. Krys looked around, then took a deep breath. "Okay- I have a question for everyone. Its basically about my little surprise for Jamie and Angel. Who thinks that they could go to Disneyland for the weekend?" They all looked at her.

"That's what you want to do for Jamie and Angel? Take them to the Disneyland resort?" Jason asked. Krys nodded. "I'm in. I haven't been to Disneyland yet." Krys laughed. "When?"

"This weekend. Staying for four days." Krys said. "Naturally- all the teens that are staying will come… and one boys room, two girls rooms, adults have their own rooms. And anyone who isn't doing someone… they'll have their own room. Anyone who's coming- just tell me now, please." They all nodded.

"Um Krys, I can't go if Jennifer doesn't." Angel said. Krys looked at him.

"Don't break anything while we're gone." she said. Then she turned to Jennifer. "Just ask your mom and tell her to owl me. You can all come." she said to her. Then she looked at Thai, who was looking back at her with a raised eyebrow. Krys smiled devilishly, then looked at Ares and Emily.

"Are we going?" she heard Ares ask Emily. Krys rolled her eyes, then looked at Harry and Ginny.

"What about it, Prongs? You get a headache free long weekend, and you don't even have to leave your room." she said. Harry and Ginny nodded. Krys laughed. "You guys need help." Krys kicked off her shoes, then stood up on her stool. "Is everyone coming?" They all looked at her, and nodded. Krys nodded, then hopped off of her stool. She started to eat her melted chocolate again. "No one tell Jamie and Angel. They have no idea what's going on." No one said anything. "Okay- are you teenagers done with your food?" Jennifer, Robyn, Victoria and Rachel nodded. "So- are we taking you guys home, or not?" They all nodded. "Who's coming for the ride?" Jennifer pulled on Angel's arm.

"Um- I'm coming, Krys." Angel said, as he stepped up. Krys nodded, then a pair of sneakers appeared in front of her feet. She put those on, and got up.

"Lets go. Thai, can you check on Jamie and Angel for me? I'll be back soon." Krys said, as she started to walk. The group started to walk behind her. Krys wan up to the Nissan and opened the doors. They all sat in the back. "So- where are you staying, again?"

"We're staying in the Holiday Magical Den." Jennifer said. Krys nodded, then pulled off. She turned on the iPod and started to play 'Days of Our Lives' by Bone Thugs and Harmony.

'Wasteland soldier, These are the days of our lives

I been struggling & hustling & thugging it forever

Come & look deeply in my eyes x3

I be struggling & hustling & thugging it forever & ever

Bone (x a lot)

we gotta prepare x3 for eternal warfare

repeat 3

Only time will tell who dies, these are the days of our lives

Come look deeply in my eyes, these are the days of our lives

See the murder moralize, see the murder mo, these are the days of our lives

These are the days of our lives, these are the days of our lives

CHORUS: 2x

Now come into my world and you can see that we are more than thugs

We more than thugs, more than thugs, more than thugs

With just a little twist of harmony we smoking lethal warriors

We warriors, We warriors, we warriors

Layzie Bone

Eternally thugs here I come telling them soldier stories

Been daily collecting my lessons, without any questions

Without any questions, stressing no resting, we journey this blessing

Shift in the game rearrange your things

cause once the world was bringing me down

Mesmerized controlled by the other side, but the devil was in my town

looking for me

Wish Bone

But he won't find me in time, fucking with Bone and he liking these rhymes

We rhyme better believe it all the time, nigga we live

We straight up soldiers, Better nigga done told you, told you

We raw before we go broke, nigga we robbing ya'll, all of ya'll, all ya'll

Krayzie Bone

Yo my dogs if you call or you fall

You depend on that nigga wherever then I will be there, lean on me

But let us get rid of the enemies be staying a while, while

But if you think you can hang, hang, hang

Chorus (x2)

Layzie Bone

Finally in the studio, ya'll know we roll hydro every time we rhyme

I'm high, look at me deeply in my eyes, I rise to the top of my game

No way that I had to run, no way that I had to turn

Sherm, but a lot of these niggas won't learn

But the money I earn won't burn So come again

Wish Bone

Better watch that Mack 10 nigga this one's for me and my friends

We steadily rolling, I told you keep bringing home platinum and gold ones

pap pap, put it all in the ground, yeah Bone, Yeah we used to get down

With the clack, back, put it on the ground, now get down

Bizzy Bone

Well it must be dawse, hydro, wanna roll my indo

Sitting all alone in ah my window, little Easy bless his soul, It's so cold

Little Easy got stress for the peeps, the streets

And none of these phonies hardly knew him

But still wanna pop the bitch locing bitch locing.

Chorus (x2)

Bizzy Bone

And it ain't no mystery the pistol will be and I better put it under my seat

Better read the scriptures sister, reach any or all of my readers

Said it ain't, it maybe double me up and get one foe my friends

Twenty, twen, twen, we bidding on bud the bids at a fin

So who wanna bag?, Who wanna bag?,

You wanna bag? You wanna bag?, You gotta bag

So I'm sending my dog to the liquor store for the blunts to roll

Only the Lord can tell who dies

So pick up the puzzle and pieces and put it together my love

Krayzie Bone

My lordy Lord, maintain, it's hard cause I'm a soldier at war

Cause everybody wanna try to bring out the devil in me

But the evils ain't better than me, weed keeps me at ease

Take notes cause here it comes

The murder mo coming to carry you, oh you oh

Wake up and they sitting and pulling their gage out, Murder

And they put it up to your temple and we blow your brains out, Die

Chorus (x4)' The next song that she played was 'Patiently Waiting' by 50 cent featuring Eminem. She started to play all of the songs that's he liked from the Eminem show and Encore. When she was done picking thorough the songs that she liked from the two, they were finally at the hotel. The girls all got out of the car, without so much as a thank you or a goodbye. All except for Robyn. She waved. Angel got into the front seat, after he walked Jennifer into the hotel. He looked at Krys, after they'd been driving for a while.

"Um… can I ask you a question?" Angel asked. Krys turned off the music and nodded.

"Yeah. What happened?" she asked. Angel looked at her.

"Um…could you maybe… do you think you could help me?"

"With what?"

"With Jennifer and-"

"So- what is the deal with you and Jennifer? Is she your choice, or a girl that you go out with, because she'll do stuff?"

"I used to like her." Angel said. "Then she started to get crazy, and latched onto me for dear life."

"So- it's the fact that she started to hold onto you that is making you leave?" Angel nodded. "Wow. Irony is a bitch. So- what do you need help with?"

"Breaking up with Jennifer." Krys laughed. "So that I can ask Thai out." Krys laughed harder, and looked at him. "Oh- she's never gonna go out with me."

"I didn't say that. But- this request needs… work. First of all… grinding up on your girlfriend in front of her, is a hell of a way to show her how much you care." Angel groaned. "And- you're talking to the wrong person. You should go talk to the guys. They know as much about Thai as I do, and they can help you because, they've asked people out before."

"I mean- I wasn't expecting this. One day- I like Jennifer, and then we started to do… things… and all I could think about was Thai."

"I don't want to know! Don't tell me that!" Krys whined.

"Oh… sorry. I just- I couldn't stop thinking about her. And… I can't stop thinking about her. She's always just been this girl that I hung out with. You know- the girl I play Quidditch with, and I didn't expect to start feeling this way about her. Then one day, last year… I looked at her, and everything changed. And then she quit the Quidditch team, and possibly, became even badder. She's just- _bad_. And… I really can't stop thinking about her. I can't eat, I can't sleep- she's driving me crazy." Krys nodded.

"Are you sure its not just the fact that its wrong?"

"Why would it be wrong?"

"Well- you're going out with her ex-best friend. What in that, seems right?"

"Its not because of that. I mean… I originally went out with Jennifer, because… I- I knew that she was… willing." Krys looked at him.

"Little boy, if you think that I'm gonna help you 'get with' my innocent go-"

"Its not about that, with Thai. I- she means a lot more to me, than that. And… the whole sex thing seems 'been there, done that' now. She means a lot to me. I mean- I've only been with one girl, and… even then, I didn't feel the kind of things that I feel when I'm with Thai."

"Well- she's adorable. Maybe you should just tell her."

"Oh- I'm sorry. I haven't thought about that." Angel said sarcastically.

"Do it tonight." Krys said. Angel looked at her and nodded.

"Or maybe… I could do it at Disneyland, after you tell Jennifer that she can't come." he suggested. Krys laughed.

"I can't do that. Already invited them."

"I don't want her there." Angel said. "I just want to be with Thai… so I can tell her… and change absolutely everything."

"Change isn't always bad." Krys said.

"It is, if the person is sure to reject you."

"Little boy-"

"Would you reject me?" Krys stopped at the red light and looked at Angel.

"You're very cute." she said.

"Look Krys… um- I like you and all but-" Angel couldn't finish his sentence, because Krys was laughing so hard.

"I don't want you. I'm twenty years old… and you're like sixteen." Angel shook his head.

"I'm seventeen. I'm legal." he said. Krys laughed, then there was silence. They didn't talk again, for the rest of the ride to her house. When Krys parked, Angel got out. "Um- I feel really stupid. I'm sorry- and I-"

"Dude, its okay. I was only laughing 'cause it was very cute… you know- you thinking I had slight interest in you and all." Angel smiled.

"Thank you." Krys nodded.

"Never gonna be a problem. Just remember… we're staying at Disneyland resort for a long weekend." Krys laughed, then they walked into the house. When she got into the house, Ares, Emily, Jason, A.J, Kay, Ginny and Harry were sitting in the parlor. Krys looked at them, as Angel walked up the stairs.

"So- Padsy, what's your plan for Disneyland?" Harry asked, as he beckoned her over. Ginny was sitting in his lap in a chair, and Krys sat on the arm.

"Well- I already ordered all of your rooms for the Disney Resort. I get Jamie and Angel in my room. Everyone has a suite… and its all on me. Emily and Ares have their own room. Harry and Gin. A.J and Jason." Ares looked at her. "Oh grow up. She's not beating your ass because you're having sex, is she?" All of them except Ares, Emily and Kay laughed. "Thai, Alex and Robyn. Jennifer, Rachel and Victoria. Angel and Luis. Ron and Kay. And Hermione has her own room. All expenses paid… I ordered for like a Disneyland credit card type thing. Anything you want in the park… you can pay for it via card, and it'll charge to the room. Um…I'd drive the teens with the Mercedes Van. Ares, you could drive the Porsche, with Emily, Kay and Ron. And… Harry or Jason could drive with A.J, Gin, Hermione and the luggage, in the Expedition. Or Harry, Gin and Hermione could drive with the luggage and the Expedition, and A.J and Jason could drive Andy. Or- any way you would feel comfortable."

"Who's Andy?" Emily asked. Ares, Krys, Harry, Gin, A.J, Jason and Krys laughed. "What?"

"Andy is Krys' Beemer." A.J answered. "So- what did you and Angel talk about?"

"He doesn't want me to invite Jennifer. He wants to ask Thai out… and he _loves_ her."

"Oh- that's so sweet." Ginny said.

"Kinda soft if you ask me. Jennifer is giving it up… and Thai _better_ not be thinking about sex." Krys said. They all looked at her. "What?"

"Well…you'd better stop with the way help dress her…because that girl is gonna give you some competition." A.J said. Krys looked at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how often she gets asked out. _You've_ seen her." Krys nodded.

"Yeah… she's so cut-"

"No. What guys see when they look at her, is not what they should see when they look at Angel. They don't see adorable, cute angelic little girl. They don't see sweet sixteen. They see sexy, sassy sixteen." Ginny said. Krys looked at Ginny. "Your rep is at stake."

"What rep?" Krys asked.

"Your date stats." A.J said.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?"

"Okay- in Hogwarts. After you guys graduated. They have a list- similar to the '07 Hottie list, but hottest girls in Hogwarts… _ever_. The goal list." Krys nodded, urging A.J to go on. "Well- what Gin and I found out, is that its proportionally ranked. It just matters on what percent of the boys thought of you. And… about 99 of Hogwarts boys considered you a goal."

"_Excuse_ me?" Krys, Jason, Harry and Ares asked simultaneously. Then Harry's eyes widened.

"That's what the poll was?" he asked. "Ever since first year… some boys in Gryffindor would hand out a paper, asking which girl you would… _ill_." Krys looked at him.

"What?!" she yelled. "I was a _goal_?" A.J and Gin nodded.

"Yeah. You were the girl that most of the boys wanted to do." Gin said nonchalantly. "You have one of the highest percentages ever. I think you were the highest, actually. You should be proud." Krys looked at her.

"Oh… really?" she asked in mock pride. "I was voted most doable-"

"Actually- that wouldn't be the word-" A.J started.

"Yeah, it would be… what's a word for- I was voted _Everest_?" A.J laughed.

"Oh please. Get over it. The worst part is… who was highest twenty three years ago." Gin said, as she got up and looked between Krys and Harry. Krys looked at her.

"Who?" they asked simultaneously.

"It was a tie." A.J reasoned.

"Who?" Krys asked.

"Your mums." Ginny said.

"What? Isn't it the most-"

"Tie." A.J said. "What we came to is… since Krys' mom and Harry's dad were related, he didn't vote for her, but he voted for your mum Harry. And… we're assuming that Krys' dad thought of Harry's mom the same was. So- Krys' mom got half the boys and Harry's mom got half of them."

"I'm disturbed." Harry said. "Change the subject, Padfoot?"

"Please." Krys begged.

"Oh, Padfoot- I went over the will… a few days ago. And… it said that since my mum never got a girl, you get her wedding dress."

"I get the dress?!" Harry nodded. "Dude!" she squealed as she jumped up. They all looked at her. "What?"

"You're not allowed to be a tomboy anymore." Jason said.

"No- you guys have never seen this dress- I mean my mom's dress is beyond amazing… but Lily's dress was also beyond amazing… Dude- I get both dresses." Harry nodded.

"And her jewelry too." he said. Krys had to stop herself from doing a back flip.

"Oh- and mine said that you get… what the fuck- I forgot. I'll tell you later. You- A.J Gin, can you guys finish your point?" Krys asked.

"Oh yeah… what were we talking about?" A.J mused. "Oh yeah… when I went to Acklemeyers on my interview… I got a tour. And… in the Lionlynx boys dorm was Thai's name… Krystathaili Parris, at the top of the list- with twelve stars next to it. Above the name was a thing that said five stars was the max. Then- there were a bunch of comments."

"Comments?!" Harry, Jason, Ares, and Krys shouted. A.J ignored them.

"And Alex says that Thai's pretty popular with the boys."

"I don't doubt that." Krys said. "I just don't… what are you trying to tell me."

"Well- your record will probably get shattered by Thai-" Gin said.

"What record?" They _all_ groaned by this time.

"Can you really be this clueless?" Gin asked.

"Ooh- okay, Krys. On average… how many guys ask you out, per week?" A.J asked. Krys shrugged.

"I don't know, why?" she asked.

"Well- when we go out together… you probably get asked out about… at least twice each different location. Your biggest record was when…-" A.J stopped because she was laughing. "Was when…-" She stopped again, and looked at Jason. Jason's eyes widened and he started to laugh too.

"What?" Krys asked.

"Remember that time we went shopping to redecorate your room? And we went to that place with the sheets." Krys nodded. "The old man." Krys' eyes widened.

"What?" Ares asked. A.J looked at him and laughed.

"Krys got asked out by an eighty year old man." she said. They all started to laugh, except for Krys.

"That doesn't count." Krys said.

"Yes it does. He was like the eighth man to wolf whistle or ask you out. That counts." A.J said. Krys looked up.

"A.J got asked out by a woman." she said. They all looked at A.J, who was very interested in her nails at the point. Then she looked up.

"Krys got asked out by a thirty year old donut guy." she blurted.

"A.J got asked out by… someone else."

"You lose, Krys. Ha." A.J gloated.

"Brownie… don't start with me. I challenge you." A.J jumped up, when Krys said that. The two bumped hips, and nodded. Kay and Emily looked at the two like they were crazy.

"Ares, what's going on?" Emily asked.

"A.J is Krys' only competition in anything athletic. They're always competing… and when they do, they both go crazy. Its actually really funny." Ares said.

"What are you guys going to do?" Jason asked, after he kissed A.J's cheek. Krys looked at A.J.

"My handstand is longer than yours." Krys said. A.J scoffed skeptically.

"Yeah right." she said.

"Yeah right, Krys. Come on, baby. You can beat her." Jason said. Krys looked at him.

"Traitor." she said. Then she looked A.J.

"It is." A.J said.

"What are the stipulations?" They didn't even notice that the others were laughing at them.

"If I beat you… then, you have to take the interview with Julliard." A.J looked at her.

"Are you serious?" she asked, as she held down a squeal.

"No, but I'm his spawn." Krys said. A.J looked at her, then at Jason, who was nodding.

"Thank you… so much." A.J said, before Jason picked her up.

"Yeah… I have to bullshit with the people, and I don't get jumped on?" Krys asked. A.J and the others laughed.

"Oh my God- I… whoa." A.J said, as she started to pace. "What should I do?"

"Well- how about this?" Krys said. "If we play HORSE, and you _still_ can't shoot a three pointer like me, then you _have_ to do your Tango. If you can… do whatever dance routine you want. Or we could play pool… but then it wouldn't be fair. 'Cause you're so bad at it." A.J looked at Krys.

"One on one." she said. Krys gave a long sigh. "No- two on two. Me and Jason, against you and Ares."

"Well- I have to go change… place your bets everyone." she said, before she ran up the stairs.

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When Hermione got into the apartment, she immediately walked to her room. Her room was dimly lit by vanilla scented candles. In her room, Ron was lying on her bed. The bed that was sprinkled with red and white rose petals. In his hand was a single red rose. Hermione looked at him. Ron was wearing a lopsided grin.

"So…do you regret giving me a key?" he asked. Hermione, who was still shocked by the extremely romantic gesture, shook her head mindlessly. "Are you going to respond in a genuine fashion? No sarcasm, no witty remarks."

"This is very romantic… and you are very sweet." Hermione said.

"But…" Ron prompted. Hermione looked at him and smiled.

"Romance is _so_ '87." she teased. Ron grinned. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ron said, as he handed her a wine glass.

"You like me liquored up, don't you?" Hermione asked, as she took a sip of the wine. "Sherry." Ron nodded.

"You like it?"

"I love it all."

"Good, because you'll love what I have here for you." Ron said, picking up a box on her bed. Hermione looked at him.

"So- what's the occasion?" she asked, as she held the box in her hand. Ron shook his head.

"No occasion." he said. "Just wanted to do something nice for you."

"_Why_?"

"Because I love you. Look- are you gonna open the box or not, because I'm getting antsy." Hermione fingered the wrapping slowly.

"Hmm. I'm thinking about it." she said teasingly. Ron sat down on her bed, and patted the space next to him. Hermione smiled. "Thank you for inviting me to sit on my own bed." Ron nodded.

"You're welcome." he bantered. Hermione sat down next to him, and unwrapped the box. She looked at him before she opened the box. When she looked inside, she smiled softly. "Do you like it?" Hermione nodded, as she pulled small onyx broom out of the box.

"You're giving me your Heart Gem?" she asked softly. He nodded. Hermione looked at him, and a tear trailed down her cheek. Ron looked at her with concern.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked. Hermione shook her head. "Well then, why are you crying? Did I- did I do something wrong? Do you not like it?" Ron wiped the tear away with his thumb, as he stared at her lovingly. Hermione smiled, and Ron traced the outline of her lips with his index finger.

"I'm crying because I'm happy."

"Well- that's a relief." Hermione chuckled slightly. "So… at the restaurant…with that guy-"

"He was _so. _ _Fucking_. _Annoying_." Ron smiled and Hermione looked at him. "What? Were you jealous?" Ron stared at her and shook his head.

"Completely." he said, as he did this. Hermione smiled.

"Good. Although… it wasn't really worth it." she mused mockingly. Ron playfully glared at her. "But- Krys working her fire magic was nice." Ron laughed and nodded.

"_Did_ he touch her?" Hermione looked at him. "You know, when she stabbed him with the fork." Hermione nodded.

"Yup." she said. "So- was this whole thing with the scented candles and wine, just a way to get me to talk about irrelevant topics, or did you have something planned?"

"You're very mean." Ron teased. Hermione nodded.

"I don't care." she said in an immature voice, before she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, I was thinking that we could sit here… and I could look at you… and get a clear definition of what I've been missing for the past two years." Hermione nodded. "But, before that… we could do a little bit of this." Ron kissed her, deeply and intensely. When he pulled back, Hermione nodded.

"I like that." she said breathlessly. "Are you staying the night?" Ron nodded. "Even better."

"And a little bit of this." Ron said, before he kissed her shoulder. Hermione nodded. "Then, a little _more_ of this." Ron kissed Hermione again, deeper this time, and even more intense, if possible. When he pulled back, Hermione nodded. "And then some of this." Ron kissed her neck, and Hermione giggled. Ron pulled back and looked at her. "Oh- I forgot, you're ticklish." he said, before he kissed the same spot, and twirled his tongue on a sensitive piece of flesh. Hermione's giggles soon turned into moans, after Ron helped her out of her dress, and all the fabric that stood between them. (If _you know what I mean._)

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At 1am, Krys still couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned for the whole three hours that she'd been in bed. After she realized that she couldn't take it, and she wouldn't be getting any sleep, she got up and went into Jamie's room. She walked to his bed, and checked if he was still breathing, although it was heavily obvious by the way he was snoring. For a moment, she watched the rhythmic movements of his chest, as he sucked his thumb, then she covered him correctly with his comforter. Krys sighed, then went into Angel's room. Angel was sleeping. As she exhaled, she made a slight humming noise. Krys caught herself before she laughed, then she watched Angel breathe peacefully. Krys crept out of the room, then silently walked into Thai's room. Thai was sitting in her chair, watching TV on her new Plasma flat screen. Krys looked at her and waved. Thai looked at Krys with a worried expression on her face.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asked. Krys chuckled and walked in some more.

"I have a big day tomorrow." she said.

"What do you have to do?"

"I have to find a way to give Ares money, without '_giving_' it to him. I have to buy you some new clothes. I have to buy Angel some new clothes. I have to buy Jamie some new clothes. And I have to buy some new clothes. Plus- I have to-…" Krys stopped talking, and started to sniff. Thai looked at her.

"What do you smell?" she asked. Krys put her finger up.

"Stay here." she said. Thai looked at her, and Krys shook her head. "Really… if you don't… _I'll_ kill you." Thai nodded.

"Okay." she said. Krys nodded, then started to mutter some old ancient words. Around Thai, a red glow appeared. Krys then snapped her finger, and everything, including the TV froze. All of a sudden, Harry appeared in the room. He was looking at Krys seriously.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"He's here."

"So- why'd you freeze everyone?"

"He can't kill them if they're already dead."

"Who'd you freeze?"

"Everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Everyone."

"Why?" Harry said, before Krys led him outside. She shushed him and walked outside the gate of her house. They stood in the middle of the street.

"You can't kill what's already dead. The entire planet is in a _cryonic_ time freeze. Everyone except for us. We're not rotating either. No time is going by, Prongs. Everyone except for us is getting an extra few moments rest. Everyone except for us, is dead until we say so. _Everyone is in a cryonic freeze except for you and me._"

"And me." said the voice behind them. Neither Krys or Harry had to turn around to recognize the pathetic voice of Peter Pettigrew.

People, I want 60 reviews by tonight, or the story gets it. Plus- I realize that I've really just been ranting too much about Krys, so she and Ares' relationship is on pause, until everyone spends a day with Ron and Hermione. I'm also contemplating whether or not I should cut them out completely, due to some of teh reviews that I'm getting.


	10. Dangerous Door to the Past

Without a word or hesitation, Harry and Krys both whipped around, before straight white light came out of both their hands. They walked up to him, and stood about a foot or two from his body. Krys looked at Harry the same time he looked at her. Pettigrew's wand was on the floor. Krys summonsed it, and handed it to Harry. Then she handed him her wand.

"What are you about to do?" Harry asked her.

"Oh- you want the honors?" Krys asked him. He gave her a questioning look. "We're gonna fight him first… then duel… then kill him. Possibly."

"You want to fist fight Pettigrew?" Harry asked her. Krys nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Okay."

"You wanna go? I always wanted to see you fight." Krys said. Harry laughed.

"I'd much rather watch you hurt him." he said. "I've seen you get in the zone." Krys laughed, and walked up to Pettigrew, and without a word, kicked him in the mouth. Pettigrew gave a squeaking whimper, as he lied on his back. Krys didn't waste time, when she picked him up roughly. Without warning of her intended brutality, she pushed him face first into the pavement. So hard, that Harry heard a cracking sound. "Jesus, Padfoot. Let him go. Let him go." Krys looked at Harry, and rolled her eyes.

"You're so soft." she said.

"Because I have a conscience?" Harry asked.

"No, because this man is one of the reasons that we had shitty lives, up until a few years ago." Krys took a deep breath. "Look, you're not soft. I love you."

"Yeah, I love you too. Lets just take him to the auror department… let them do whatever they want with him." Harry said, before Krys overturned Pettigrew. His face had the concrete imprint, except for his nose, which looked utterly destroyed. His teeth were bared, and he gave a psychotic sardonic chuckle.

"Do you want to know what your mother's last words were before she died?" he said, as Krys _was about_ to heal his nose. Krys looked up at Harry.

"What?" they asked in unison. Pettigrew laughed.

"_Take me instead_. It was so pathetic. All of them. The same thing with your grandmother." he spat at Krys. "Just before I killed her, she asked that your mum be left alone. But the only reason that your mother lived past that night, was because she was smart enough to be a coward and run to your worthless fathers. You wouldn't've been born, if I wasn't nice enough to _let_ her live." Krys stood up and ran her hand through her hair.

"What about him?" she asked, as she gestured towards Harry. Pettigrew laughed.

"Your mother was really friendly when she was just like me." he said. "But as soon as she lost a few pounds, she turned into a bitch, just like every other woman. Flouncing around with her short skirts, like a tease. Your father was a fool to jump through hoops, for a quick shag and a failure of a child." Krys looked at Harry, and exhaled loudly. She moved so that she was standing over Pettigrew. All of a sudden, she fell on one knee, and Harry heard Pettigrew cry out in pain. He looked at what she had done, which was put all of her weight on Pettigrew's groin. Harry winced at the thought. Krys then grabbed Pettigrew up by his balding hair, and snapped. Harry smiled when a pair of nunchackus appeared in her hand. He was completely surprised, and angered when Pettigrew backslapped Krys. Harry recovered when he saw that Krys wasn't affected by the slap. It seemed to just motivate her. She whipped the nunchackus so that they landed around the back of Pettigrew's neck, and she caught the other side with her hand. She pulled him down with force onto her knee. Harry heard the same cracking sound again. Instead of letting up on him again, she started to choke him with the nunchackus. A few seconds after Pettigrew started to turn purple, Krys threw him to the floor, while still holding the nunchackus. Harry wasn't at all surprised when she started to drag him around by the nunchackus. Krys looked at Pettigrew, and jabbed him in the face a few times, while he lied on the floor, trying the cover his face. She finally sighed, and got off of him.

"I feel better." she said. "Your turn." Harry looked at her. "Actually no… he'll go for the killer as soon as he gets the wand. I recommend the Blood Curdle."

"No! No! Please, _Baby Padsy Prongsie_- I-I-I-I was good to you! I bought you your first- I was there when you were born!" Pettigrew pleaded. "I-I'll do anything. Anything that you want." Krys smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Two things. I'll let you live if you can give me a good reason. A good reason why you ruined our lives." she said. Pettigrew whimpered.

"They rejected me. I got all dressed up and asked her to be my girlfriend. She hugged me, and told me to sod off, by saying that I was like her brother… then the next day, I saw her hugging that toerag, Black. I knew then that I had to get both of them. Then- a year later, I asked her bitch of a friend out on Halloween… she said the same thing, then I found her and Potter snogging." he said. "I knew then that I'd do anything to get back at them. And when Severus told me to join the Dark Lords group- I knew that I'd finally be treated fairly in a family. I told them everything that they needed to know. I planned all of the days like clockwork. Your father was supposed to go into hiding once Lily and James were settled in well enough, and I held him off so that they died before he could get to either house on time. I didn't even feel bad when she told me that she was pregnant again, earlier in the day."

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Your bitch of a mother." Peter said to Harry, with a sick and twisted smile on his face.

"Okay." Krys said, as she stood on the tips of her toes, and slung her arm around Harry's shoulder. "One more thing."

"Anything, oh gracious ones."

"Padfoot, don't take mercy on him." Harry said. Krys shook her head, and looked at Pettigrew.

"I won't kill you, I promise." she said. Pettigrew smiled, and bared his teeth. Harry looked at Krys.

"Fine, I'll kill him." Harry said, as he whipped out his wand. Krys pulled it away from him.

"Harry- I made him a promise." she said.

"I didn't." Harry said.

"Well- I made him a promise." Krys said, as she turned to Pettigrew. "But- what's funny is that, my promise wasn't as binding as his promise was to our parents was, is it Prongsie?" Harry smiled at her.

"No, its not, Padfoot." he said.

"So- I could just take it back, and let his little rat babies suffer, because I'm an ugly son of a bitch, and I wasn't the best option for a girlfriend! I _could_ kill him, because he won't date me, right Prongs!" Krys yelled.

"I'll date you! I will!" Pettigrew yelled. Krys looked at him.

"I don't want you. I want out parents back." she said.

"I'll give that to you. All I need is some time. Some time to think- and-and to invent." Pettigrew said.

"You'll have plenty of that." Krys said. "You'll have all of the time you need… in hell." She stood up, and without another word, she yelled, "Lethere Deludere!" while Harry yelled,

"Clautus Blod!" All of a sudden, Pettigrew's body rose in the air, and started to spasm. Bits of broken bones tore through his skin, as he squeaked and screamed shrilly. While the bits of bone went through his skin, he started to swell, and blood clots started to push through his pores. His blood started to drip down his whole body, as his bones sliced through his skin. Finally, Krys and Harry shouted a silencing charm. His screams were inaudible to them. Krys looked at Harry.

"Do you feel bad?" Krys asked him. Harry inhaled.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Not worth a damn. Is that horrible?"

"If so… then we can be horrible together. Because I don't care either." Krys smiled, and Harry hugged her.

"Wasn't he dead?" Krys asked.

"He was the only one who escaped. He turned into a rat again."

"Prongs… do you think the house is safe?" Harry nodded.

"We all _really_ knew that he was still alive and hiding." he said. "Only three people can open and close the cryonic freeze. And the only one who would be in any real danger is the one who's frozen. You… we can do a danger scan if you want. We can do a scan on the entire world, if you want." Krys nodded.

"I really think we should. I mean… now there are more people involved in it. And… I can't have anyone's blood on my conscience. Especially if its because of my beef with someone psychotic." Harry nodded, and held Krys' hands. After a moment… a paper appeared in their hands. They looked at it. The paper was a world map. A bunch of white dots stood still on the paper. "People we know… people with ties." Krys said. All the people with any connections to she or Harry and anyone they know, were the only dots that appeared on the map next. Over a thousand red dots showed up. "Dark magic danger?" Harry and Krys watched as the map scanned over each continent and blinked a 'no' on the map.

"Everyone else?" Harry said. The map scanned over the rest of the people. After about forty minutes of quarter millisecond scans, Krys and Harry were done with it, and the map disappeared. Krys and Harry touched Pettigrew's lifeless body, and apparated it to Europe's ministry auror department, where a bunch of frozen aurors stood. They dumped him on the floor, then disapparated, back to Krys' house. Krys looked at Harry.

"You wanna go get Gin, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley's, Jason, A.J, Dread-Head, Razzie and Mrs. Delgado, then bring them here?" she asked. Harry laughed.

"Padfoot, they're all okay. Remember, the danger scan is the second most powerful magic in the world. We're the first. Remember when we learned how to do it?" he asked. Krys nodded. "Created by Merlin himself, and only passed on to kindred spirit twins. Only able to use it when they'll use it for good. It is a giant Marauders map of good. Padfoot everyone is fine."

"I know. I just- I don't feel safe. I feel safer when I'm alone. Because the-"

"You don't hold anyone else's life in your hand. That's why having a relationship is so damn hard." Harry said. Krys nodded, as they walked into the house.

"Oh God- I have to brush my teeth. I was so stuck on checking on people, that I didn't even do my usual routine."

"We were talking about you yesterday. And your obsessive compulsive teeth brushing came up. Emily wanted to know why you always brush your teeth as soon as you get up."

"Tell her, its because I'm scared shitless of my dentist. And because of how my breath starts to smell after a while."

"You do know what your breath smells like as soon as you get up, right?" Krys nodded. "Cause when you snore… we tried to close your nose, and you started to breathe through your mouth."

"Yeah. I hate that smell. It smells like-"

"Cake and vanilla. According to Ares, and his thoughtless story. But- in reality, it smells like… breathe." Krys rolled her eyes. "Breathe." Krys breathed up to Harry's nose. "Padfoot, _nice_. It smells like vanilla and raspberry cake. Ares was right. He really _does_ love you, you know?"

"Prongs, what's with your need for me and Ares to be together?"

"I like him. I'm never gonna like another bloke that you bring in the house, so get used to it."

"Prongs… its not gonna happen with me and Ares, again. He has someone else."

"Why don't you just tell him?" Harry suggested. Krys looked at him for a minute before she nodded. Harry looked at her. "You're serious?" Krys nodded.

"Yeah. He should still be up. Lets go. I'll go tell him and you wait outside the door."

"We don't have to keep the secret anymore?" Harry asked ecstatically. Krys looked at him.

"I guess not." she said, as they started to walk to Ares' room on the third floor. When they were on the stairs, Harry looked at Krys.

"I really had no idea what you were gonna do, when you said you'd let Pettigrew live." he said. Krys rolled her eyes in a playful way.

"Prongs… even if it was just your parents, I would've killed him for you. We're in this together." she said, as they got to the third floor. Krys stood in front of his door for a minute, before she knocked.

"Just a minute." called a muffled voice. The door was opened by Emily in a silky lace nightgown. She looked at Krys. "Oh. Its you." Krys nodded. "So, what do you want?"

"Oh, I'm sorry to wake you."

"You didn't." Emily said, with a devilish smirk on her face. "Ares and I were just-"

"Wonderful." Krys said. "Um- I didn't mean to interrupt as you two rolled around in bed fornicating, and waiting for your eternal damnation. But the silent alarm went off, and I was wondering if you guys were alright. Oh- and there are some condoms in the top drawer of the nightstand… I wouldn't want you two to burn in hell for having a demon spawn… with your nose. Good night." Emily slammed the door in Krys' face, and Krys glared at Harry, who was laughing. Krys looked at him, then couldn't help but laugh as lightening and thunder struck. "Thank you, Prongs, for your wonderful advice. _They_'re doing it, in _our_ bed." Harry got a disgusted look on his face.

"I don't want to hear about you and Ares doing _it_. Or _she_ and Ares doing it, for that matter."

"Oh just like when I spend the night at your place, I don't want to _hear_ you and Ginny doing it."

"You can hear us?" Harry asked in a panic, before they checked in Angel's room. Angel was breathing just as before. "She's just like you were."

"Raised by the same people." Krys said. 

"No- to an extreme amount. Me and Gin were playing with her in the park scene, and she actually pulled out a book to read on the swings." Krys smiled, before they walked into Jamie's room. He was still snoring. Krys looked at him, and laughed. He was hugging the plush car that she got him. They left his room, and walked into Thai's room. She was reading a magic book.

"What's going on, Red?" Krys and Harry asked in unison.

"Nothing, Ravens." Thai responded.

"Okay- now why haven't you gotten me a TV, Padfoot?" Harry asked, as he and Krys sat down. Krys laughed.

"Because you don't deserve it." she said.

"And your devil clone does?" Harry commented.

"Yes, I do." Thai said. Harry looked at her.

"I'll ask you to refrain from flirting with the Prongsie, Ta-Thai." Krys said. Thai looked at her.

"Krys, SAT prep for you. Harry is to Thai, as Jason is to Krys." she said.

"She's just bitter 'cause Emily and Ares are doing it… in their bed." Harry said. Thai looked at Harry with wide eyes, and shuddered. "Well- as much as I'd love to stay… I have to get back to protect Gin."

"Or you could bring her back here and set her in my bed." Krys suggested. Harry nodded, then disapparated. Krys looked at Thai. "Hon bun, here's my wand. I'm gonna get Bon-Bon. I'll be back in a minute." Krys handed Thai her wand, then disapparated. When she got to she and Hermione's apartment, she sat down on a stool at the counter for a minute. She waved her hand, and Captain Crunch whizzed through the air, and placed itself in a bowl for her. The shower was running. A second later, she heard voices. Krys stood silent for a minute, before she started to sniff. Hermione walked into the kitchen with a robe on, then behind her walked Ron. As soon as they saw Krys, their eyes widened. "**Oh my God**." she murmured in Spanish.

Dear Readers... Review. If I dont hit Sixty reviews, I will only focus on my other stories. Okay- we all know that I'm lying. This story sis my baby. I'm sorry for those of you who're reading When It Happens... I told some things. But- its always better to find out details of certain things. I still want 60 reviews. And for all of those who are reviewing... I love you guys.


	11. Morning Before the Night to Disneyland

"Krys…" Hermione started.

"**Oh my God**." Krys kept repeating in Spanish.

"Good morning." Ron tried. Krys looked up at him, then at his robe. Krys looked at Hermione, then back at Ron.

"You guys have been doing _it_?" she asked. Hermione nodded guiltily. "**Oh my God**."

"I'm so sor-" Hermione started.

"How _long_?"

"Only two days." Hermione said.

"Forty eight hours?!" Krys yelled. Hermione nodded. "And you didn't tell me? Bon-bon, Dude! You don't keep shit like that to yourself!!"

"I'm sorry." Krys held her hand up. "You're not mad, are you?" Krys looked at her.

"How the hell can you ask that? You made me think that I was neglecting you… little did I know you were having a good time while I was away. _And_ _you_ were _getting some_."

"Krys-"

"Dude. You're no longer a virgin. You- you guys didn't do it on my bed, did you?" Hermione shook her head.

"Krys, I'm so sorry."

"Why?" Krys asked.

"Well- you're mad that I didn't tel-"

"No, I'm not." Krys said. "Ok, I'm a bit miffed, but _Dude_! **Oh shit- you and Ron, oh my God. Wow- what's been going on? You guy have been- you and Red.** You and Ron? You owe me big time money. I said he'd crack."

"He kissed me, the day in your pool."

"Now I'm pissed." Krys said. "So you guys have been keeping the option open for three days." Hermione didn't say anything. "Just- we gotta go to my house."

"Why?" Ron asked. Krys shook her head, and snapped. They were dressed. Krys and Hermione disapparated, then Ron disapparated a minute after them. Thai was sitting on her bed reading. She looked at Hermione and waved slightly.

"Hey. I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"I'm good." she said.

"So- I've been reading, and… what my mommy said was helpful. The night before you turned back… was anything pissing you off slightly? Di-"

"What are you talking about '_turned back_'?" Ron asked. Thai looked at him.

"The other day, Krys was three years old." she said. Hermione looked at Thai, Ron, then Krys.

"Subconscious spell?" she asked. Krys nodded.

"And it was caused by your vulnerability and lack of answers, due to the fact that Ares' wedding is so close. Its because you have no idea how this is going to turn out. And that hasn't happened to your for a while. You haven't been without an answer since you were a child." Thai said.

"What are you talking about?" Krys asked. "If Ares wants to do a big nosed French slut in _our bed_, so be it. If he wants his thirteen seconds of pleasure in exchange of a lifetime in _hell_, so be it."

"Didn't you guys do it, before you were married?" Thai asked. Krys looked at her. "Sorry."

"Anyway… I'm not mad that he's getting married. If he wants to burn in hell, its his decision."

"You're just mad because they're doing it in your bed." Hermione teased. Krys looked at her.

"Well I just hope they-" Krys started. Ron and Hermione both looked at her.

"Don't _even_ start." Hermione warned.

"Ooh- I'm shaking in my Grinch's." Krys said, as she made her knees wobble. Hermione gave her the finger. "Feisty." Thai was looking at them. Finally, she looked at Hermione, then Ron, then she stared at Krys. They all looked at Thai, who had her eyes squinted, and was looking at Hermione's neck. Krys looked at Hermione's neck, and her eyes widened.

"Hermione… you have a very noticeable red mark on your neck." Thai said. "Now- it can either be a hickey… or it can be the mark that most women get when they… you know… _reach_ their _point_. But… its not my business. I just-"

"Don't tell anyone, please." Ron said. Thai looked at him and her eyes widened.

"See- I didn't even piece _that_ part together yet. Whoa… wow." she said. Then she looked at Krys. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"I found out five minutes ago." Krys said. They all looked at each other.

"Dude- this is fire." Thai said. Krys nodded, then looked around. All of a sudden, Harry appeared in the middle of the room, with a sleeping Ginny. Thai moved over, and moved her comforter. Harry set Ginny down on the bed, then sat down. Harry looked at all of them, before he laughed.

"I can't believe they were doing it." he said. Hermione and Ron's eyes widened.

"Harry, okay- so now you know that Ron and I have been seeing each other secretly. Just… don't tell anyone." Hermione said. Harry looked at her, his eyes were wide.

"You guys are-?"

"You didn't know?" Ron asked.

"He was talking about Emily and Ares." Thai said, as she skimmed through the rest of her book. Hermione hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"How have you guys been hiding this for two days? Especially with the way you crack under pressure?" Krys said.

"We haven't been speaking to the rest of you." Hermione said. Krys sighed.

"Well- your asses better learn how to stay calm, unless you're planning on telling people." she said. "Because, we're about to embark on a trip with everyone. And we'll be in the car for a long time… cause Angel and Jamie have to use the bathroom every ten minutes. So- rest stops." Hermione and Ron looked at her. "See- _you've_ been neglecting _me_. And you've been getting some."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"We're going to Disneyland tomorrow." Krys said.

"I didn't agree to that."

"It _wasn't_ an option." Krys said dangerously.

"Hermione, are you gonna let her talk to me like that?" Ron asked, as he hid behind her. Krys and Hermione looked at each other.

"Have you been sleeping?" Hermione asked her. Krys shook her head. "Sorry Ron, you're on your own. If she doesn't sleep, she has no contrition, whatsoever. She's scary. I'll get her back when she's well-rested." They all laughed silently.

"Padfoot, you really should go to sleep." Harry said. Krys looked at him, and shook her head.

"I can't sleep, anyway, Prongs." she said.

"The only reason you couldn't sleep was because Wormtail was bac-"

"What?" Ron, Hermione and Thai yelled in hushed tones.

"We took care of him." Harry said. "Or… Padfoot took care of him. Padsy, you should really go to sleep."

"No, I'm fine." Krys said, as she sat in Thai's chair. "I'm just- I'm good."

"Okay. Lets look at your day. You woke up from your subconscious spell. Got Jamie and Angel. Did your laundry. Got your private life publicly exposed to the country. Got into a car accident, caused by a tornado twister. Got drunk on a relaxation potion. Almost told Ares why you broke up with him. Sobered up. Cursed out a sales rep in the Apple store. Got a date. Bought a TV. Bought a massage chair. Had a conversation with an old bloke. Went on a date. Saved Thai from fraternity boys?!" Thai shrugged, and signaled that he get over it. "1, 2 skip a few. Beat the shit out of and killed Peter Pettigrew, after him having told us why he killed our parents. And… I don't think I've seen you take your injection in your memories, or on my Krys cam, once. And… I don't think I saw you eat any cake, or take any pills. So…" Harry trailed on, looking at Krys, who was now curled up in Thai's La-Z boy. They all looked at her, as she made the small purring noise that she made when she slept. Harry and the others laughed, as she did this. "You gonna lift her?" he asked Ron. Ron shrugged, and picked her up, then put her in the bed, next to Ginny. They all stared, as Ginny turned to Krys and they started to cuddle up to each other. Krys in her Grinch pajamas, and Ginny in a big t-shirt and boxers.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Ron asked Thai. She looked at him, then at her bed. "Yeah- its big enough for all four of you guys, and then some." Thai rolled her eyes, and lied next to Krys. She crossed her legs as she lied down.

"Are you happy?" she asked him.

"You should be asleep by now." Harry said. Thai rolled her eyes.

"Leave Ta-Thai alone. I remember when we were sixteen. We were worse." Hermione said, as she lied down next to Ginny, after drinking a slow simple sleeping drought that Harry handed her. "Shouldn't you guys be getting Jason and A.J?" Harry and Ron nodded, before they disapparated. Hermione looked at Thai.

"Isn't it a bit risky to pop into A.J and Jason's room unannounced?" Thai asked. Hermione laughed slightly.

"Well- remember that Jason and Harry are roommates. So- he wouldn't exactly be barging into the room. He'll know to knock."

"I thought that Jason and A.J lived together."

"They do, when they want to." Thai laughed.

"So basically, the parents think that A.J is living with Gin, and that Harry is living with Jason." she said. Hermione nodded.

"Yup." she said, before Harry, Ron and Jason appeared with an out cold A.J. Hermione got up, and Jason put A.J next to Gin. Hermione lied down next to A.J. Jason was looking at them questioningly.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked.

"Well, Hermione and I are seeing each other secretly. You're bound to find out sooner or later." Ron said. Jason looked at him, then Hermione and smiled, while nodding.

"Pettigrew came back. He was outside the house." Harry said.

"Then why are we all _here_?" Jason asked.

"So that we're all together, and able to fight anything that comes."

"So- why is our cruel captain sleeping?"

"Because, she can catch him any way. She _just_ went to sleep." Harry said. "Me- I wake up from my dreams. Padfoot's senses are heightened when she sleeps. And she can live and kill in her dreams"

"Really?" Ron asked.

"Yeah… don't mess with her while she sleeps. Its like- she can connect her mind with anyone's while she sleeps, living temporarily through them." Harry said.

"_Really_?" Jason asked.

"She's been mastering it since she was younger. That's how she fought the war in seventh year." Hermione looked at him.

"She was the little old lady?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"I thought that she was just an excess voice, but- she was fighting through the old lady. But that's something different. If it isn't serious, and its near her, she can do about anything with her mind. So- because Pettigrew wasn't a threat regardless, she could've killed him while she slept, but she _wanted_ to hurt him."

"Yeah… I remember once… we spent the weekend together during Christmas break. We went to that beach house. Well- she was sleeping one day, and it was me, Angie and Jamie. Well- Jamie was walking, and almost fell down the stairs. And- he was about to hit the first step, when he stopped in midair. Or the time when I almost stabbed myself in the middle of the night, when I was sleepwalking. A knife almost stabbed through my hand. The point touched me, but it didn't penetrate. It just stood on its point, in the middle of my hand. Light as hell." Thai said. They were all looking at her.

"Accident prone." Jason teased. "What the hell were _you_ doing while Jamie almost fell down stairs?"

"Stop. I felt bad enough." Thai said. "But- a lot of little things like that."

"The same thing happened to me once. I was in the apartment, and… it was the middle of the night. And, it was dark. The lights turned on automatically, and a mousetrap was hovering in the air. I think it was gonna snap my toe." Hermione said.

"Accident prone." Harry said. Hermione looked at him. "You should've heard what Padfoot said to Emily, when she found out that they were doing _it_ in _the_ room."

"What?" Jason, Hermione, Thai and Ron asked simultaneously.

"It was so funny." Harry said. "She said that…" Harry put together his best Krys impression and cleared his throat. He did her surprised facial expressions, and put her slang prone, yet educated attitude into her voice. "_I didn't mean to interrupt as you two rolled around in bed fornicating, and waiting for your eternal damnation. But the silent alarm went off, and I was wondering if you guys were alright. Oh- and there are some condoms in the top drawer of the nightstand… I wouldn't want you two to burn in hell for having a demon spawn… with your nose. Good night._" They all held their chuckles in.

"That sounds just like her." Jason said. They all nodded. "Guys, what happens if Ares really does choose Emily? And Krys isn't gonna tell him now… especially if she thinks he's really in love with Emily."

"But… he and Krys really have a better relationship than… anyone. They can not talk for two years and pick up exactly where they left off on their friendship." Thai said. They all looked at her.

"You don't get to talk about Krys' or anyone else's relationship." Jason said to her. "You're a punk." Thai looked at him and raised her eyebrow.

"I'm not a punk. And from what I heard, A.J told _you_ how _she_ felt. You were willing to stand back. So- we're in the same boat." she retorted. They all looked at Jason for a reply, but he was pouting.

"I have no idea what to say to that." he said.

"Victor, Krystathaili." Thai announced.

"Well- Krystathaili, go to sleep." Jason said.

"Where are you guys sleeping?" Hermione asked.

"Um- in our rooms." Harry said.

"You guys have rooms here?"

"Yeah. Padfoot has a room in my house, too." Harry said. "Night." Then, Harry and Jason left. Ron stood behind, and looked at Hermione. Thai looked at them, and rolled her eyes.

"I'm leaving,I'm leaving." she said. "You can have your little sappy, fluffy, cutesy goodnights." Thai hopped off of her bed, and walked out of the room. Ron looked at Hermione shyly.

"Yeah- there's really no reason to be shy anymore, considering we've seen… _every_ part of each other." Hermione said. Ron gave her a lopsided grin, and walked closer to where she was laying.

"Ah- _that's_ why I love you." Hermione smiled shyly. "See- there's really no reason to be shy, 'cause we've seen every part of each other." Ron mocked lovingly.

"And that's _far_ from the reason that I love you." Ron pecked Hermione on the lips. "That's closer." Ron kissed her again. This time the kiss was a bit longer. "Closer." Ron kissed her again. This kiss was open mouth. Ron nipped at Hermione's top lip, while cradling her face tenderly. Ron pulled back, and looked at her questioningly. "Closer." Ron nipped at Hermione's top lip, then her bottom lip. But instead of moving and alternating, he continued on her bottom lip. When Ron pulled back, he would've went back to Hermione's lips immediately. "If we get any closer, we'll wake the others up. Dammit." she said, before she kissed his cheek.

"So- the point of the game was to get me very, very happy- then to leave me… far from hanging." Ron said, after he looked down. Hermione's eyes widened, then she wore a devilish smirk.

"I'll see you later." she said, as she purposely exposed part of her black bra. Ron nodded, then walked closer to her. He wet his lips, then kissed from her collarbone, to her earlobe. "Stop." she moaned slightly. Ron pulled back. "Why'd you stop?"

"You told me to." Ron said. He moved forward, and kissed her lips again. When he was going to pull back, Hermione pulled his face back to hers. Ron pulled back. "Cute." Ron touched the tip of Hermione's nose, with his index finger and smiled. Hermione blushed slightly. "Even cuter."

"You need to stop, and go to sleep. I just took a sleeping drought a few minutes ago." Hermione said. Ron nodded, and kissed her cheek, before she handed him a vial. Hermione blew him a kiss, before he walked out the door. Ron caught it, and put it on his cheek. Hermione giggled lightly, then pointed to her eye, her heart, then Ron. Ron did the same.

"I love you too." he said, before he walked back to her, and kissed her forehead.

"I love you." Hermione said, before Ron turned off the light.

"I love you." Ron said finally, before he closed the door. Hermione gave a small sigh before she noticed that the lights were back on, and Thai walked into the room.

"You guys need help." Thai said. Hermione smiled. "So how does it feel?"

"What, being with Ron?"

"Yeah. Is it everything that you thought it'd be. How was it when he told you that he loved you?"

"Um… well- he told me in seventh year. He yelled it out to a room of Gryffindor at a party. I went crazy."

"Kewl." Thai said, before Hermione turned the lights off.

"So- what's going on with you and Sexy Seventeen year old Godsend?" Thai gave a very faint, light chuckle.

"Nothing. He has his girlfriend… and I have a _huge_ collection of gorgeous- very smart- very sexy twenty year old men, that think of me as their little Krystathaili." Thai said. "The worst part is… I don't know what to do with, or about him."

"Well- do what Krys does." Hermione said. "I mean- there was a reason that Ares would've- _will_ jump through flaming hoops for her. It takes a lot more than being smart and cute. Its that thing that you do. You have to… I'll ask Krys to explain it to you tomorrow. She does this thing with guys… where she lightly flirts in a mean way. Its what I used on Red." Thai gave a very light chuckle. "We'll talk before the trip. Tomorrows Krys' preparation day. Night, Mahogany."

"Night, Caramel."

**I was 65 reviews people. If I dont get them... the stories'll get it. How id you like the Ron/Hermione banter? Was it cute? I hoped it would be cute. I hope its cute. Tell me if it wasnt cute... I'll try and make it cuter.**


	12. How an Ex SHOULD Act

Later that morning, when the sun was finally up, the guys woke up and they all smelled food. After all having lived with Krys for a period of time, they'd all grown accustomed to following the same morning routine as her. Before they went downstairs, they all took quick showers, and brushed their teeth. When they got downstairs, Emily was cooking in the kitchen. Ares wasn't there yet. Harry, Ron and Jason sat at the counter, and watched Emily try to cook in Krys' kitchen.

"Morning." Jason said. Emily looked at him and nodded briskly. "And you wonder why I don't like her." Harry and Ron laughed, and Harry snapped. Three bowls set themselves in front of them. Jason reached forward for the Peanut butter Crunch and started to pour it into his bowl. Harry, Ron and Jason were almost done, when Ares walked down the stairs. He looked at Emily questioningly, then at Jason, Ron and Harry. Ares walked to Emily.

"Good morning, Darling." she said, before she kissed him. Ares pulled back and smiled. He sat down at the counter next to the others and looked at them.

"What the hell is she still doing here?" he asked in a low whisper. They all looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"I fell asleep before she left. I _did_ play six rounds of basketball against Jason and A.J." Ares said. "I was sleepy."

"Well, you're assed out, because Krys thinks you guys did _it_ in _the_ bed." Jason said. Ares looked at Emily, who got a plate and set it down in front of him. She dumped runny uncooked eggs on the plate, and burnt bacon, then went back to the pot. Ares looked at it. "Better not eat that."

"Why not?" Ron asked. "Other than the fact that its… _scary_."

"You know how Padfoot is about pork." Harry said. Ron's eyes widened, and he nodded.

"Yeah- because of her, mum stopped cooking pork. And she says that I can't eat it anymore." he said. Emily came back over to them, and dumped beyond burned toast on Ares' plate. Emily sat down across from Ares, with a water and a mug in her hand.

"So honey, I want to talk to you." she said. Ares looked up at her, after the shock wore off from the look of the food.

"What about?" he asked.

"Well, why aren't you eating it?" Ares looked at it.

"Oh- honey, I… I'm feeling a little sick." he said, holding his stomach. Emily looked at him.

"Oh." she said.

"So- what do you want to talk to me about?"

"Well… I was thinking about the song. The first song that we'll dance to as husband and wife."

"And…"

"I was thinking about Celine Dion's 'Because You Loved Me'. Kay knows this muggleborn who comes to the shop. and told me about that song… and- I want that for our first dance." Ares nodded.

"Okay." he said.

"Okay- well, we have to go find bridesmaid's dresses. We're going to Paris." Emily said. Ares nodded. "Well- I need at least two thousand muggle American dollars to buy the dresses and shoes." Ares was about to say something, when Krys, Angel and Jamie walked downstairs. Krys had a fitted cap on her head. They couldn't see her hair. She was wearing black baggy jeans, with Sylvester on them, and a matching t-shirt. Over the t-shirt she wore an open, oversized hoodie with Sylvester on it. On her feet were black Adidas, spray painted with Sylvester. Her fitted cap was a black on black Yankee fitted, with Sylvester spray painted on it. Angel was wearing a Spongebob shirt, and little black slacks. On her feet were yellow and white on black uptowns. Her hair was in high auburn pigtails, with yellow, black, and white ball barrettes at the top of each pigtail. James was wearing a tan Pepe t-shirt, with baggy light blue pants with a matching tan label patches. On his feet were tan Tims. Angel and Jamie walked straight to Ares, Jason and Harry. Jason picked Angel up, and sat her on his lap. James got picked up by Harry, and placed in his booster seat. Krys didn't talk to any of them. She walked straight to a cabinet, and got three bowls. She tossed them towards the boys, and they all landed gracefully on the counter in front of Jamie and Angel, and one across from Harry. She went to a drawer, and tossed two spoons that way also. The spoons did the same thing as the bowls. Krys walked to the refrigerator and got the milk. Continuing with her silence, she walked to the counter, and set the milk down. Then, she walked to another cabinet, and pulled out three different cereal boxes, and walked back to the counter. She poured Fruit loops in the bowl in front of Jamie, and Cocoa Pebbles in Angel's bowl. In the bowl across from Harry, she poured Captain Crunch in it. Krys waved her wand and all of the boxes of cereal disappeared. The milk poured itself into Angel and Jamie's bowls, then disappeared. As soon as the process was done, Jamie and Angel started to eat their cereal. Krys kept her cereal dry, and started to toss it in the air, and catch it in her mouth.

"Good morning, Krystathaili Andromeda." Harry teased. Krys looked at him.

"What's good about it?" she asked grumpily, before she threw another piece of cereal in the air, and caught it in her mouth. When she threw and caught three consecutive pieces, she stopped, and looked at Jamie. "Little boy, if you mess up that shirt- I'll hang you upside down and shake you." James pouted, and stuck his tongue out at her. Krys blew a kiss at him.

"Honey, I need an answer about the bridesmaid dresses." Emily said, as she looked at Krys in disgust. Krys raised her eyebrow at Emily.

"What _is_ that?" Krys asked, as she pointed at Ares' plate of '_food_'.

"I cooked my fiancé breakfast. Do you have a problem with that?" Emily asked. Krys looked at Emily, then back at the plate.

"If you can call it _cooked_." she said. "What the _hell_ is that supposed to be? Is that- is that _bacon_?" No one said anything. Krys looked around, but didn't press the subject. "Whatever." She looked at Angel, who was looking between her and Ares with big doe-eyes. Krys laughed, and blew her a kiss. Angel giggled, and continued to eat her cereal. Krys threw ten consecutive pieces of cereal in the air, and caught each of them.

"How do you _always_ catch it?" Jason asked. Krys laughed.

"It is a skill." she said.

"Remember when we used to place bets on how many you could do before you finally dropped it?" Krys laughed.

"And I won you big money." she said, before she tossed a consecutive twenty pieces up, and caught them all, one after the other. When she was done, they were all looking at her. "So- James, Angelica… what do you two want to do today?"

"I don't know." Angel said. "What about you, Krys?"

"Well- I have to do something- so, I'll be gone for the morning. But- I'll be back at about… 3:30. So- are we going to go to Toys R Us?" James nodded, and Angel did too. Krys looked at Angel, and put on her best surfer dude Crush voice. "Offspring, Jelly man. Jelly man, Offspring. Dude."

"Dude." Angel said. Jason, Ron, Harry and Ares laughed. Angel already had a voice like Squirt. Krys stuck her hand out.

"Gimme some fin." she said. Angel gave her five. "Sweet."

"Sweet." Angel said. Krys laughed. "Krys, what's the surprise?"

"Okay- so… um- I'm not gonna tell you, but- I love you." Krys said. Angel pouted and Krys looked at her. "Put the lip away." Angel crossed her arms, and stuck her lip out farther. It took almost everything Krys had, not to crack. "Away."

"Padfoot, tell her." Harry said. He was looking at Angel.

"Yeah, Krys, have a heart and tell her." Ron said. Krys laughed.

"You're both weak." she said.

"She's _cute_." Jason said.

"Yeah Krys, just tell her." Ares said. Krys shook her head.

"You're all weak." she said. Angel huffed and stuck her tongue out at Krys. Krys stuck her tongue out too. "I can do it too." Angel giggled.

"So- little girl… when is your birthday?" Emily asked her. Angel looked at Krys, before she answered Emily.

"My birthday is the 22nd of April." Angel said.

"Ah- I'm a Taurus too." Jason said.

"When's your birthday?" Angel asked.

"April 8th." Angel looked thoughtful for a minute.

"Oh- no, you're not, Jason. Ares is a Taurus, and so is Angel. You're an Aries." Krys said.

"Really?" Jason asked. "See- you're lucky that I don't believe in horoscopes, otherwise whoever told me I was a Taurus, would've been in trouble." Krys threw a piece of Captain Crunch at him.

"Shut up." she said.

"I don't like you." Jason said. Krys shrugged.

"I don't care about being liked." she said.

"What about me? I like you." Angel said. Krys looked at her, and smiled.

"Good, because I don't care about being liked by anyone, _but_ Angel, Jamie and Ta-Thai." she said.

"Honey- I need the two thousand dollars." Emily said. Ares looked at her.

"Order the dresses, and I'll pay for them later." he said. Emily jumped up.

"Oh- I'm so excited. They're pink and purple taffeta and chiffon. And they're really beautiful." she squealed. Krys got up, and walked to her cookie jar.

"Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" she asked.

"Jamie stole the cookies from the cookie jar." Angel sang. Krys looked at her and laughed.

"Who me?" Jamie asked.

"Yes you." Angel said.

"Couldn't be."

"Then who?"

"Krys stole the cookies from the cookie jar." James said, as he pointed at Krys.

"Who me?" Krys asked.

"Yes you."

"Couldn't be."

"Then who?"

"Angel stole the cookies from the cookie jar." Krys said, as she pointed at Angel.

"Who me?" Angel asked.

"Yes you."

"Couldn't be."

"Then who?" Krys asked. Angel shrugged. Krys handed Angel and Jamie a cookie each. Jason, Harry, Ron, and Ares all stick their hand out. Krys handed them each a cookie.

"Honey- what about your stomach ache?" Emily asked. "You know- the reason that you couldn't eat the food that I made you." Krys laughed hysterically, and Emily glared at her. "Is there something funny? Because, if so, spit it out." Krys laughed some more.

"Well- the '_food_' that you made him was… well- for lack of a better word _yucky looking_. Not to mention- the sole reason that men have heart attacks, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure before they hit forty. This cookie-" Krys held the cookie up. "is made with pure organic ingredients and soy. It has no processed sugar… its sweetened with honey and good sugars. And- no preservatives. So- I buy them fresh… and throw them out after about three days, if they're not done already. Which they almost always are. Plus-" Krys broke the cookie into a small piece, tossed it up in the air, then caught it in her mouth. "Its _good_. Unlike poor, _scalded_ Wilbur- and an underdeveloped Chicken Little on the plate."

"Well, thank you for your disgusting description, Dirty Harriet, but- I have to go get my bridesmaid dresses. You know- for my wedding. You see- _I'm_ getting married, and _you_ don't even have a boyfriend. My fiancé's boss is probably just something you _do_ on the side." Emily retorted. Krys smiled, because she was enjoying this.

"Say that again, please." she said, as she stood up. "You know- before 'probably something you _do_ on the side'."

"You're probable just _doing_ my _fiancé's_ boss." Emily said, as she moved closer to Krys. The height difference was about a five inches.

"Fiancé's _boss_. See- if anything went on with me and Eric, we'd probably have those dinners where you'd have to _Kiss. My. Ass_. You can start now." Krys said, before she threw a piece of Captain Crunch in the air and caught it in her mouth. Then she sat down. "Now-"

"You know what, Honey? I'm gonna go." Emily said, as she leaned over Krys, and kissed Ares. When she pulled back, Emily looked at Krys, then started to reapply her lipstick. "Oh- that was nice." Emily said, more to Krys than to Ares. Krys looked at Angel and Jamie.

"And that, Angel and Jamie, is what we call _ugh_. Nasty- saliva for breakfast- not good. That's how you get _Hepatitis_ _B_." This was the breaking point for Ron, Jason and Harry, seeing as all of them started to laugh when she said this.

"Honey, I'm leaving. Do you want to come with me?" Emily asked Ares.

"I have to see why my aunt isn't coming to the wedding." he said. They all looked at him. Emily nodded, then kissed him again. She even lifted her leg up, and started to rub it up and down his. Everyone just stared at them. When they pulled away from each other Emily kept rubbing Ares' leg with hers.

"And Angel, that's _also_ how you get _SARS_." Krys said. Emily glared at Krys before she disapparated.

"Krys, what are in these cookies?" asked Jason, who was stuffing his face with cookies. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"Chocolate chips." she said.

"So all that bull- sugar about soy an-"

"Lie. Except they are made by a little honey. Thai makes them. Girl can bake like crazy." All the guys laughed. "So- Prongsie, you're watching Angel for me today, right?" Harry nodded. "Good- I'll see you guys later." Krys kissed Jamie on the cheek, and Angel on the forehead. As soon as Krys walked through the archway of the door, Ares looked at the guys.

"You think she's gonna talk to me?" he asked.

"Follow her." Angel said. Ares looked at her.

"You're three."

"I'm four." Ares laughed.

"She's right." Jason said.

"Run- she's about to get to the car." Harry said. Ares nodded, and ran out of the room. When he got outside, Krys was walking slowly through the cars. Ares jogged to catch up with her. She continued to ignore him, even when he slung his arm over her shoulder.

"So- can I come?" Ares asked her.

"Do you know where I'm going?" Krys asked. Ares shook his head.

"No, but… I know that you'll be there." he said. Krys opened the door to the silver Porsche.

"Here." she said, before she threw the keys to him. "You drive."

"Where are we going?" Ares asked. Krys shrugged.

"Somewhere that has stores." Ares laughed and nodded, as he walked around to the driver's side. Krys walked to the passenger side, and hopped in. Ares adjusted the seat and the mirrors.

"How far up do you need to sit?" he asked.

"I'm short." Ares looked around.

"Krys, this is a stick shift."

"Yeah. So?"

"I can't drive a stick shift." Krys groaned and nodded.

"Neutral, clutch, first gear. Okay? Its simple." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah."

"Well- just start off in neutral. Before you change any gear, you always clutch, okay?"

"Krys, can we talk about what we were talking about?"

"No, because I have somewhere I need to be."

"Fine." Ares said, before he started off in neutral.

"Clutch, first gear." Ares followed her instructions, and started to drive. "First gear, is to move at… a slow ass pace. Second gear, is for hills. Third gear, is average sped- under thirty mph. And the rest of them, are for more speed." Ares nodded. "Now when you're driving on a regular moving street, its smart to stay in first or third gear." Ares nodded. "Clutch, stay in first." Ares nodded, and followed her instructions.

"Where'd you learn to drive a stick shift?"

"My dad."

"But-"

"When I was fourteen."

"Where?"

"He would take me to this big parking lot, and taught me to drive a stick shift. I learned to drive an automatic on my fifteenth birthday. And- on my sixteenth birthday, I got my permit, then my license immediately."

"Which car did you learn with?"

"This car." Ares nodded. "Okay- on a highway that has a speed limit of something about 70 mph, you should drive in fourth gear. It gives a better speed. For this highway, you should go to fourth."

"Where are we going?"

"The mall."

"Which one?"

"Choose. I need some… stuff." Ares nodded. "Epitome of perfection. She's lost her will. Time is standing still." she sang quietly.

"So… did I do something wrong? You know- to make you mad?" he asked, as the traffic moved briskly.

"I'm not mad." Krys said.

"Okay." Ares said. "So- about Disneyland…"

"What about it?"

"That's a nice surprise." Krys nodded. "Krys, come on- don't be mad at me. I don't know what I did, but- please." Krys looked at him and shrugged. "C'mon, Krys." Krys turned up her nose to keep from smiling.

"Isn't me teaching you to drive a stick shift enough?" she asked. Ares nodded.

"And I'm very grateful." he said. "But come on, don't be mad at me."

"Whatever."

"Mmm." Ares started. "We two we're friends to the end. Ain't we, my friend? We kind of blend together." Krys shook her head. "Coffee and cream. Boy, what a team." Krys still didn't sing. "You'll never find two other guys, compatible as steak and fries."

"We're two of a kind. Much of a mind. We find our way together." she finally sang. Ares looked at her, and smiled.

"Thinking as one. Searching for sunny skies. True the sun may turn to rain." he sang.

"We don't mind a drop of rain."

"But you won't hear us complain."

"It doesn't help to stop the rain."

"What's the gain if we complain?"

"Causes lots of stress and strain."

"We keep smiling in the pitter, patter, doesn't matter. Why let it drive us insane?" they sang in unison. "We know the weather will mend. Won't it my friend? We'll whether life together. So what the heck. Here's what we recommend. The greatest gift in life's a friend."

"Pays a daily dividend." Krys sang.

"Be like us and start a trend."

"Be friends to the end."

"The greatest gift in life's a friend. Take it, Krys."

"Pays a daily dividend."

"Be like us and start a trend."

"We're friends to the end." Ares laughed, when the song was done.

"Where the hell did you learn that from, anyway?" he asked.

"That's the song from the first Tom and Jerry movie. A flea and a dog sing it together. Then they make Tom and Jerry sing it." Krys said, as Ares pulled into the exit of the mall. Ares parked, and Krys hopped out of the car. They walked into the mall, and looked around. Krys and Ares walked to Forever 21, and looked around.

"Why am I here?" Ares asked. Krys laughed, and walked over to a rack with a bunch of nice miniskirts. She picked up a few and walked to the dressing room. When she walked out, she walked to the central mirror, and looked at herself.

"How does this look?" she asked. She was wearing a plain white _mini_ miniskirt. Ares nodded. "Kingie, how does this look?" Krys turned around, and looked at him. Ares was staring at her mindlessly. "What's wrong?"

"Oh- nothing. Thinking about something that Emily said." Krys nodded. "What did you say?"

"I was just asking how the skirt looked." Krys said, before she started to twirl around in front of the mirror again. "But, I don't like it that much. It makes me look _ugh_." Ares shook his head. Krys skipped to the dressing room, and put her clothes back on. When she walked out, Ares looked at her.

"Why are you still wearing the hat?" Krys shrugged, then walked to the shirt section. She picked up a few shirts and walked back to the dressing room. She walked out a minute later wearing a low cut turquoise blue top, that looked like Tinkerbell's dress. Ares looked at her.

"I have boots that match this too." Krys said, as she looked at the herself in the mirror.

"Krys, you look weird with the shirt, and those pants." Ares said. Krys laughed, and skipped to the dressing room. When she walked out, she had a few things in her hand.

"We're ready- now… if you don't want to stay, you can go back to my house, and pick me up later." Ares shook his head. "You don't seem to be having fun."

"Of course I'm having fun." Ares said. Krys laughed, and walked to the cash register.

Three hours later, they were in the car in pure gridlock. Krys sat in the passenger side, blowing her bangs off of her forehead.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. Ares nodded.

"Starved. You saw what I was supposed to eat for breakfast." he said. Krys laughed.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about food while we were in the mall." she said, as she rolled up the tinted windows. She snapped, and a tin of cookies placed herself in her lap. Krys handed Ares some of her hand sanitizer, after she rubbed some on her own hands, then extended the tin towards him. He took two, then broke off a small piece, and tossed it at Krys, who caught it in her mouth. Ares laughed, and ate the rest of the cookie.

"Look- I didn't say this in the mall, 'cause, so many people were recognizing you. But- I'm sorry about Emily." Ares said. Krys shook her head.

"Don't be. She's very entertaining and agitating all at once." she said. Ares looked at her. "'Cause I can't beat her ass." Ares laughed.

"So- how'd you sleep?" he asked. "Is that why you were so cranky this morning?"

"How do you know what I'm like in the morning?"

"You're forgetting our previous relationship."

"Oh yeah. That's always gonna be there, isn't it? You and me." Ares nodded.

"But, I don't mind it." he said. Krys smiled. "It keeps me smart." Krys furrowed her eyebrows. "So, why were you mad at me?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"I really don't want to talk about it." she said. "Its stupid, petty and pointless."

"I doubt that its pointless.."

"Its stupid and petty."

"Well- that's okay. Look- I'll tell you something first." Ares said.

"Okay." Krys said.

"Um… in fifth year, before you asked me to take out Ailen- um… when you were describing the girl, I thought you were talking about yourself." Krys nodded.

"I, um… I was mad because last night, Peter Pettigrew came back, and… we put everyone in a cryonic time freeze. Well…when we were through with him, I started to check on everyone. And when I went to your room to check on you, Emily answered the door in her underwear… and its stupid, but- I was mad at the fact that you and her did it, in our bed." Ares didn't say anything. "Told you I was being petty."

"No- that's a good reason to be mad." Ares said. "You jumped to conclusions, but-"

"Well- your fiancé saying, 'Ares and I were ju-' what the hell was I supposed to think you were doing in that room?"

"Talking." Ares said.

"Were you?"

"Does it matter?" Krys shrugged.

"Forget it." she said. They sat in silence for a minute. "What did you mean by what you said before?"

"What did I say?" Ares asked.

"Um- about not minding our history. You said that it keeps you smart." Ares nodded. "What did you mean?"

"Just that… it'll keep me from going back to it."

"And what does that mean?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah." Krys said.

"Just that… I guess I meant that I know now to… look, Krys, I'm sorry."

"What did you mean?" Krys asked softly, but gravely. "I can know either way, its better that you just tell me."

"It means that I know to never go back to you. It means that I know that… you and me, aren't even an option anymore. That's just the way it is."

"Are you kidding me?!" Krys asked. "Okay- I don't feel bad enough without having you throw that in my face every two minutes, when you and your fucking fiancé are _fucking_ in _our_ bed!! What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Krys, I already apologized, besides- what the hell am I apologizing for?! Am I wrong?!" Ares yelled.

"You have no idea how wrong you are." Krys said. "You and Emily deserve each other! You're both-"

"At least Emily knows what she wants." Ares said. "It didn't take her six and a half years to tell me how she felt." Krys laughed.

"Yeah because its _so hard_ to reject a proposal from a 6'2 Hispanic male, with a mother who's high in the ministry, a famous historical auror father, and a large trust fund." she said. "You really need to get over it. Your fiancé is a bitch."

"It seems that I have a taste for those." Ares said acidly. Krys laughed sardonically.

"Yup. And I'm the only smart one you ever had. You had Ailen who didn't know how to spell her own name. And now you have Emily who has to look at her thong first."

"Well at least she dresses like a woman! Tell me, Krys- are you sure you have all the right parts?!" Krys laughed.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry- I wasn't big on partial nudity. I think I remember you saying that the way I dressed, showed that it was only for you. And- I want you to think about this: If its being seen by everyone, what makes you think it isn't being _done_ by everyone?"

"Yeah, like your man Eric? The man with a bunch of women leaving his office, after _hours_ of saying there."

"Oh thank God. He'll last for _hours_? Someone with experience. A person who'll know what to do in bed, and how to do it right." Ares laughed sardonically.

"Aha! Which is why you wanted it every minute of the day. And you _always_ screamed my name."

"Two reasons."

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah. Number one, I figured that if we did it enough, you'd learn what you were doing." Ares laughed sardonically.

"Oh yeah- and the screaming my name?"

"Two words: _Positive_ _reinforcement_."

"Yeah- okay. I _still_ have the _claw marks_ on my back."

"Oh, big ego for someone with a _teeny_ we-" Krys started to lie, while pinching her thumb and index finger together.

"Do _not_ finish that sentence."

"And if I do? What are you gonna do? Are you get all sensitive on me again, you big bitch!?"

"I only had to be sensitive with you, because you needed reassuring every few minutes! Honestly, I was sick and tired of you needing me to compliment you every other word."

"Oh Ares, you _wanted_ the excuse to cuddle and write sonnets about my eyes! Are you _sure_ you're straight?!"

"Well Krys, if anyone could turn a man off of women, its you!"

"So you admit it! You know- you can't keep saying this fucked up shit to me, and expecting me to brush it off! Big deal- I broke up with you! Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it!! Better yet, _man up _and get over it!!"

"Better yet, why don't you get over me?!" Krys laughed.

"Way ahead of you!! I've _been_ over you! And you're right, Ares! I did turn you off of women. It looks like you've taken to dating Toucans!"

"Is that all you can do? Make fun of her nose?! At least she's a whole person, Krys! All you have is your money, your sarcasm and your intelligence to keep you warm at night." You would think that that'd keep a person quiet for a minute. And its true. This statement would keep anyone quiet and hurt for at least a second, that is, everyone but Krys.

"Well when _your_ cold at night, you can lay inside Emily's beak!" she yelled.

"Do you _always_ have a comeback? Can't you just sit back and shut up?!"

"Aha! Shows how well you know me."

"Oh no, no, no- I know you all _too_ well. _That's_ why we're over." This is the statement that slowed her down, and took her comeback more than a millisecond to hit the opponent. Krys finally spoke.

"If I remember correctly, _I_ dumped you. So _I_ know why we're over. And trust me, its not 'cause of me." She looked at Ares, and could see that he was fuming. Krys gave herself a happy smile.

"I don't. But trust _me_, you dumped me, and let me get with something _way_ better." Krys nodded.

"I have no doubts. She gets on her knees and everything, doesn't she?"

"Can you just shut up?"

"Oh honey. Am I making you heated?" Ares was getting really angry. Krys could tell this, as she felt herself getting pushed against the wall, from the charm.

"No, Krys. You never got me heated. You were too cold and distant." Ares said.

"As opposed to a fiancé who wants to got to the bathroom with you. What, does she shake it twice for you, too? Does she feed you like bird mothers feed their kids? You know- chew your food for you, then throw it up. Is _that_ why your food looked like that this morning? She shakes it, doesn't she?"

"No Krys, you two are complete opposites. She isn't always on my dick!"

"True, I was literally always on the captain. Hoping to lead him to success. She's on him figuratively. She's clingy and she's needy."

"No she's warm, she's sweet, she's considerate, she's attentive, and she's the _complete_ _opposite_ of you."

"So- if I think about all the compliments you oh, so graciously showered me with, she's ugly, dumb, stupid, shallow, she smells horrible, she has an atrocious body, and she's bad in bed. Right direction, Ares. Right direction." Krys said sarcastically, as she gave him thumbs up.

"You are the most-"

"More compliments? Oh."

"Oh my God- I have to thank you. 'Cause, if I'd have married you-"

"You'd what, Ares? Be happy?"

"I'd be out of my goddamn mind by now. Emily is wonderful. She's-"

"Blah, blah blah, blah, blah blah, blah."

"Oh I forgot one big key trait. She's mature! She doesn't spend her time playing videogames and air hockey!"

"In other words, she's boring! Which is wonderful for you, because you guys can lie in bed all day, while you write sonnets, like 'Ode to a Toucan's nose' and 'Pin_noss_io: She's _not_ a real girl'!"

"I don't know what I ever saw in you!" Ares yelled.

"Ditto!"

"I mean- instead of going for women who weren't high maintenance, I went for the man, _trapped in a woman's body_!" Krys laughed.

"Oh I'm sorry- you like those overly dramatic girls who'll beg you to spend the night with them! You want the bleach blondes with the purchased 't' and sucked out 'a'. I apologize if I was too _real_ for you. I'm sorry- I wasn't too keen on changing my hair color, and plastic surgery. My bad, Ares. Your Bunny is sorry."

"Bunny? Sweet and worth protecting, my ass!"

"Aye, sniffle, sniffle. Teardrop, teardrop, teardrop. What do you want me to do? You want me to cry?! Boo-_fucking_-hoo! One minute its, 'Krys, I'm sorry about Emily' the next minute, you're kissing Emily's ass, while she's talking a bunch of bullshit about me. I have no idea how I liked you for so long!"

"Same here! I should've just backed away, and let you dream on!"

"Says the man with the wet dreams!"

"Yeah, but I can't believe you fell for that virgin bullshit. I practically had you begging me to do it, by the end."

"Oh honey. I can read every thought inside your head. You were as much a virgin as…"

"Nothing sarcastic and witty to say? Oh- I'll enjoy the silence."

"Oh you small, small, petty, petty man. You were as much a virgin, as you are a dick. And there's a reason I didn't make you feel needed. Its cause I _didn't_ need you."

"Wow- you're just mad because I'm getting married before you."

"I'm sorry- I'm what, nineteen years old and I haven't gotten a marriage proposal yet? What _have_ I been doing wrong? I'm not that much of a loser, that I have to get married first thing, out of fear of being alone!"

"Yeah but you're gonna end up alone. You think that the cute badass 'I don't need anyone' act is gonna get you anyone?! Well- you're wrong."

"It got you, didn't it?! Oh and I had you _so fucking sprung_! You-"

"No, Emily has me sprung… and I am so happy to be marrying her. Oh- but… I made some nice new memories in our bed, Krys." Ares said, with a lustful look in his eye. Krys laughed.

"I'll try to remember that, while Eric and I do it on your desk." she said spitefully. Ares looked at her.

"_That's_ why our relationship failed. You have no boundaries. You have no consideration, and no feelings. You're cold with a large clump of ice in your chest. And all you do is judge and criticize things that you know nothing about." This statement also slowed Krys down by a millisecond.

"As opposed to a prejudiced fiancé, who doesn't like muggleborns, and doesn't like your best friend because he's a half and half?"

"That's not why she doesn't like him." Ares said, as traffic started to move.

"You think long and hard about that, then you tell me." Krys said.

"That is not why she doesn't like him." Ares said more forcefully.

"Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?" she asked, before she started to whistle.

"Stop that."

"Or?"

"Stop it."

"Oh I'm sorry, Dito." Krys said, before her whistling got louder and more shrill.

"Can you _please_ stop it?" Ares asked through clenched teeth. Krys looked at him, then stopped. Then she started to crack her knuckles. "Do you have to be so _goddamn_ annoying?" Krys looked at him, then cracked every joint in her body. She did this very slowly and loudly.

"I'm sorry. Were you talking to me?" she asked. "Or did you start to go crazy? You know, as crazy as you'd have went if you married me." Ares laughed sardonically, as he shook his head.

"It seems that everyone was right about you."

"Ouchie. Kingie, that hurt me." Krys said, as she gave mock sniffles.

"_Nothing_ can hurt you. I swear-"

"Where is all of this _anger_ coming from?" Krys asked calmly. Krys put her hand up to the sky, and pulled it down to her heart. "Bring the energy down from the sun. Filter out all negativity, Dito. What's bothering you?"

"That's the difference between you and Emily. She doesn't run away from anything that gets too serious."

"What do you two have in common? You guys saw each other for what- two days out of the week. Eight days out of the month. For less than a year. I'll give you ten months- out of leniency. Eight times ten is eighty. You guys have had eighty days spent together. And- question, have you two spent more than one night together? What do you two know about each other?"

"When its right, you don't have to wait." Krys nodded.

"Either _that_, or you're being dumb as hell." she said.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?- it's a wonder I'm not crazy. Don't try and manipulate me into cancelling my wedding."

"Actually, I'm just talking. You know- _you're_ insulting me, and I'm thinking on my feet. That's the real difference between me and Emily. I'm smart enough to do that."

"Why Merlin, why? What made me go after you?"

"Probably the fact that I'm _adorable_."

"Oh- another difference between you and Emily. She doesn't stay on and get mad over every little thing."

"'_Ares, if you kiss her, I'm leaving_'. You are so _whipped_. _'Ares, can you throw your cape over the mud puddle? I don't wanna mess up my stilettos.' 'Ares, can I have a million dollars? I want to buy an ugly ass wedding dress, that I'll look like shit in, anyway.' 'Ares, I want to be carried down the aisle, in a horse drawn carriage.' 'Ares, I want doves to hold my train' 'Ares, I want little cherubs to descend, and I want Merlin _himself_ to marry us. Do that for me, Ares.'"_

"As opposed to, _'Oh Kingie, I love you, but I need you too much.' 'Oh Kingie, you're such a pervert.' 'Oh, Kingie, I really do love you, I'm just not strong enough.' 'Oh Loverboy, you are so sweet.' 'Oh Loverboy, you're so sexy.'_ You were a big tease, and you used the fact that I loved you to toy with me! Emily is real with me."

"Don't start with me. We can argue about a lot of shit- but _do not_ tell me that I wasn't always real with you. I never toyed with you- okay, in seventh year, I was flirty and I did… I know that. But you can't tell me that the shit that I said, gave you any other thoughts as to how I felt about you. There was only one time that I lied about how I felt." Krys said, as they pulled into her gate. Ares hopped out of the car first, as soon as he parked.

"You are so lucky that we have to leave in the morning, otherwise, I'd leave right now!" he yelled, before he went in the house. Krys looked at the sky. She couldn't help but notice that as sad as she was, the sky seemed perfectly fine. She shrugged, and walked into the house. As soon as she got inside, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Jason, A.J and Thai were all waiting for her. Harry and Hermione looked at her.

"The next time you're about to cause a lightening storm, can you give me some warning?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked.

"Well- a few minutes ago, the sky over here was lightening storming, and your house couldn't stop shaking." Hermione said. Krys' eyebrow furrowed.

"I don't understand. I mean- I was pissed, but I wasn't really sure how to feel about it. It was like- I was mad, but there were points where I had to laugh, because the argument was funny."

"What happened?" Jason asked. Krys laughed.

"Well- your Puerto-"

"Mad racist with it." Krys shook her head.

"Please, I'm Puerto Rican."

"Krys, you're just the lightest sista I know." Jason said. Krys laughed. "Give or take a few songs, and how much you speak Spanish."

"Jason, I bullshit you not- that old bitch across the street, is the most racist person you will find in Beverly Hills. Last year, I was chilling in front of my house, that leather faced senior citizen had the nerve to call the cops on me." Krys said. They all laughed, as they followed her into the kitchen. "I mean, yeah- I'm mostly white English. But, its mostly just because of where my grandmother was born in the Dominican Republic, why I'm tan. She was really dark, then she had my mom, who was a bit lighter, then me. And I'm just like- I'm just naturally tan." They all laughed. "And- the old bitch had the nerve- and I swear she did this- she had the nerve to call me a spic." They all looked at her in shock. "I wasn't offended. When I was younger, they knew that I was _some_ type of ethnicity. Then, Razzie and Dread-Head took care of me, and I _swore_ I was Jamaican and Puerto Rican, until I was about four." They all laughed.

"Why are you avoiding talking about this?" Hermione asked.

"Anyway- I mostly claim Puerto Rican, because… _hello_? Razz was Puerto Rican, and my dad was Puerto Rican. Now, what do you guys want to talk about?"

"What happened with you and Ares?" Ron asked.

"Well- I went shopping to get Thai, Jamie, Angel, actually- I got you all a little something. Just look in the bags, you'll know what's yours. Actually- forget it." Krys said, as she snapped. At least two bags placed itself in front of everyone. Krys got an abundance of thank you, Krys'. "Its all good."

"Anyway, what happened?" A.J asked.

"Well- your brother is a gigantic jackass." Krys said. "We were on the way back- and we were talking. And- I said something about me and him. He had the nerve to say that our relationship experiences keep him smart, because he knows never to come back to me."

"Ouch." A.J said.

"Then- we got into this argument… and I said that him and Emily belonged together. He said that its because Emily knows what he wants. To which I implied that it has everything to do with his social standing." They all groaned and winced. "Then I called her a bitch- and he said that he has a taste for those." Krys laughed. "Then I owned up to being a bitch, and said that I was the smartest one he had, and I said- I said-" Krys was laughing. "I said something really good. I said, there was Ailen who couldn't spell her own name, and Emily who has to look at her thong first." They all laughed slightly, more at her enthusiasm than the joke. "Then he said some bullshit about her dressing like a woman. And… I said something about always keeping it covered, because… anyway- I ended up saying that the way Emily shows it, is some indication that she's been _showing_ it." They all winced. "And he brought up Eric… and said that he always has a bunch of women in his office. And I said… I'm not gonna tell you guys. Then we got into more… _personal_ things. And I was ready to say something really offensive, before he told me not to finish the sentence. Then I called him a big sensitive bitch. And I ended up calling him gay… to which he said that-" Krys laughed. "He said that I'm a person who could turn men off of women."

"Is that funny?" Thai asked. Krys nodded.

"I swear it is- because, I've never wanted to laugh and slit someone's eyelids at the same time." she said. They all winced this time. "Well- I told him to get over the fact that I dumped him, and he said that I should get over him. Then I said something about having turned him off of women, and onto Toucans." They all laughed. "And he said that all I could do is make fun of Emily's nose. Which is a lie, because I can make fun of a _lot_. Then he got mad as hell, and I started to tease him. I asked him if… I asked if I was getting him heated, And he said that was impossible, I was too cold and distant- something like that. Actually- he said something about Emily being a full person, and that all I have to keep me warm is my money, wit and intelligence." They all looked like they were getting mad and Krys laughed. "And I said… I said that if he needs to stay warm at night, he can live in Emily's beak." They all laughed. "Then he complained about the fact that I always have a comeback."

"Oh, he's right about that." Ron said. Krys looked at him. "I love you." he sang.

"Then I said that he didn't know me, And… he said he knows me well, that's why we're broken up. To which I responded that I'm the one who dumped him, and I know that I wasn't the reason that we broke up. Then he said something about cold and distant… and I said that his fiancé was so clingy that she wants to shake it twice for him, when he goes to the bathroom." They all laughed. "Then he called me immature- and… it wasn't pretty. He said he doesn't know what he ever saw in me… I'm pretty much laughing it off, right now."

"Why aren't you reacting the usual way?" Thai asked. Then a look of realization dawned over her, and she looked at Ron and Hermione, than Harry and Jason. "You always keep a cool face, but your emotions can be determined by the way the weather brews… and the way your eyes get so dark. But right now, Hermione and Harry are covering for you." They all looked at Thai. "What?"

"You're too observant." Hermione said, as they all started to walk up the stairs.

"You guys go pack and shit. We're leaving at about eight in the morning." Krys said.

"Oh- Krys, Angel needs to talk to you." Thai said.

"Which one?"

"I don't call Angelica, 'Angel'. I call her 'Angie'." Krys nodded.

"What about?" she asked.

"I don't know." Thai said. "But- I think it has something to do with his colostomy bag." Krys looked at her.

"Jennifer?" she asked. Thai nodded. Krys laughed. "That's a good one." Thai laughed, and she and Hermione walked up the stairs together. Krys walked back to the kitchen, and walked to her stash. She pulled out a slice of cake, and cut it, before she sat at the counter. She started to cut the cake into little squares, and when she looked up, Ares, Jason, Harry and Ron were walking in.

"Okay- I- I was under the impression that it was going to be a small wedding, where it was only a maid of honor, best man, groom and bride." Ares said. "But, Emily wants bridesmaids. She wants four and a maid of honor, but- I only really have three- four friends, so… I was wondering if… you know- if you guys would be my groomsmen." Ares said to Ron and Harry. Krys rolled her eyes, and started to eat her cake.

"Um-" Harry started, before he looked at Krys. "I don't know what to say. I- you want _me_ to be your groomsman?"

"Emily is choosing two other guy friends of hers for me. But- even if I did have many friends, I would still ask you guys. And… obviously- I don't have many friends." Ares said.

"I wonder why." Krys mumbled. They all looked at her. "_Yes_?"

"_Anyway_, what about you, Ron?" Ares asked.

"Um- yeah, of course." Ron said. After a minute of silence, both Ron and Harry whipped around when shoes were thrown at their heads. "What was that for?"

"Huh?" Krys asked in a muffled voice. She waited until she was done chewing her cake. "I'm sorry- they got away from me." Harry glared at her.

"You're a very, very mean lady." he said. Krys chuckled.

"Well- from what I've been told, I'm not a lady. I'm not even a female." she said, as she glared at Ares. He returned the look.

"I call 'em, like I see 'em." he said. Krys growled, and her eyes turned dark, then her phone rang. She picked up her Sidekick.

"Hello." she said. "You _do_ know that you're not following the rules, right?… You're not supposed to call me for three days, Josephs." Krys laughed. "I have about… a _visible_ _eight_… I already said that you'd _never_ see them…" Krys laughed again. "No, you don't… You did _not_ just ask me that… That's inappropriate… No- I can't. Sorry… I mean- at least play it cool… That's not playing it cool- I mean _first_, you call me after one night, then, you ask me out again, then, you ask why I can't go with you… No- of course… I am not- no… nope, 'cause you're being mad mean… Oh-" Krys laughed. "You can't say stuff like that after one night… You have the balls to ask me why not?.. Oh- you do…" Krys laughed. "Listen, Josephs- what?… I know what your name is… We're _not_ dating." Krys laughed, and gave Ares the finger, when he started to mock gag. "You are so mistaken… oh _really_?.. You think I should stop frontin' on you, because you think I couldn't stop thinking about you?.. That's what you really believe?.. Poor things… No… I just did- no, see. No, in Spanish- is no. See- I did that all for you…" Krys laughed. "Um- what do you want me to say?.. I'm _not_ saying _that_… Because- no… okay- I'll say that… **Yes Eric, I'll go out with you again**… Are you happy?.. Disneyland… you wouldn't- no… 'cause I took care of it… well- if I see your man Mike near my Ta-Thai, I'll break every bone in his body… No, I'm not… does that scare you?…" Krys laughed. "Don't say stuff like that… because… I might be giving you the impression that I like you… I never said that I didn't… because, I can… just my friends and family- and some excess garbage- I meant French trash- oh, I meant to say people… 'cause I don't want you to… I wouldn't expect you to… that's creepy- see, its shit like that, that made me call you creepy yesterday… Okay… really?… yes, alright…okay… alright… see- I'm trying to get you off the phone, but you just keep hooking me back in… yeah… you're doing it again… okay- see you then." Krys put her Sidekick down, and started to eat her cake again. All of the guys were looking at her. "What?"

"Who was that?" Jason asked. Krys looked at him, with her eyebrow raised. "No dating, until you're married, or until I meet the guy."

"I second." Harry said.

"Confirmed." said Ron. Krys looked at them, and laughed. "So- what? Who was it?"

"Josephs." Krys said.

"Who is that?" Harry asked. He looked at all of them, then his eyes widened. "His boss?!" Krys rolled her eyes.

"Head of the department, there's a slight difference." she said.

"Is it Ares' boss? You know- in particular?" Harry asked. Krys looked at her nails.

"Yup." Ares said. "He picked me for his '_team_'. I have to go to a frigging dinner with the head of the _whole_ auror department, next week. _Josephs_." Ares said, in a childish voice.

"Where's _Uncle Touc_?" Krys asked. Jason, Harry and Ron held their laughter with different methods. "Oh- I'm sorry. I meant your complete fiancé. You know… the one who's a _complete person_." Ares looked at her.

"Are you done?" he asked. Krys started to eat more of her cake.

"Are you?" she asked, once she was done. "Look- I don't care about whatever's happening here- with you, me, and this bullish argument, because this is the _least_ of my problems. But if you ruin this for my Angel, my Jamie, and my Ta-Thai, I will hunt you and your bird bitch of a fiancé down, and I will kill both of you… slowly and painfully, without any remorse, compassion, or contrition- and there isn't _anything_ that _anyone_ can do to stop me."

"Believe it or _not_, those kids are the best part of you. I wouldn't do that to any of them. Are _you_ going to mess it up?" Ares said.

"You do have balls after all." Krys said, before she hopped up, and ran up the stairs. Harry, Ron and Jason looked at Ares.

"I swear, I hate that girl." Ares said. They all laughed, except for him. "What?"

"You _wish_ you did." Jason said. "I don't think that you can hate her. I actually believe that you hating Krys, is the one thing that's impossible in this world." Ares looked at him.

"So- you guys had an argument… where you told her that she- what was up with that, anyway? We're you _trying_ to hurt her?" Harry asked.

"Yup." Ares said.

"Because…"

"She's _pure_ evil." They all laughed, again, excluding Ares. "I have never met someone who has a comeback for _everything_. I mean- you can't even argue, because you'll lose. The girl can make the devil himself cry with the type of shit she says… I've never met someone so… _evil_. Her tongue is like acid… I mean- who the hell can come up with a comeback for, 'all you have to keep you warm at night, is your money, your wit, and your intelligence'?" They didn't say anything. "It didn't take her any time to come up with- 'well to keep you warm at night, you can live in Emily's beak'." The guys laughed. Ares looked at them.

"You have to admit that that is funny." Harry said.

"It was _genius_." Ares said. "If only she could use the power, and channel it toward something good." They all laughed. "And the thing this morning… that was- who the hell says that to someone's face? She's _mean_. I mean- she called me gay. She's the only girl that I ever changed for- I mean, I could've come out like Jason. You know how many bitches were throwing condoms at me. But no, I never pressured her about se-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… I don't wanna hear that." Harry said. "You're the only one in this group who sees her that way."

"Not anymore." Ares said. They all looked at him, before they laughed.

"You're the only one who can even stand to see her that way. I mean- no one will deny that she's beautiful- but, Ice… its _Krys_. I mean- this girl can probably beat the shit out of all of us. And she's _scary_." Jason said. "I mean-"

"No, no, no, no, no- you saw her that way for about five years." Ares said. They all looked at Jason.

Whoa whoa whoa, is there an attraction between Jason and Krys? People, I gave you all two chapters, and I didnt get back anything, really. My chapter was okay, I think. I thought it was nice. I want to hit eighty reviews... and to do your part... just show me that you've been reading my story. All you have to do is review writing that you read it. As a matter of fact- I want seventy five,


	13. Flirting 101

"It wasn't anything." Jason said. "I mean- I didn't love her like you did."

"You felt that way about _Krys_?" Ron asked. Jason glared at Ares. "How much?"

"More than I liked any other girl. _Lots_ less than I love A.J… or like A.J for that matter." Jason said. "Hold on- you guys can't tell me that when you first see her- before you know anything about her, before you even talk to her- you guys can't tell me that you wouldn't ask her out. You can't say that you wouldn't be attracted to her, if she wasn't _Krys_."

"Okay- when I met her, I was already interested in someone." Ron said.

"The second I met her, I thought of her as a brother." Harry said.

"I wanted to propose to her." Ares said, as he rolled his eyes and scoffed. "She's a man-eater- she's evil." They all looked at him.

"Yeah-okay- well when I met her, I thought she was a dude." Jason said.

"Did you _love_ her, Jason?" Harry asked mockingly. Jason looked at him.

"_Lots less_ than I love my cutie booty." They all looked at him.

"_That's_ what you call my baby sister?" Ares asked.

"You guys are a little less than two years apart. You weren't much older than her. But- its better than _Bunny_." Ares looked at him. "The point is, when I see Krys now… its like how I feel when I see Jezzie. Its ugh."

"I used to be in love with Jezzie." Ares said. Jason looked at him. "Have you _seen_ her?"

"Watch it." Jason said. Ares laughed sardonically.

"What's this I hear about you _living_ with my baby sister?" he asked.

"That's nothing, right Harry?"

"I'm not in this." Harry said. Ron looked at him.

"Yeah- speaking of. I hear you and Gin are living with each other. I didn't mind when you guys could be looked over, but now-" Ron started.

"Mate, don't get me started." Harry said. Ron suddenly became very interested in his feet.

"Oh- before you find out a difficult way- Hermione and I are seeing each other secretly." he said to Ares. Ares nodded.

"Wow." he said.

"By the way- thanks for the heads up on the situation with Kay and that man from that club." Ron said. Ares nodded.

"No problemo." Ares said.

"Is that Spanish I hear?" They all looked at the archway. "What are you ladies gossiping about?" Krys asked, as she walked into the kitchen, with big boy Angel. Krys hopped on a stool. "What happened?"

"Jennifer and the others need to come tonight, to get to your house at all. Plus- their mom is… well- she's made plans because of the weekend that you planned." Angel said. Krys nodded.

"Okay- just go ask Thai and the others if they want to come… then we'll go get them." she said. Angel nodded.

"Do I have to come?" he asked.

"Little boy… I can't guarantee what I'll do to your girlfriend, if you leave me and my _crew_ alone with her. But- sure." Angel smiled.

"Thanks." he said, before he ran up the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Ares asked her. Krys looked at him.

"What?"

"You promised Jamie and Angel that you'd take them to Toys R Us." Harry said. "You have to remember these things. And since you left them with me yesterday, they think that you like Thai better than them." Krys' face fell.

"Are you serious?" she asked softly. Harry shook his head.

"No, but now I feel bad." he said. Krys glared at him, then ran up the stairs.

"Did you have to do that to her?" Ares asked.

"What do you care? I thought you _'hated_' her." No one said anything. A minute later, Krys walked down the stairs with Jamie and Angel. She put Angel on a stool, and she put Jamie in his booster chair.

"So… my Angel- little James man, what do you guys want to eat?" she asked.

"Turkey." Angel chanted, as she clapped her hands together for each syllable. Krys laughed, and gave her happiest cheesiest smile.

"How about something feasible?" she asked.

"You can make turkey."

"You believe that I can make turkey? Before I started to hang out with you, I couldn't make Easy Mac." Krys said.

"I believe that you can do whatever you _want_ to." Angel said, as she pinched Krys' cheeks. The guys laughed, and sat on stools, watching the interaction between this brilliant child and Krys.

"Okay- so we already know that I don't wish to make the turkey."

"But you asked what I wanted." Angel said. Krys smiled and nodded. "And that means that you won't make _whatever_ I want." Krys nodded.

"That's right. I'll make whatever compromise that we come up with. And- because you're such a smarta- so smart-_alecky_… I'm gonna ask Jamie what he wants. And whatever he wants, you'll eat." Krys teased. Angel giggled, and Krys kissed her cheek. "What do you want to eat, Jamie?"

"Cookies." James said. Krys laughed, and shook her head. "Grilled cheese?" Krys nodded.

"Okay- are we talking American cheese, Kraft singles, or Jamaican cheese?" she asked. Jamie and Angel nodded. Krys laughed. "All it is." She walked to the sink and washed her hands.

"Hey, Krys." Krys looked behind her, and Hermione and the rest of the girls were coming through the kitchen archway. "What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"I'm about to make the Parris special." Krys said.

"Ooh- grilled cheese." Hermione said. "Cool- I'm hungry, Cookie." Krys shrugged, as she walked to the stove and snapped. Three different types of cheese was there, and so was the bread. She looked at the girls. They were all sitting around small table in the kitchen. Krys looked at how Angel was talking to Ares and the guys. She watched as the four year old girl, had all of these guys wrapped around her tiny finger. Krys laughed, then snapped.

"Forget it- magic, here I come." she said. The sandwiches placed themselves on different plates. Krys walked to Jamie and Angel first. She held a Disney's _Cars_ plate out to him. The sandwich was cut in the shape of a car. He looked up at Krys with a dazzling kiddy smile. Krys laughed, and handed it to him.

"Thank you." James said cutely. Krys nodded.

"You're welcome." she said, before she kissed his cheek. She walked to Angel, with the _Finding Nemo_ plate extended. When Angel looked at the imprint of the sandwich she laughed. On the plate was a sandwich with Winnie the Pooh's face in the center. Angel smiled up at Krys.

"Thank you." she said in this adorable child's voice. Krys nodded.

"You're welcome." she said. She walked over to the guys, and snapped. In front of Ron was a grilled cheese sandwich, with a broom darkened in center. He laughed. In front of Harry was a grilled cheese sandwich with a snitch in the middle. In front of Jason was a sandwich with an Egyptian Pyramid in the center. And in front of Ares was a sandwich with a shield in the center. Ares' shield with an 'A' in the center. Krys didn't look at him twice before she walked over to the other girls. They each had a different print on their sandwiches as well.

"What did you just do?" A.J asked, after she took a bite of her grilled cheese. Krys shook her head, and touched the table. As soon as she touched it, they all felt themselves being sucked into something. A second later they were in Krys' dining room. "What did you just do?"

"With the table- or with your brother?" Krys asked.

"With Ares." Thai said. "He looked like he saw a ghost, when you handed him the plate." Krys laughed.

"Good." she said.

"What did you do, Krys?" Hermione asked.

"His sandwich had a shield on it." All the girls laughed.

"Can I see it?" Thai asked. Krys stood up, and pulled her shirt up, and lowered the side of her pants. They all nodded.

"I want one." Ginny said. Krys sat down.

"Then get one. Tattoos aren't as bad as everyone thinks." she said. "People make it seem like tattoos can't be delicate."

"Krys- Hermione, A.J, Gin and I have something to tell you." Thai said. Krys looked at her and nodded. "Well- okay… we… um- we called _Latina, Cosmo, Seventeen, Witch Weekly, and Teen Witch_, and set up interviews for next week." Krys looked at them.

"Are you kidding me?!" she yelled, as the table shook.

"Bon-bon, this is a great opportunity. This is Cosmo." Hermione said.

"**Krys, we're talking about **_**Latina**_** magazine.**" A.J said.

"**This is- this is huge, Krys. They only ask prominent Latinas to be in it. And **_Seventeen_** Magazine- I mean, all teenage muggle girls read it.**" Thai said. Ginny nodded.

"Yeah- plus, it's a chance for you to tell your story." she said.

"It is no ones business." Krys said, as she tried to stay calm. "They only want me, because _abused billion dollar heiress _makes a great story! You know what?" Krys got up, and walked out of the dining room. She walked straight to the kitchen. When she walked into the kitchen, they all looked at her.

"They told you, didn't they?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him, and her eyes were dark.

"You knew?" she asked, in a low voice. The voice seemed to send chills through all of them.

"Krys." Angel started in her small voice. "You're scaring me." Krys looked at her, and her face softened, way past how it was before. She walked over to Angel and opened her arms. Angel stood up, and let Krys pick her up.

"Don't be scared of me." Krys said. "You don't _ever_ have to be scared of me." Krys walked over to James. "What about you, Jamie? Are you okay?" James laughed, and nodded. "What's so funny?" He shrugged.

"I don't know." he said. "Men don't get scared."

"And you're my little man, right?" Krys said. James nodded. "You're gonna protect me and your sisters? No matter what, right?"

"No matter what." James said, before he kissed Angel's, then Krys' cheek.

"**What's the most important thing**?" Krys asked.

"**Family**." Angel and Jamie said, simultaneously. Krys nodded.

"Good." she said. "Now, get off of me, little girl." Angel laughed, before Krys let her down. Angel walked back to her vacated stool, and Harry picked her up. Krys took a deep breath, then walked back to the dining room. All of the girls looked at her. "Okay- so, what you all did was well… thoughtful. I like the magazines… I do, really. I just don't want to be one of those… girls. If I do this magazine, I'll- I'll like myself less than I already do. And I don't like myself anymore, because of all the things that have been happening. I- I… I'm not ready to- until I-… I'm over it, but I'm not ready to let my dirty laundry be aired out." They all nodded in agreement. "I mean- I- my biggest fear… my biggest fear hasn't been faced yet."

"What do you mean?" Thai asked. Krys looked at her, and smiled.

"I don't even know her name." she said. "I was four years old… and I'm over it now… but- I don't know what happened." They were all watching her. "Have you ever… has there ever been a question that you wanted the answer to so badly? You know- so badly that you were afraid of the answer? Because, if its not the answer that you expected, you think that everything that's been holding you together, will fall apart with you?"

"You're the only crazy one here, Krys." Thai joked. Krys looked at her.

"That's why I love you. You always know what to say, to make me feel better." she said, as she smiled brightly.

"Well- we all know how to handle you." Thai said. "C'mon, continue with your question."

"I don't know… I just- if I face my demons, and… she tells me that she did it, because she felt like it, everything that I have… will most likely crumble. And- if I go see her, and she seems crazy- everything that I have will crumble… I lose either way." Krys said softly. "And… I don't- I don't know what I'll do if she apologizes. I wouldn't know where to put it."

"Krys, what are you going to do to Persephone?" A.J asked. Krys smiled.

"I already handled Persephone." she said. "I- she owns a boutique… in my dad's strip. I'm gonna tear down her boutique."

"Do you think that's a good idea? I mean- what about her and her family?" Ginny asked.

"You mean the daughter that… I don't even want to talk about it. Maybe I should just go and rock her shit." They all laughed.

"Okay, Krys- to make us all feel better, I think you should teach Thai, the flirty thing that you do." Hermione said.

"What thing?" Krys asked. All of the girls laughed at her.

"The thing that you do. Its one of the reasons that guys like you. Its that… '_I don't think I'm too good for you, but- I probably am_' thing." A.J said.

"That's horrible. I don't do anything like that."

"Yeah, you do." Hermione said. "The thing with the eyes, the thing with the look… all the things you showed me last month. The way to handle embarrassing situations." Krys nodded.

"Oh- that. That's not a flirty thing. That's just- a thing." she said. "Thai- stand here." Thai got up and stood in front of Krys. "Okay- so, you have to flirt with me. I need someone to flirt with me."

"Hold on- first, what's going on with the hat?" Thai asked. Krys took the hat off, and her hair was wrapped, and held by bobby pins. Then she put the hat back on. "Okay- I don't usually start flirting with people."

"Okay- say… you just have to be really… _airy_- in almost every sense of the word. If he says that you look nice, what do you say?" Krys asked Thai.

"Oh- thank you, you do too." Thai said. Krys gave a half nod.

"Okay- that's good… but not _it_." she said. "A.J come here." A.J groaned, and walked over to them. "Tell me I look nice… and this is… the funny sexy ass _gangsta_ edition. This is Ares, when he isn't trying to be a gentleman." A.J laughed.

"Yo ma, you're looking bad in those jeans." she said. Krys laughed, and nodded.

"Thank you." she said. A.J looked at her questioningly, and Krys challenged the look. "Were you fishing for a compliment? If so, you have to work for it." Then Krys turned away. She turned back around and looked at Thai. "You're not supposed to be rude and play games, but- you're supposed to be a… sassy, smartass, playful type. _You_ especially- because that's who you actually are… and I know, first hand that that's how you act with _you-know-who_. But- it depends on who it is… you can't do that with everyone. Some dudes are crazy. So- just… be airy." Thai nodded. "A big thing is… with this flirting thing- you're basically telling them that you like them, but- they won't do anything about it."

"Okay." Thai said.

"Now- here are the never things. There are things that you _never_ want to do, when you're around a guy you like." Thai nodded. "Never act embarrassed by something that you've done to yourself." Thai nodded. "No- say he tells you that you're beautiful. What do you say?"

"Thank you." Thai said.

"You know that you wouldn't say that. You'd turn away, and give the shy blush smile." Krys said. Thai and the others laughed. "That's good. Guys like that- its cute… and its you. _When you're not supposed to get embarrassed._ _Never_ do this… don't ever fall and get embarrassed. If you fall, you laugh, while rolling around on the floor possibly- or you get up as soon as you do, while laughing."

"And if I get hurt?"

"You stay there, inspect the hurt… and whine an _'ouchie'._" Krys said cutely. "All the while- you start to rub it."

"What about- if you spit juice out?" Ginny asked. Krys looked at her.

"Well- if you're laughing… then continue to laugh and if its Harry- which it _better_ be- point and laugh at him, then say sorry. That might get you into a _really sexy_ food fight."

"What about sneezing on him?" A.J asked, trying to give Krys a challenge.

"Okay- this is a difficult one. Now- if its your boyfriend… you give him a horrified look, cover your nose and mouth… and do the scrunched eye thing. Then you blow your nose… and apologize in a different language… I recommend a weird language. If its a regular guy, you give him an 'oi', and a sorry, while covering your nose and mouth."

"How do you know all of this?" Thai asked.

"I'm skilled." Krys said. "This is my personal favorite… when you've stuffed your bra." They all laughed.

"What do you do, when… _the tissue falls out_?" A.J asked.

"Okay- I've never had the need to do this… even though I'm not packing much '_t_'- just a b cup… I always just figured that my 'a' would get me by. Especially since your brother seemed to like that… a lot. And the thighs. He _loved_ the thighs." Krys said.

"The point, Krys. I really don't want to hear about you guys and your sex life." A.J said.

"Ancient history…. But _very_ _good_ history. Your brother is a _God_… in all fields."

"La la l-" A.J started to sing. "The point."

"Oh- what were w- oh. The bra stuffing." Krys said. "If you see that he sees it… you drop a piece… then you ball it and throw it at him. Or… you can pull a piece out and blow your nose with it. Or- it varies. You have a list of things that you could do."

"What about- I have no idea what else. Krys knows all." Hermione said.

"Can I ask you a question?" A.J asked her. Hermione looked at her and nodded. "How is Ron?"

"He's fine." Hermione said. "You saw h- _oh_." A.J nodded, and Krys looked at Thai.

"Cover your ears." Krys said. Thai rolled her eyes, and looked at Hermione like the rest of them. Ginny covered her ears, and began to shudder.

"Ron is… he's sweet, and he's really gentl-" Hermione started.

"Okay- dude, I really wasn't looking for one of those sappy girly stories. I just figured we could talk like guys for once, and put their body parts on the spot, while possibly tucking our hands in our pants like Al Bundy." Krys said. Hermione and the others laughed.

"Well- excuse me if I thought that my first time was special." Hermione said. Krys laughed.

"That's because I never told you about my first time… I just figured that it was my business. There's no use bringing it back up, because we're done now. But you and Red are just beginning- so… be happy, and don't… well- don't throw it away." she said.

"You didn't throw it away." Hermione said.

"Yeah, you should just tell him." A.J said. Krys shook her head.

"I was going to- last night. He and Emily were doing it in the bed." she said.

"_The_ bed? The _Kingie and Bunny_ bed." Ginny asked. Krys nodded.

"He wouldn't do that." A.J said, as she shook her head. Krys looked at her. "He _really_ wouldn't. I _know_ Ares… _you_ know Ares. He would never disrespect your house like that. And… _never_ in the same bed."

"Well- he'll pretty much lose his options of where to do it, when we get to Disneyland." Krys said. They all looked at her and laughed.

"You guys did it there?" Ginny asked. Krys blushed slightly.

"He tricked me into it." she said. "He said that I wasn't spontaneous. So… I kind of… I- I'm not gonna go into details… but your brother and I made a lot of memories… _all_ over Disneyland. Fuck that- all over California."

"Yeah- do you know how many letters I sent you? How many times I called you that summer." Hermione said. Krys shrugged.

"Kingie's naked body- or hearing what old man stole your pepperoni." Krys said, as physically put her hands out- acting as a balance. "Kingie's naked body wins… _still_." They all laughed.

"So… you still wanna be with him, huh?" Thai said. Krys nodded.

"Enough." she said, trying not to sound too attached. They all nodded in mock belief.

"So what about this new Eric guy?" Hermione asked. Krys shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe I should blow off steam with him." she said.

"So- you want to make him your love puppet." Thai said. Krys looked at her.

"What- what the hell? You're like seven" Thai laughed.

"I'm only three years younger than you." she said.

"Really? That little- oh shit. I forgot how old you are. Why don't you have your license?"

"You're supposed to get me driving lessons." Thai said.

"Oh- I'll teach you how to drive. Stick shift and automatic."

"As much as I love seeing you two talk like this, and you being all _big sister_ like, Cookie- I wanna hear about the sexy boss man." Hermione said. They all looked at her. "I've been living with Krys for a very long time, I apologize that I'm no longer demure."

"I mean- I- he's cute. He really is… but- he's-"

"Not my brother?" A.J offered. Krys looked at her and shrugged.

"I mean- he moved on… maybe I should too."

"Krys, which part of you thinks he's moved on?" Hermione asked.

"He's _engaged_. In the land of Krys, engaged is a very big frickin' step." None of them could say anything, because it was somewhat true. "I mean- Eric is… he seems nice and he's cute. And that's what I need." Thai stood up and nodded.

"Yeah, me, too." she said.

"You're gonna tell Angel?" Ginny asked. Thai shook her head.

"I'm gonna find a new guy… my non relationship, nonexclusive, rebound man." she said, before she skipped out of the dining room.

"That girl is so screwed." Krys said. They all looked at her. "She loves him. Poor thing." 

"Same with you." Hermione said. "You keep telling her to tell him, yet _you_ won't tell _him_."

"Its none of his business."

"Really?" Hermione said sardonically. "The last time _I_ checked-"

"Okay- it _is_ his business… but its not anymore. And just so you know… I can be a hypocrite all I want."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"And why is that?"

"Because I've earned it. I mean- just because you're the one gettin' some, doesn't mean anything. I mean honest-"

"That has nothing to do with this." A.J said.

"Back to the ganging up on me. _Wonderful_." Krys said sarcastically.

"No- this is about your decision affecting a lot more people this time. You think we want to see him with _her_? When Ares told mommy that he was gonna propose to you… she offered to pay for the ring. The promise ring that he gave you… its been in the family since forever. Abuela Delgado left it to my mother, because she didn't think that _any_ other girl was good enough for her son… and when she died, she told my mother to pass it on- only to the girl that was good enough for the Delgado boys. My mother has been talking about him giving you that ring since she officially met you that summer. I- I cannot _stand_ the girl that he is going to marry. We _love_ _you_. _Tia Laurena loves you_. He- this girl is- _**oh God**_. She… the girl is the most stuck up bitch, I've ever met in my life. She makes me miss Ailen and Array. Krys… if you don't tell him… I will _never_ forgive you." Krys looked at her, then turned into a small shaggy black dog. She'd started to do this once a month, since she and Hermione left for Nemonora. Krys would walk around as a dog for an hour, and claimed that it cleared her head. But this time, Krys walked up to A.J, and started to beg. None of them could help but laugh. They all walked into the kitchen, once Krys turned back to normal.

"Dudes… I need a favor." Krys said as she skipped up to Harry. Harry looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Well- I need you and Thai to go pick up the teenage girls." Krys said, as she put on the cutest face she could muster.

"That doesn't work on me. I know who you are. I know you." Harry said, as he sat down. Krys nodded, and walked to Angelica. She whispered something in her ear, then sent Angel to Harry.

"Harry, Krys wants to know if you could please help her out… so that she can take me and Jamie to Toys R Us." Angel said cutely. Angel opened her arms, and Harry picked her up.

"I hate you, Padfoot." he said, through a clench toothed whisper. Krys smiled and sat down at an empty stool. Everyone but she and Ares had someone to talk to.

"Hey, Cookie… I'll see you later." Hermione said. "I'll be back tonight, alright?" Krys looked at Ron and Hermione holding hands, and rolled her eyes playfully.

"Do I have a choice?" she asked. Hermione and Ron shook their heads simultaneously.

"Not really." Hermione said.

"What does the _really_ mean?"

"How _really_ annoying you're being right now."

"Fine, _Frisky_." Krys said, before she growled. Hermione hissed, then winked, before she and Ron disapparated.

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When Ron and Hermione got to Hermione's apartment, they looked at each other. Hermione walked ahead of him, and sat down at the table. Ron looked at her, trying to read her thoughts without invading her privacy.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as he made way to the table. Hermione shook her head.

"Nothing." she said. "Everything is _very_ right." Hermione stood up, and pulled Ron into a kiss. The kiss was soft, until she plunged her tongue through his lips, and gained dominance of their battle. But as quick as it started, it stopped. Hermione groaned.

"Okay- _something_ is wrong." Ron said. Hermione looked up, and gave a long sigh.

"All we do is _it_. Is this a doomed-… what is this?" she asked.

"Okay- we make love a lot-"

"_Make love_? Oh God- that sounds weird." Hermione said. "I mean, we- all we've really done is it. And- don't get me wrong, I love it. Merlin, I love it… but- can that be a base for a relationship? Will It work if that's all we do? Plus- you haven't broken up with Kay- and, what if we don't have anything but the attraction in common…." She continued to ramble, but Ron didn't listen. Ron was wearing an amused smile, as he walked up to Hermione and cradled her face. While she was still rambling, he softly placed his lips on hers, and she immediately melted into it. When he felt that everything was melting away, he pulled back.

"I love you." he said.

"I love you too, but-" Ron kissed her again, then pulled back when she melted again.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yes, but-" Ron shook his head.

"Do you want to be with me?" he asked. Hermione's lips were still pouted, because of the kiss, as she nodded. "Do you love me?"

"Of course I love you."

"Then trust me completely. I'll break up with Kay as soon as I can. But- how long were we friends before we ever did it?"

"Seven years."

"Okay… its not just about that, for me. What's it about for you?"

"I just don't- I'm nervous… you might not like the newer me. Or you might like it too much- which isn't that good, considering its half Krys." Ron laughed.

"Hermione, I like all of you, yes. And even though I'm working on what I've known for the past nine years, I'm pretty sure I'll never stop loving you. And I'm pretty sure I loved you before your Krystathaili influence. I know that I love you, I know that I want to be with you, and I made my mind up about that a _long_ time ago. So now- the rest is up to you."

"Of course I want to be with you… I just- I wasn't sure if it was the thrill of being bad, or if I was enjoying it so much because I don't like Kay. But- I haven't been thinking about her since… well- since you kissed me, and… I want to be with you too." Hermione said.

"Good." Ron smiled, then the tips of his ears went red. "Now… I um- will- do you want to go to dinner with me? Anytime soon?" he asked awkwardly. Hermione laughed, and nodded.

"Of course." she said. "I'd love to." Ron laughed.

"So… what do you want to talk about?" Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know. Um-…… oh, Krys says that its happiness that enabled me to heal the tissue. I think she meant happiness about you." she said. Ron gave a lopsided grin, then laughed.

"How did you like healer training?" Hermione groaned.

"I had no idea how to feel about healer training. I loved it- I hated it… all at the same time." she said.

"Why?" Ron asked, as he pulled her to the sofa. Hermione lied her head on his chest. "What happened there?" 

"Because- I was… okay- in Hogwarts, everyone expected me to know the answer. No one expected that of me in Nemonora. They all expected Krys to know the answer."

"Was that love or hate?"

"That was love _and_ hate." Hermione said. "After a while- I missed it. I expected people to think it was me who knew the answer. And no one even knew about me. They all knew about Krys- until she left… and I- you know that I left with her. When we got back… she- she wouldn't say anything. She almost- she almost set the school on fire… and she- her conscience made her stop it. Then she wiped almost everyone's memories. But- we had a lot of fun too, once she got- started to get over it. Yeah well- then the teachers started to know both of us… and just- how was auror training?"

"It was… so-so. We all- it was- bad. It was horrible. The only good days were the weekends… then they were tainted in the second year. Moody was crazy and worked us to the bone." Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"Good." she said. "Hard work did you some good." Ron laughed. "And I see the difference in the muscles. Did you know that muscle stretches, in order to get stronger. Well- not stretches exactly, but- yeah, its something like that."

"Are you always a know-it-all?" Hermione hissed, and Ron puckered his lips. "I love it." he said, before he kissed her lightly. When he pulled back, Hermione slightly gave a cross between a hum and a purr.

"Do you remember our previous discussion about sex?" Hermione asked, with her eyes still closed. Ron watched her lips move, and kissed her again. Hermione made the small sound again. "Anyway- I don't know how its possible to lay here with you… and not want to be that close to you again."

"We never have to do anything that you don't want." Ron said. "So- if you really don't want to… we don't have to." Hermione still didn't open her eyes. She chuckled slightly.

"Anything to be close to you… anything to be with you… but- that's my favorite way." she said jokingly.

"I love you." Ron said. "I love you… more than… food." Hermione gave a broad grin, and opened her eyes.

"And I love you more than… reading." Ron's eyes widened.

"Whoa… I feel loved."

"Good." Hermione said, before she leaned up to place her lips on his. She gave him a light brush over his lips, then pulled back. "Because you are." Ron smiled, then cradled Hermione's face.

"That's good to know." he said, before he leaned in and teased Hermione, without words, but with his lips and tongue. Hermione moaned against his mouth, and pushed him away from her. Ron looked at her questioningly, but his eyes widened, when Hermione sat on his lap and pushed him back. She leaned down and kissed him roughly. As soon as she ripped his shirt open, he was completely turned on and there was no turning back. And as turned-on as she was, Hermione couldn't help laugh at the look on his face, when he took off her shirt. She was wearing a black wonder bra, which made her heaving chest more ample than usual. Ron could see her butterfly tattoo, because of her unbuttoned jeans. He traced the wings of the butterfly, and laughed, when he saw the names 'Bon-bon', 'Hermie', 'Dumpling' and 'Peanut' along the wings and antennas of the butterfly. With one glance at Hermione's face, the lustful look overtook his eyes once again. Hermione looked down at him, and traced almost every detail of his toned chest. When she trailed her finger down his stomach- _washboard rocking abs_- to the remove his pants, she blushed. With a wave of her hand, all of the blinds and curtains close, then the lights went out. Ron laughed, and looked at her in the very dim light. "Are you uncomfortable with the lights on?" Hermione nodded. Ron nodded, then pulled her down to meet his lips. Once the kissing started to become rougher and more passionate, Ron helped Hermione out of her jeans. She gave a sigh of content, when she felt their bodies pressed up together. Ron laughed, when Hermione fumbled with her own bra and almost ripped it off, out of frustration. "So impatient." he teased. Hermione narrowed her eyes, but quickly forgot all about it, once he pulled her close to him, and undid it, while kissing her. Hermione pulled back and looked at him.

"That was too easy for you." she said jokingly. "How many bras have you undone?"

"Um- about sev-" Hermione shook her head, and kissed him. When she pulled back, Ron smiled at her, and pulled her bra off of her arms. Her breathing became ragged as Ron French kissed her from her neck, to her belly button. When he helped her out of her underwear, Hermione was on edge………

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Ron and Hermione lied on the floor on airy comforters and crispy sheets. Their hands were laced together, and their breathing rhythmic. After an hour of not saying anything, Hermione spoke.

"Did you know that its _so_ much better when its… _what_ was that?" she asked.

"Very nice… sheer ecstasy." Ron said. "Did you know that I'm thinking of a tattoo?" Hermione smiled.

"Where?"

"Wherever you want it." Hermione smiled, and gave a girly giggle. "That was original." Ron teased.

"So was the '_wherever you want it_'." Hermione retorted.

"Feisty." Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"And you're still messing up my chi." Ron laughed, and they got quiet for a while. Hermione gave an obvious sigh.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at him, and nodded.

"Yeah, what happened?" she asked. Ron's ear tips went red, and he gave a faint smile.

"When this all… you know- when we're out- when we're a public relationship- when people- when everyone knows about us… do you want to- you know?" Hermione's eyebrows furrowed.

"What are you trying to ask me?" she asked.

"I- do you want to- I just want to know if-. So, where's Crookshanks?" Ron asked, redirecting the topic

"Oh- he died." Hermione said sadly. Ron looked at her.

"When?"

"Ron- what were you trying to ask me?"

"I want to know if- do you maybe wanna- um… do you want to live with me?" Hermione didn't say anything. "The awkward silence isn't a good sign… I know its too fast-"

"I wasn't aware that you have a place." Hermione said.

"No jokes, Hermione."

"Um- I…"

"I know- its okay." Ron said.

"No-no, I… wow- two days ago, I was a virgin and now- bam!- committed relationship."

"Hermione- just say no." Ron said. Hermione shook her head.

"No- no, I- wow… um- you're serious?" she asked.

"Not anymore." Hermione laughed.

"No jokes, Ronald." she said. "You want me to live with you?" Ron shrugged. "Do you?"

"A little bit." Ron said, with a pout. Hermione laughed.

"Yeah." she said. "Of course I'll move in with you." Ron looked at her.

"You're seriously saying yes?" he asked. Hermione looked at him intently.

"Did you not want me to?" she asked. Ron laughed.

"We're gonna move in together." he said. Hermione nodded.

"We're going to move in together." she said.


	14. I'm Going to Disneyland!

Later that night, Krys, and the other girls sat in the kitchen eating cookies, while Thai baked them. Krys seemed oddly calm to all of them. She was even calm when Emily announced that Kay was brining her older cousin's four year old daughter. She was calm when Emily insulted her and Hermione. And most surprisingly, she didn't do anything but smile when Hermione announced the near future's living arrangements. "That, and that cake, is why you have so much junk in your trunk." Thai said. She was pointing at Krys, who was eating cookies, by catching them in her mouth. They all laughed. "Then again… what guy doesn't like the junk in Cookie's trunk?"

"I can list about a gazillion." Krys said.

"And there is that prodigious vocabulary." said a voice from the door. Krys looked up, and Ares was walking into the kitchen. Krys rolled her eyes at him and they all felt the energy in the room shift, as Ares sat at the table. "So- what are we doing, ladies?" They all looked at him. "What? Are you all mad at _me_?"

"Yes." they said simultaneously.

"And what did _I_ do?" Ares asked.

"We heard about the argument." Hermione said. Ares rolled his eyes.

"Did she tell you the mean stuff that she said to _me_?" he asked.

"I'm right here. And _she_ has a name." Krys said. Krys was no longer calm. Ares looked at her.

"Are you done being difficult?" he asked.

"Are you done being a small, small dickhead?"

"_That_ is what I'm talking about." Ares said to the others. "She's pure _evil_."

"I'm evil?" Krys asked, as she stood up. "You called me an _incomplete_, _coldhearted_ person- and _I'm_ _evil_?"

"I apologized." Ares said, as he discreetly looked at what she was wearing. She was wearing regular sized boxers, and a cotton bra tank top, with Beevis and Butthead on it. On her feet were flip flops, and she wasn't wearing toe socks. She had cute feet and even cuter pedicured toes. He looked at her face. As angry as she looked with the scowl on her face, she looked even cuter. Her hair was naturally in ringlets, with her bangs covering her eye by default. He was almost turned on by the way she moved her mouth to yell at him, but quickly averted his eyes to her narrowed ones.

"No- you apologized when you started talking about the relationship bullshit. You had the nerve to insult me, then think that I was going to back down. Do I seem like a punk bitch to you?" Krys asked. Ares stood up, and focused on her scowl.

"Okay- maybe you two need a middleman." Ginny said. Ares and Krys both looked at her. "Okay? A middleperson." They both shrugged. "Okay- Ares, what angered you about Krys? Why did this argument start?"

"We were talking about what happened with me and Emily last night. She went psychotic." Ares said. Ginny nodded.

"Okay. And Krys, what happened? What angered you about that?" she asked.

"Its stupid and petty… I _know_ it is. But- I felt weird with him and his fiancé doing it in the bed. I would've rather them do it in _front of me_, than in the bed." Krys said.

"And I told you that we weren't fu-" Ares said.

"Well- when your fiancé opens the door and says- 'oh- I'm sorry, Ares and I were just d-" Krys mocked Emily's voice.

"Well, should I be apologizing?!" Ares asked, raising his voice. Krys stood up on the tips of her toes, emphasizing that her size wasn't going to be a problem when it came to beating his ass, and looked at him like he was stupid.

"Are you-… are you _yelling_ at me? Are you _seriously yelling_ at me? Listen- I'm _not_ your bitch- I'm _not_ your fiancé, I'm _not_ your _fiancé's bitch_- don't yell at me!"

"I just did!" Ares yelled, as he moved closer to Krys. Since he finally hit six feet, the height difference was nine inches, including Krys' tame, yet wild curls. Without the curls, Krys was only about five feet one inch. It wasn't that her hair was messy, it was more that her curls were big.

"I should kick you in your nuts, you big p-!"

"Oh, big bad Krys is gonna hurt me! Let me go hide in my fucking corner and curl into a ball!"

"Oh- you think that just because I once had feelings that kept me from fucking you up, I won't do it now?! Ha- you must have lost your goddamn mind if you think tha-!"

"You are so-!"

"BE QUIET!!" Harry yelled. He was standing in the archway. "You guys are loud as all hell."

"Well tell your cousin something, please! She's turned everyone against me. She's crazy." Ares said in an even crazier tone.

"Oh that just means that they like me more." Krys said.

"They're afraid to tell you the truth, because you're psychotic!" Ares yelled.

"**I'm the psychotic one, you bitch ass moth-**?!" Krys yelled.

"Blah, blah, blah." Ares said.

"See- that's your problem. _You're_ _immature_." Krys mocked. Ares glared at her.

"Shut up!" Harry yelled. Ares pointed at Krys and laughed. "Both of you!" Both Ares and Krys huffed, before Krys rolled her eyes and gave Harry the finger.

"Hey- have we come up with the final arrangements with the driving?" Thai asked, as she put a batch of cookies into the oven. They all looked at her, and Krys nodded.

"Yeah- I'm driving the Mercedes Van with my you, my Angel, my Jamie, Luis, Alex Angel, Jennifer, Victoria, Robyn and Rachel. H.J Prongsie Potter is driving the Expedition, with Pumpkin, J.J, Apollie and Bon-bon, along with some of the luggage. And last, but not least Papi Feo is driving Portia, with Toucan Sam, Kay- hoe, and Ronniekins." Krys said. They all looked at her. Ares looked with a glare.

"Who's Portia and Papi Feo?" A.J asked. "I mean- I already know who Toucan Sam, K hoe and Ronniekins are."

"Portia is the Porsche's name. And Papi Feo is… well- who else would be driving Emily and the gang?" Krys asked.

"You see? She's evil." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"You called him ugly?" Thai asked. "Everyone wants a piece of Ares." They all looked at her. "Not everyone including _me_. I mean- oh you know its true."

"Padfoot, stop being difficult." Harry said. Krys looked at him.

"I am anything _but_ difficult." she said. "I am wonderful, I am sweet, I am warm, and I am damn lovely and gentle!"

"Who the hell told you that?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him with her eyebrow raised. "Do you have to bring _everything_ back up?"

"The best way to flush _poison_ is to _regurgitate_!" Krys yelled.

"_I_ was poison?!" Ares asked.

"Pretty much." Krys said.

"And you figure this, _how_?"

"You make me sick." Krys said slowly.

"Maybe the _man-eater_ should stop preying on the innocent!"

"Man-eater? You're calling me a man-eater?"

"Is that your comeback?"

"Well- 'you made me sick' was my exiting line. I was _supposed_ to leave! Now my source of power is temporarily inept. I have to leave, then come back." Krys said, before she walked out of the kitchen. She came back a minute later. "Okay- lets pick up where we

left off." They all had to laugh when she said this.

"You're a man-eater." Ares said.

"I hope your male parts fall off."

"Is that what happened to yours?" Ares retorted. Krys looked at him, and started to laugh. They all looked at her.

"What? It was really funny." she said. "Its not working. I can't pick up with an argument. That's not how it works."

"So are you two going to mend fences?" Harry asked. Krys and Ares laughed at the same time.

"I'll apologize if she apologizes." Ares said.

"Then you'll be waiting forever." Krys said, before she walked out of the kitchen. A second later, she walked back in. "_That_ was my closing line." Then she walked out again. They all looked around, before Thai sighed audibly.

"This is awkward." she said. This lightened the situation a great deal, because they all laughed. "Where are the guys?"

"Ron and Jason are packing- and keeping Kay and Emily away." Harry said, as he picked up a cookie. "What's with the baking, Mrs. Fields?"

"I like cookies." Thai said. "I need cookies on road trips. Otherwise- I'll be a wreck." All of a sudden, half the batch of cookies disappeared. Thai looked at Harry.

"It wasn't me." he said.

"Whatever. I already made the supply for the trip."

"How long do you think we'll be driving?" Ares asked. "Disneyland isn't far from here."

"How long did it take you and Krys to get to Disneyland?" Hermione asked him knowingly. Ares rolled his eyes.

"How long did it take you two to get to Disneyland?" Harry asked him.

"Two days." Ares said bitterly.

"Why?"

"They kept pulling over." Hermione said. Harry's face got a disgusted look on it.

"Ill." he said with a shudder.

"Road trips with Krys are very fun. I remember this one time… we got pulled over because she was speeding. Krys can flirt her way out of a well." A.J said.

"Yeah- you're talking about that road trip the first summer? When we apparated here, but drove to Vermont?" Thai asked. A.J nodded.

"That was fun." she said. "We stayed in a bunch of hotels for one night, because Krys was afraid of Motels. But when we drove at night- we had so much fun."

"When she flirted with the old police officer?" Hermione asked. Thai, Ginny, and A.J nodded. "She had him blushing like crazy."

"And when she flirted with the _woman_." Ginny said. Hermione looked at them questioningly. "You were asleep." Hermione laughed.

"Thai was on a big sugar high, because she ate so much maple candy." Hermione said.

"Yeah, she almost slept the entire day on the way home." A.J said. 

"After having jumped up and down around the whole bed and breakfast in Vermont." said Ginny.

"Hey hey- you guys gave me the candy." Thai said. They all nodded. "I'm going to pack."

"Oh- yeah. A.J, Hermione, we have to go steal stuff from Krys' closet." Ginny said.

"Oh yeah." Hermione said. They all left Harry and Ares alone in the kitchen. The two looked at each other. They stood silent for a minute.

"Um… I'm gonna go pack." Ares said. Harry nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

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"You guys have too much drama." Hermione said, as she walked into Krys' closet.

"He is an asshole." Krys said, as she packed. Hermione laughed. "Let Ron in."

"What do you-" Hermione started to ask, but she was interrupted by the knocking door. Hermione walked out and opened Krys' door. Ron was standing in the doorway, with a bashful expression on his face. He looked up at her.

"Hey." he said, with a shy smile. Hermione smiled back.

"Hey."

"Um- can I come in?" Hermione nodded, and opened the door wider.

"Of course." she said. She walked farther in after him, and clucked her tongue. Ron looked at her, as she focused on a picture and continued to cluck her tongue. In a quick movement, Ron leaned in and kissed her. They only pulled back because of the small whimper that they heard.

"You guys are so disgusting." Krys sobbed, without tears. "I'll give you guys your little private moment."

"No- I just came in to say goodnight." Ron said.

"Did you think that that was an invitation for you two to do it in my bed?" Krys asked. Ron couldn't help but laugh, before Krys left the room.

"She'll never change." Hermione nodded.

"I know. But- that's not even a bad thing." she said, as she sat on Krys' gigantic bed. Ron walked over to her, and sat close to her. "So- what's going on?"

"I-"

"Rhetorical question, Ronald Bilius Weasley." Hermione teased, as she placed his hand on her thigh. Ron laughed.

"Doesn't matter, Hermione Jane Granger." he retorted, leaning in close to her. Hermione growled, and puckered her lips slightly. Ron smiled and gave her a feather light kiss on her ear, then her lips, then her collarbone. "Mmm, Ms. Granger." Hermione pulled back, then composed herself, slightly in shame of how small touches made her feel.

"We have to stop." she said.

"Okay." Ron said, as he nodded. He looked at her. "Why, exactly?"

"Because, if we don't… we never will." Ron laughed.

"I can control myself. I just- I want more of that." he said. Hermione smiled, and walked to him slowly. When she got to the bed, she leaned down and kissed him.

"Goodnight, Ronald." she said, when she pulled back. Ron nodded, and got up.

"Can I have a kiss goodnight? You know, before I go." he said. Hermione smiled.

"Now why would I send you to your girlfriend all happy and ready to go?" she teased. Ron smiled.

"I'm only happy and ready for you." he said. "Can I have a kiss?" Ron pouted, and looked like a newborn puppy.

"When I kiss you, do you promise to go to your room?" Hermione asked. Ron nodded. "Okay." Hermione walked closer to him, and pressed her entire body against his. She slowly licked her lips in a way that made Ron's eyes dart in their direction. She then bit her lip, and stood on the tips of her toes, before closing in on Ron's top lip. Automatically, his hands started to roam after he put them under her shirt. Hermione pulled back and smiled. "You have to go now." Ron pouted.

"I don't wanna." he whined. He crossed his arms, and gave her the puppy dog pout. Hermione kissed his pouting lips, then walked to the bed.

"I love you. Goodnight." she said.

"I love you too." Ron said. "Goodnight." As soon as Ron opened the door, Hermione closed it, and kissed him again.

"I love you." she said, when she pulled back. Ron nodded.

"I love you too." he said breathlessly. "Merlin… I love you."

"Good." Hermione said, before she pecked his cheek over and over again. After about another ten minutes, the two _had_ to part. "You cannot be here anymore." Hermione said. Her hair was disheveled, as were her clothes, considering that her pants were unbuttoned, and so was her shirt.

"Why?" Ron whined. Hermione gave a devilish grin.

"Because, if you don't leave… I'll want to do this." she said, kissing his ear, before her tongue flicked the lobe. She straddled him, and kissed his neck.

"Okay." Ron said breathlessly. "I-I have to go." Hermione nodded.

"Yeah." she moaned. "You do." She got off of him, and walked to the bed. "Goodnight." Ron moved over to her, and kissed her cheek. "Ron- you can't go."

"Why? What happened?"

"Um- you're… you are… think of synonyms for unyielding." Ron said.

"Rigid, stiff, hard-"

"Those two." Hermione said, before Ron looked down.

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The next morning, Krys woke up to Hermione, Ginny, Thai, Alex and A.J next to her. Krys got out of bed carefully so that she wouldn't wake them. She immediately followed through with her morning routine of taking a shower, washing her hair, face and brushing her teeth. When she was done bathing, she went straight to her closet. She decided to get dressed in navy blue Old Navy slacks and a cotton/spandex white Gap t-shirt. Krys put on white on white high top Air Force Ones and a white coach belt. She stared in the mirror after she dressed, then ran her hand through her hair. It straightened and curled together at the ends. Krys tucked her hair behind her ear at the right part, while her bangs went over her left eye as usual. Her cartilage bar was white gold, with a swirl of blue. The two studs in her regular two rows were sapphire white gold studs. Krys put on a blue Yankee fitted and a matching Yankee hoodie. The hat was slightly to the side and the hoodie looked like it would've been a fit for Andre the Giant. After she was dressed, she ran to her dad's room and pressed the intercom for each room. An alarm was heard through most of the house. Thai, Alex, Hermione, A.J and Gin woke up at almost the same time. Krys looked at them and whistled loudly.

"Get up! Rise and shine, ladies!" she yelled. They all looked at her, and mumbled something. Krys whistled again. "Wake up dammit!! Thai, you get my bathroom! A.J, you take the downstairs bathroom! Gin, you get my closet shower! Hermione, you get the hallway bathroom!! Alex, you take a shower downstairs in the hallway bathroom!! Now dammit! Up, up, up!" The girls all trudged out of bed, while glaring at Krys. They all went to the bathrooms, and Krys left the room. She walked into Thai's room. Jennifer, Rachel and Victoria were still sleeping. The only one that was awake, was Robyn. She was going through her suitcases. She looked at Krys and gave a tired wave. Krys smiled and waved back.

"I have nothing to wear." Robyn said. Krys smiled.

"What? Are you looking for a summer boy?" she asked. Robyn nodded, causing Krys to laugh. "C'mon. You can have something from my closet- seeing as you're almost taller than me, and we look the same size." Robyn smiled, as Krys led her to Thai's bathroom. "I'll bring you something." Krys looked at the girls on the beds, and whistled as loudly as she could. "Up, up, up!!" Rachel and Jennifer jumped, while Victoria slept soundly. "NOW! UP, UP, UP DAMMIT!!!" This was enough to get Victoria up. She yawned as soon as she woke. "Get your clothes together, and get dressed. I'll be up in an hour. There's another bathroom downstairs, and one in the hallway." Krys waved, then skipped out of the room. She walked to the boys room and knocked really hard, before she opened the door. "I hope you're all dressed!! Up, up dammit!! Boys get dressed!! Now!! NOW!" Harry got up, and threw a shoe at Krys. She started to curse at him in Spanish.

"Padfoot, get out!!" Harry yelled, as he blew a doggie whistle. It took everything that Krys had to not pull out a rifle and start to hunt him then and there. Instead Krys laughed it off, and left the room. She ran upstairs and knocked on Ares and Emily's door. Ares opened the door after a minute. He was already dressed. He was wearing baggy Antiques and a white t-shirt. On his feet were white on white Air Force Ones and he wore a blue Yankee fitted. Because he opened the door so wide, Krys could see Emily and Kay still asleep.

"Um…" Krys started. Ares nodded.

"Yeah, I'll wake them up." he said. Krys nodded, then walked away. She ran down the stairs and went to Jamie's room. He was still sleeping soundly with his plush car. Krys smiled, and snapped. Jamie was clean. Krys snapped again, and his clothes changed. Krys walked out of his room and into Angel's room. Angel was sleeping on her bed purring. Krys walked over to her and snapped. Angel was clean. She snapped again, and Angel's clothes changed and her hair was done. Krys walked over to Kay's kin and snapped twice. The little girl was cleaned, and wearing new clothes. Krys walked out and back to her room. The showers were still running. Krys walked down to the kitchen and snapped. A bunch of sandwiches made themselves and packed themselves, and whizzed to the food bag. A.J walked into the kitchen and sat across from Krys after awhile.

"What's going on, chica?" she asked. Krys shook her head.

"What are you wearing?" she asked her. A.J was wearing regularly fitting light blue jeans, and a white t-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag on it. On her feet were white Adidas with red and blue stripes and the Puerto Rican flag at the toe and the back of the sneaker. Today her hair was a very light brown, in a middle ponytail.

"Stole your shit." A.J said.

"That's mine?" Krys asked. A.J nodded.

"Yup." she said. "But the question is; what are _you_ wearing?"

"I like this." Krys said. "Its very comfortable."

"But will it turn heads?"

"I don't want it to."

"Yes you do." said the voice walking into the kitchen. Hermione sat down on the stool next to Krys. "But- it's a reverse psychology thing that's she's doing."

"What are you talking about?" Krys asked.

"You know that he loves the way that you dress." said the new voice walking into the kitchen. Krys looked at the archway. Thai and Ginny were walking in. Thai spoke, and Ginny was agreeing.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on." Krys said. "First off, what the hell are you guys wearing? Patriotism almost all over, huh?" Hermione was wearing fitting black jeans with a British flag belt. On her shirt was the British flag half massed. On her feet were classic black Reeboks. Her hair was out, but her bangs were left out from a headband that pulled the rest of her hair away from her face. Ginny almost looked exactly like her, except her jeans were light blue, and the Reeboks were white. The appearance that shocked Krys the most was Thai. Thai who was wearing a plaid skirt that hit mid thigh. The skirt was beige with baby blue print. Her shirt was a baby blue camisole that fit her upper half perfectly, except for the fact that a chunk of it was missing. The shirt showed her midriff. Over the camisole was an open beige suede jacket, that was longer than the skirt and almost covered it. On Thai's feet were knee high suede boots with heels. Thai's hair was silkily straightened, and some was pulled into the ponytail, while the rest was left loose with her bangs in front of her left eye. All girls wore their regular chains, earrings and lip gloss. "Did I buy you that?" Krys asked Thai. Thai nodded.

"Yeah. You bought it yesterday." she said.

"Oh shit." Krys said. "I'm probably a horrible influence for saying this… but it looks _really_ cute." They all laughed.

"I like it." A.J said.

"Same." Gin said. "Makes me want to wear a skirt."

"That's only because that give Harry easy acc-" Krys started jokingly.

"Don't start." Gin warned.

"I'm shaking in my Ups."

"Speaking of- what is it with you and Uptowns?" A.J asked, as she looked at Krys' feet.

"Ups, Reeboks, K-Swiss, Airmax, Adidas- with the right pair of socks, they make you feel like you're walking on air." Krys said.

"Yeah…" Gin said, with a thoughtful look on her face. She was looking at the Reeboks on her feet and nodding. "They really do."

"See." Krys said. They all laughed.

"I'm gonna go get Alex." Thai said.

"No you're not." they all said. Thai looked at them.

"What?" she asked.

"You're going to go upstairs and traipse around so that Angelo sees you." Krys teased, Thai rolled her eyes, and walked up the stairs. "My record is shot to hell." A.J and Ginny laughed, while Hermione looked at her questioningly.

"What record?" Hermione asked.

"Thai's-" But Krys never got to finish. Harry, Jason, Ron and Ares walked downstairs and looked at Krys. "What happened?"

"What the hell is Thai wearing?" Jason asked. Krys looked at him.

"Honestly, Padfoot- how can you consider letting her leave the house like that?" Harry asked. "There's- its- where's the fabric?"

"She- she _really_ needs to change." Ares said.

"I agree with all of this." Ron said. Krys looked at all of them.

"Okay- Prongsie, question for you." she said. "How old was Ginny when she wore the outfit to the Gryffindor party?" Harry didn't say anything. "She was sixteen, and it didn't matter to you, because you liked it and you guys were in a… sort of a relationship-y thingy."

"Yeah, but-" Harry started.

"Doesn't matter." Krys said.

"Okay, but how about-" Jason tried.

"And when you really, really realized that A.J was _bad as hell_ was when she wore a skirt a bit longer than that." Krys said.

"We-" Ares started. Krys looked at him.

"Don't get me started on you. You wouldn't want your fiancé to hear it."

"She's too young to be wearing things like that." Ron said.

"No- she's just not the girl that you want to see wear things like that." Krys said. "In a few months, she'll be able to do whatever she wants. She's not a little slut-butt. She gets good grades. She doesn't drink. She isn't doing _it_. She doesn't hop from boy to boy. And she has me. Does anyone have any objections?" Krys asked. None of them said anything. They all sat around the counter and a minute later, started to eat cookies.

"Its funny how a man always thinks about the-!" Krys looked up at the singing, and saw Thai skipping into the kitchen. She changed her outfit. She was now wearing a fitted black t-shirt with the Lucky Charms Leprechaun on it. Her pants were black and slightly baggy. On her feet were green on black low uptowns. Thai's her was in a messy side bun and she was wearing a green on black Mitchell and Ness cap. It was to the side.

"Why'd you change?" Krys asked. Thai looked at her with her eyebrow raised.

"The look on your face when I walked in her with that on. Are you kidding me?" Thai asked. Krys looked at the guys smugly. "Plus- they only want, Only want my ha, ha-ha, Ha, ha-ha, Only want what they want, But, nah, ah-ah, Nah, ah-ah" Krys and Thai did their little handshake to the song, just like in the Pussycat Dolls 'Beep' video. "That skirt was drafty as hell. I have never felt so much breeze _in my life_." They all laughed. "And to think, our little Cookie Monster has skirts way shorter than that."

"Little girl, remember who pays your credit card bill." Krys said. Thai stopped talking and they all laughed. "Where are the rest of the people?"

"I'll go get Emily." Ares said, as he got up. Krys rolled her eyes and looked at Thai.

"Can you go get your little Mickey Mouse Club?" she asked. Thai laughed and walked out of the kitchen. "What's Kay's cousin's name?"

"Maggie." Ron said. Krys nodded, then walked out of the kitchen. Ron, Harry, Ginny, A.J, Jason and Hermione sat in the kitchen silently. A few minutes later, Krys came down with a dormant Jamie in her arms, while Ares held snoring Maggie, and Angel held purring Angelica. Emily, Kay, Alex, Luis, Rachel, Robyn, Rachel, Victoria and Thai walked down behind them. As soon as Krys came downstairs with Jamie, Harry took him from her. And the same happened with Angel and Angelica, when Jason took her. They all left Ares with Maggie, who was proven to be a pain in the ass, the previous day, when she couldn't have ice cream for dinner. Krys looked at all of the clothing bags and snapped. Thai picked up one food bag, while Hermione picked up the other.

When they got outside, the cars that they'd use were already parked at the stairs. Krys ran to the Mercedes van that was somewhat like an RV, except it was stylish and Krys wouldn't allow anyone to go to the bathroom in there. Inside, Harry, Ares and Jason were already putting the kids in the gigantic crib type bed that Krys supplied.

"Are you sure that you can drive this thing?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him.

"Are you sure that you can drive that thing?" she asked. Harry laughed.

"That's why you get stuck with a bunch of teenagers."

"I am a teenager." Krys said.

"Oi- me too." Harry said.

"Um…" Ares said, as he was walking over. "On the highway-"

"Neutral, clutch, third gear. On the highway, clutch, then fourth gear." Krys said. Ares nodded, then got out of the van. Krys and the others got out behind him. They were all still waiting outside. "Okay people. Emily, Kay, Ron- you're with Ares in Portia. Thai, please give them their candy bag. Um- please don't drop any crumbs in my car. Drivers, you already know which way we're going. Please stick to the route. Stop at the second gas stop, please. Apollie, Pumpkin, J.J, Bon-bon, you're with Harry- unless you want to roll with me, Bon-bon." Hermione looked at Ginny and A.J, then walked over to Krys. "Teenagers, you're with me." Krys and Hermione walked to the van, and pulled out first. All of the cars followed.

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The first hour on the road, Krys noticed that the Escalade looked like it was running weirdly. As they stood in traffic that Krys couldn't understand, she saw that the car took a second to move.

"Hermione, does the car look like its stalling when Harry steps on the gas?" she asked. Hermione looked ahead of them, and watched as the traffic in front of Harry moved.

"Yeah, it does." Hermione said. They hadn't seen their rest stops yet, so Krys called Harry on the car phone and put him on speaker.

"Prongs, change of plans." she said.

"Padfoot, this car is pissing me off." Harry said. Krys laughed.

"I saw that it was stalling. You- pull into the next rest stop, okay?"

"Yeah, you might want to call Ares and tell him that." Harry said, before Krys hung up. Krys rolled her eyes, and called the Portia's car phone.

"Um- pull into the next rest stop, okay?" Krys said, as soon as Ares picked up.

"Yeah. I need to- Portia is out of control." he said. Krys laughed after she hung up.

"What's the point in arguing anyway?" Hermione asked.

"He's a-" Krys started. "Forget it." Krys looked up and saw Harry pulling into a rest stop, so she followed. Harry stopped next to the air pump, and Krys stopped a few feet behind him, making sure not to block any cars. Ares pulled up behind her. Krys hopped out of the car, and walked to the Escalade, with Ares behind her. Harry was still behind the wheel. "Pop the hood."

"You can fix cars?" Jason asked. Krys took off her hoodie and fitted and handed them to Harry, who was now next to her.

"She's the Latina Kim Possible, with black hair." A.J said, from the backseat. They all laughed at that. Krys looked under the hood and checked the transmission oil, after she put her hair in a high ponytail.

"Its completely dry." she said, as she took out her wallet and handed Harry a twenty dollar bill. "Prongs… ask if they have transmission oil. Get four-five bottles, please." Harry nodded and went into the shop a few feet from them. Ares looked at Krys who was standing on a stool, fixing a car, then at Emily, who was looking at her nails. The difference between the two didn't shock him, considering the difference in how they made him feel. He was snapped from his thoughts, when Jason walked back with transmission oil. Krys looked at him, and hopped off the stool.

"Who knew she knew about cars?" Jason asked Ares. Ares shrugged.

"It doesn't really surprise me." he said. "She learned to drive when she was fifteen. Why wouldn't she know about cars?" Harry walked over, and looked at the car.

"Where's Padfoot?" he asked.

"She left when I brought the oil." Jason. Harry nodded.

"How the hell does she know about cars?" he asked. They both shrugged.

"I was just asking the same thing." Jason said. They all stopped talking, when Krys walked back over with a funnel. While she put the bottles of oil in, she sang 'I Just Wanna Love You', by Jay-Z and Pharell.

"I'm a hustler baby, I just want you to know

It ain't where I been, but where I'm bout to go

Now I just wanna love you, but be who I am

And with all this cash, you'll forget your man

Now give it to me. But don't bullshit me." she started. Then she started to rap Jay-Z's part. "When the Remi's in the system, ain't no telling, will I fuck 'em will I diss 'em, that's what they be yellin, I'm a pimp by blood, not relation

Y'all be chasin, I replace them, huh?

Drunk off Crys', mami on E, can't keep her little model hands off me

Both in the club, high, singing off key "_And I wish I never met her at all_..."

It gets better, ordered another round, It's, about, to go, down

Got six model chicks, six bottles of Crist', four Belvederes, got weed everywhere

What do you say, me, you, and your Chloe glasses, go somewhere private where we can discuss fashion

Like, Prada blouse, Gucci bra, filth marked jeans, take that off" Back to Pharell's part. "Give it to me. But don't bullshit me.

I said give it to me. But don't bullshit me" The back to Jay-Z. "Yeah, save the narrative, you savin it for marriage

Let's keep it real ma, you savin it for karats

You wanna see how far I'ma go, how, much I'ma spend but you already know

Zip, zero, stingy with dinero, might buy you Crys', but that about it

Might light your wrist, but that about it, fuck it, I might wife you and buy you nice whips

Ma, but you really gotta ride nice dick, know how to work your hips and your head's priceless

Profess you love the Hov', and I'll never let you down, get you bling like the Neptune sound

Okay, hot Hov', too hot to hold, ladies love me long time like 2Pac's soul

Only way to roll, Jigga and two ladies, I'm too cold, Motorola, two way page me, c'mon" Then back to the chorus. She didn't even notice that Ares was watching her intently, as she checked the rest of the easy car things. "Give it to me. But don't bullshit me.

I said give it to me. But don't bullshit me.

I'm a hustler baby, I just want you to know

It ain't where I been, but where I'm bout to go

Now I just wanna love you, but be who I am

And with all this cash, you'll forget your man." By the time she got to Jay-Z's last verse, Ares was almost in arousal at how her mouth moved, and at how down to earth she was. He finally decided to move away.

When Krys was done, she moved to the Porsche. Everyone went inside to get hot drinks, hoping to wake up some more.

"Is she behaving?" she asked Ares. He nodded, and touched his cheek, gesturing to a smudge of dirty oil that was on her face. He got out of the car.

"You have oil on your face." he said. Krys nodded and wiped it off with her sleeve.

"Is the car working for you?" she asked. Ares shook his head.

"I'd almost go as far to say that you messed with it to hurt me and my pride." Krys raised her eyebrow.

"Is it my fault that the man can't handle a stick shift?" she asked.

"I'm sorry if not everyone can handle a stick shift as well as the Great Krystathaili." Ares said hotly.

"Oh- you don't know how well I can work a stick shift when given the right equipment. And by 'not everyone', do you mean Emily?" Krys asked. Ares' jaw twitched.

"You're a real pain in the ass." he said. Krys blew him a kiss.

"Aye dito. You can take the Mercedes." Krys said, as she threw him the keys. Ares threw her the keys to the Porsche. A few minutes later Emily and Kay walked towards Portia. Krys had the hood up, and she was checking the oil. Hermione walked to her, just as Kay and Emily started to get in the car.

"Mate, since when can you fix cars?" Hermione asked. Krys laughed.

"There's a lot that I can do, dude." she said. "Exempli gratia, did you know that I speak Latin?"

"Don't you speak like, every language?" Krys shrugged.

"Probably, but I've spoken Latin fluently since I was ten. I was also able to speak, Spanish, English, and Portuguese since then." she said.

"And when did you learn about fixing cars?" Hermione asked.

"A girl who can't fix a car is the base example of why urban legends are created. I don't like to feel helpless. Every car has two spare tires, patches, and tools in the trunk. My dad and I took a mechanics class one summer. I decided to read up on it, afterwards." Krys said.

"Well- just so you know… I can ride a motorcycle." Hermione said. Krys looked at her, after closing the hood.

"Can you really?" she asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Not worth a damn, but… I wanna be interesting." she said. Krys laughed.

"Um- are you done?!" Emily yelled, before she got out of the car and slammed the door. Krys looked at her.

"Oh- so you'd rather be in a car that'll blow up." she said sardonically. "Go to the car over there, dick- towhead." Kay got out of the car, and she and Emily started to have a water fight. A water fight that coincidentally mostly wet Krys and Hermione. The moment that water touched Krys' hair, it started to curl again. Hermione looked at her and laughed.

"How does it do that?" she asked.

"What?"

"Your hair. When it curls, it automatically goes into place." Hermione said.

"I don't know. Is it messy?"

"I said it goes into place, didn't I?" Hermione mock snapped. Krys laughed.

"Do you wanna fight me?" she asked.

"That was the message I was sending, yes."

"I must warn you. I am a Jedi master." Krys said.

"You're such a weirdo."

When the rest got out of the shop, Angelica, Jamie, Thai and Hermione rode in the Porsche with Krys.

Two hours later, they were checking into the concierge suites. Krys and Hermione walked to the front desk in the Disneyland resort.

"Hello, how do you do?" asked the woman at the front desk. Krys smiled.

"I'm good, thank you." she said. "I'm checking in under the name, Krystathaili Rodriguez."

"Okay." the woman said. "You have ten rooms. Correct?" Krys nodded.

"Yes." she said.

"All penthouse? Three, three bed suites, and one suite with a queen size, one kiddy bed and a crib. That's three rooms with the Winnie the Pooh theme, and the other six regular, correct?"

"Um- can we make that one with the queen bed, a queen, two kiddy beds, and a crib?" Krys said.

"Okay. Well- here are your keys. Um- it says here that you requested Disney credit cards. How many do you need?"

"Um… eighteen, please."

They walked to the Penthouse, before they stopped to discuss anything. When Krys handed all of them their Disney credit cards and travel schedules, they all thanked her. Well- all except Kay and Emily.

"Okay- so there's a breakfast buffet, lunch buffet and dinner buffet. All at scheduled times. There's also a full blown spa. All of which are charged to the room. Stick to your buddies, people. The rooms are on the top floor… and Ares, please don't lose your fiancé. You too, Ron." Hermione said, as she handed out the Disney credit cards, while Krys handed out room keys.

"Okay- Bon-bon and I have decided to- if you want to go to Disneyland today… meet us in my room in two hours." Krys said. The teens seemed to disappear with the kids, as soon as they got their credit cards and room keys. All of the _adults _looked at Krys and Hermione. The two friends couldn't pull their eyes away from Kay nibbling on a bored Ron's ear. Krys slung her arm around Hermione's shoulder and directed both of their attention to Ares and Emily. Emily's bleach blonde hair was in a high ponytail away from her face, showing the massive makeup caked on her face. "I like your hair, Emily. I can't pull off a high ponytail to save my life. I always end up looking like a prostitute."

"Like you'd need a hairstyle to look like a whore." Emily scorned. Krys actually looked wounded. She was trying to put her jealousy and their differences aside, to maybe wash out the friction. She actually tried to be nice to Ares' new fiancé. The insult threw her off balance.

"Emmy, don't be mad." Hermione cooed. "My Cookie works upper-class places. She's the best of the best. If you work hard enough… fix a few things… balance out the 't' and 'a' a little, stop looking like something out of the Discovery Channel- I'll get you out there too. Soon- you'll be going for five- maybe ten pounds. Maybe you'll even hit a twenty pound note someday." Krys' eyes widened, and she almost choked on laughter, but she held it down, and pointed to herself.

"Crème de la crème." she said. Then she pointed at Emily.

"Bottom of the barrel." Hermione said for her. Krys laughed.

"Dude- who wants to go shoot some pool?" she asked. They all looked at each other, and without words walked back downstairs.

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When they got to the game room, Krys and Hermione lost themselves in a game of pool. With a year and a half as Krys' roommate, Hermione had become a whiz in pool, darts, poker, guts, and almost all videogames imaginable. The two girls immersed themselves in the game, ignoring all their friends and hormonal onlooker teenage boys watching them.

"Okay- if you make this… I'll give you…" Krys trailed off. The girls were playfully gambling. Krys had already lost her chain, two galleons, her hat, and her cream Fendi Spy bag that Hermione had her eye on. "The hoodie off my back." Hermione nodded. She'd already lost her belt, twenty American dollars, her bracelet, chain and her ring. Krys took the hoodie off and handed it to Harry and Jason, who were holding the pot.

"Its not like you have much else anyway, Honey." Hermione teased.

"Yadda, yadda, yadda. Save the drama and make the shot, Peanut." Krys joked. Hermione lined the ball up and kissed it, making two of her cue balls. Krys rolled her eyes.

"Make your bet, baby." Hermione teased, as she blew on the end of the cue in a slightly provocative way. Krys laughed, and looked at her.

"Flirty." Krys said. Hermione's eyes widened, and she looked at A.J and Gin.

"Okay- if we're gonna talk about flirty- A.J, Gin… would I be lying if I said that Krys does worse than that?" she asked.

"Krys, you're horrible." A.J said.

"She really is. Do you remember when we spent that week in Florida, and she-" Gin started, until Krys started to stop her.

"Hold on. Hold on." Krys started. "I do not do anything flirty and slutty, like the female cue puff."

"You name these things?" Ginny asked. Hermione and Krys nodded. "And what are the others?"

"Wait- wait. What the hell are you guys talking about?" Harry asked.

"None of your damn business." Krys said jokingly. "Hey Prongsie, can you get me a ice caramel coolatta? And a chocolate chip cookie type thing. Oh- and a _big_ brownie."

"The line is ridiculous, Padfoot." Harry said.

"Please, Prongsie." Krys said, as she stuck her lip out, and showed him the Marauder chain.

"Fine. Do you want anything?" Harry asked the rest of them. He turned to Gin. "Do you want anything, Gin?"

"Just an iced tea, please?" Ginny asked. Harry smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Do you want anything?" he asked A.J. She shook her head, thanked him, and turned to Jason.

"Jason, can you get me a Pepsi?" she asked. Jason nodded, and kissed her cheek. Kay and Emily looked at Ron and Ares expectantly.

"Em, do you want something?" Ares asked. Emily smiled.

"Just a coffee." she said. "Oh- nonfat milk, and light on the sugar, but cinnamon." Ares nodded, and they all watched as Kay looked at Ron expectantly. Finally after about half a minute later, Ron asked.

"Do you want something?" he asked her. Kay nodded.

"A coffee, nonfat milk, and light on the sugar, _Ronniepoo_." she cooed. Ron nodded.

"Okay." He looked at Hermione. "What about you, Hermione?" he asked warmly. His tone was sweet and gentle with Hermione. Where it seemed natural being nice to her, it was also involuntary to be mean to Kay. Hermione looked thoughtful.

"Mochaccino, please?" she asked. Ron nodded, and the guys all walked off with each other. Krys started to explain, as soon as she turned back to the girls.

"The female cue puff- it works, but it's a feminine flirting- or cute girly cliché." Krys said. Hermione was about to object, before Krys started to explain. "Wrong or right- in every movie that you see with a woman playing pool, she does one of these?" Krys held up her cue stick and lightly blew on it.

"As opposed to your slutty lip licking?" Hermione jokingly retorted. Krys gave her the look of mock offence, and they laughed.

"Number one… when _I_ do it, _it works_. Other women, I don't know. I only hope that I can pass it down to Thai one day." Krys said.

"Do it." Ginny said. Krys looked at her weirdly.

"I can't. I have to be attracted to someone." she said. "Its very difficult trying to be sexy, when you despise the person."

"You despise me?"

"No- I'm just not attracted to you. You know- something about women… they just doesn't make me go vroom-vroom." They all laughed.

"Oh- well I'm off the hook then. For a moment I was scared." Emily muttered. None of them said anything for a minute. They all just stood silent for the moment, not saying anything, waiting for Krys to retort or react at all. Finally, when they all thought that she didn't hear it, she sat on the pool table and looked at Emily.

"What is your problem with me?" she asked seriously, and almost kindly. The two women stared at each other in a challenge, before Emily gave a small smirk.

"I simply don't like you." she said. Krys nodded, and gave the look that said 'oh- wow'.

"Okay. See- that's all well and good, but you have to have some specific problem with me, for you to be a bitch 24/7. And small shit like that- it doesn't get to me, but don't get all huffy when I punch you in your fucking mouth. But trust-… if I was to ever move that way I'd probably waste my time on someone pretty, or worth it. Just remember that saying your little slick shit when Ares isn't here, it's a neutral ground. He won't hear you insulting me, he won't see me beating the shi-"

"Cookie, confrontation… not liking it." Hermione said.

"Being a lapdog to avoid confrontation." Emily said. "Yet- I thought lapdog was _your_ title." she said to Hermione. Both Krys and Hermione looked at her, before they looked back to the pool table.

"Bon-bon, should we start to play again?" Krys asked.

"Cookie… I think we should go play air hockey." Hermione said.

"Or- flirt with younger guys." Krys suggested. Hermione nodded.

"That works too." she said. The two looked at each other and laughed. "Do you have gum? I need gum."

"Yeah… I have some Trident- you want it?" Hermione nodded, and put her hand out. Krys looked through her pockets and pulled out some gum. "Dude- we should go." Hermione nodded, and the two started to walk slowly towards the air hockey table.

"You should really cut those puppet strings." said a voice behind them. Hermione looked at Krys, and inhaled deeply, before she dragged her back to the pool table. "Lapdog once again." Kay said.

"Okay- I don't think you get it. You've won." Hermione said. "See- in the past few days that I've known of you, you've insulted my dead parents, my best friend, me, and pretty much- you've just fucked with me constantly. But let me tell you this; its over. The next thing you say to insult me or my friends, you'll have blood dripping from your pores before you can get your wand. So don't test me." Hermione looked at Krys, then at the rest of them.

"So- where we going?" Krys asked in a witty manner. Almost all of them laughed, including Hermione, who seemed angry as hell.

"When are you going to leave?" Kay said. Hermione looked at her.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"When are you going to get over it, and realize that he's mine? He doesn't want you, and he's with me now. I have him, and he's hooked. I'm closing in on that diamond, and he's not going anywhere. Just like Emily has Ares. You guys just have to get that… they don't want you. And that whole 'we're best friends' thing, its getting old. So- just leave without embarrassment." Kay said. A second later, Krys had her on the floor, by a simple trip spell.

"Oh- you're jealous of the relationship I have with your fiancé? I thought you didn't like me because I look better." Krys said to Emily, before she wiped invisible sweat off her brow and turned to Hermione, Gin and A.J. "I'm gonna go find leave and find Thai, before I do some serious damage."

"I'm coming with." Hermione said. The two looked at Gin and A.J. "Mates, you don't have to come. I just wanna badmouth Kay and Emily, with Krys." Krys laughed, and kissed her hand twice, and gave imitation slaps to A.J then Gin, as her and Hermione's hands intersected, indicating that that was their signature parting move. The two younger girls laughed, then looked at their brother's spouses. When Krys and Hermione were walking away, Krys looked over her shoulder.

"And Emily." she called. They all looked Krys and Hermione's way. "I actually look better than you with the high ponytail."

"But she's a better kisser." Kay called back.

"I'm sure you would know." Hermione said, before she turned back to Krys. "Krys, why are we exchanging insults?" Krys shrugged.

"Oh shit- the guys haven't gotten back yet. I want my iced coffee." she said.

"Yeah… I want my mocha too. Lets go back." Hermione said, as she dragged Krys back to the table. A.J and Gin looked at them questioningly. "We want our stuff."

"Yeah, I'm really going crazy for my ice caramel." Krys said.

"And your big chocolate chunks of fat." Emily said. Krys looked at her.

"Oh honey, you don't have to be jealous of my lovely lady lumps." she said. "I swear, I'm gonna make '_Fergalicious_' my theme song. That or '_Beep_'. Its gonna work for me." Hermione, Gin and A.J laughed.

"My theme song would be… 'Skips' by Alexz Johnson." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"That song works for you. Then again, me saying that Fergalicious and Beep are my songs, makes me sound conceited." she said. They all shook their heads.

"Very modest… low self-esteem even." A.J said. "You're like a happy _Daria_."

"How long is this gonna take? I want my mocha." Hermione whined.

"Dude- I took the Fendi spy bag for you. I just forgot to give it to you." Krys said. "Just remind me when we get home." Hermione nodded. "When's the photo shoot for Witch Weekly?"

"Uh- Wednesday." Hermione said. "And Teen Witch Weekly is… Thursday. We have a spread for both. They asked about us doing a spread for Warlock's World. I just didn't feel comfortable with being in a men's magazine."

"Uh- Thai told me that… I don't want you to go crazy. You're gonna go crazy." A.J said. Krys looked at her. "A talk show called your house. They want you to guest star a talk show."

"Whose talk show?" Krys asked.

"Okay- you love this person. They used to dominate the pages of Victoria Secret." Krys' eyes went wide.

"Okay- I actually want to do that show. I love her. That woman is like- especially when she was on Fresh Prince." she said. "I want you guys to go with me."

"Dude… I'm in." A.J said.

"Ditto." said Hermione.

"Always." Ginny said. Krys looked at them.

"You're all weird." she said.

"Please." started the voice behind them. "You're _all_ weird." Krys turned around, it was Harry. She laughed and noticed that the guys were walking towards the couches. They were carrying trays.

"Okay- please don't sit." Krys said, just as they were all about to sit on the _clean_ couch.

"Krys, just sit down." Hermione said. Krys shook her head.

"No- its nasty looking." she said. At that moment, Hermione and A.J pulled her down onto the couch, while she screeched softly. When she realized that she survived, they all laughed at her. "Okay- fuel, Prongsie." Harry rolled his eyes, and handed her a bag of things that he got her. "I love you, Prongs. Platonic soul mate number one. The rest of you are falling behind big time. Redeem your spots."

"Krys, shut up." Jason said, holding back his laughter.

"I will not be silenced." Krys said. "And you- you should be ashamed of yourself. You were platonic soul mate number one, and now- I can't even. I don't _know_ you anymore."

"Can you please stop flirting? Some of us are trying to eat." Emily said. Most of them looked at her simultaneously.

"Hon, you have something in your teeth." A.J said.

"Whoa." Hermione said suddenly and softly. Krys looked at her.

"What happened, Bon-bon?" she asked. Hermione pointed in the direction where she was staring. Krys looked, and her mouth almost dropped open. In the direction where Hermione was pointing, was Brandis. Brandis, who was known as Hermione's ex-boyfriend.


	15. Blast From the Past

Krys looked away, and slightly moved Hermione's head. The black haired girl leaned into Hermione's ear.

"Pretend you don't see him, okay?" she said. Hermione nodded, and looked down at her mocha. Krys and Hermione pulled out their hand sanitizers at the same time. The two looked at each other and laughed. Krys held her cookie out to a very shaken Hermione. She took the cookie and set it on a napkin, before she, like Krys, started to cut it into even pieces.

"You should get that checked out." Harry said. Both girls looked up.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"You should get that OCD thing checked out." Hermione looked at him questioningly, before she ate the cookie with a fork.

"What OCD? I don't have OCD." she said, after she wiped her mouth. Four times in each corner

"She really doesn't." Krys said. "I mean- we eat cookies, brownies and muffins the same way. Its normal." Krys started to set tissues down on the table.

"Krys, you think cutting everything into eight even pieces is normal when its personal food?" Jason asked. Hermione started to cool down her coffee.

"Its not normal to be a slob either." she said. "And its not eight pieces. Its four. She's eight. Just because I do something differ-"

"No. Key point. You do it the way that _Krys_ does. That's an axiom, it's already given that _any_ way that Krys does something is the weird way." Jason said.

"Hey- hey. This is not _'gang up on Krys'_ day, okay?" Krys said. "And what's an axiom?" They all looked at her weirdly. "What?"

"You don't know something?" Ron asked her. Krys rolled her eyes.

"Oh- axiom. As in Euclidean geometry proofs, right? Axiom, a truth that's just accepted, without having to be proven." she said, as she organized her eating section.

"Now I'm not happy anymore." Jason said. Hermione looked at what Krys.

"I don't do that. What she does is weird." Hermione said, as she gestured towards Krys' little area. Krys had everything on tissue, and she was arranging the chocolate chips on the brownie, so that each section of the brownie had an even amount. When Krys looked up, they were all staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"How do you eat a cookie?" Harry asked.

"What?" Krys asked in a confused tone.

"How do you eat a cookie? What do you do to eat a cookie?"

"Um- I either have to break it up and catch them in my mouth, or I have to cut it and eat it with a knife and fork. That's why I can't eat cookies in boxes. You try and cut one of those, something'll fly in your eye, I saw it happen." They all looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

"You're weird." Ron said.

"No, I'm not." Krys said, before she looked at Kay. "So- Kay- Archaelas. I apologize. How are you? How's work? How's your shop?" Kay looked at her.

"Yesterday the minister's wife got her hair done there. She looked fabulous." she said. "And how is your work? What is it that you do again?"

"Pretty much nothing. I'm gonna live off of Harry and Jason for the rest of my life. Yeah, Prongs- my shower in your house is fucked up. You gotta fix that." Krys said. Harry glared at her. "So the Minister's wife, huh? Who did her hair?"

"I did. She invited me and my guests to the Minister's ball." Emily said. Krys nodded.

"That is so cool." she said. "The minister's ball next week?" Emily nodded. "Won't that interfere with your wedding?" Emily shook her head.

"Our wedding is two days after that." she said.

"That's lovely. I can't wait." Krys said. "So- what about you, Kay? Do you think I can schedule an appointment to get my hair done in your place?"

"Oh- well… we have a long list of people who want their hair done in Kay and Emily. Our prices are getting higher everyday. The average person can't afford Kay and Emily's salon." Emily said.

"Oh- lovely, creative name." Krys said. "Excuse me, I have to make a phone call." Krys got up, and walked to the pool table. As soon as she got away, she called Thai's cell phone. '_Please, come rescue me from these bitches. Me and Hermione need a 911. Or just me. Bring the kids. I luv ya._' Krys skipped back to the couch, before she heard someone call her name. She looked in the direction, and a big flash blinded her for a minute. "What the fuck?" Krys turned the next way, and continued her way to the couch.

"Who the hell was that?" Hermione asked. Krys shrugged.

"I don't know. I just- who the hell is taking pictures of me?" she asked.

"Probably paparazzi." Hermione said.

"Wonderful… invade my lame ass life. I could see if I was having sex- that'd work as a scandal, and I'd hopefully be enjoying it. But see the headline 'Little Orphan Annie spends weekend in Disneyland Resort'. Shocker that I'm not a big bitch with no time for the little ones."

"Bitch is enough." Hermione joked. "But to be a _big_ bitch is just- _whoa_." They all laughed.

"You're horrible." Krys said. "You know what I don't understand?"

"What?" A.J asked.

"How really ugly, stupid, broke ass people can be mean too." Krys said. "Like- okay… if you're ugly, have something good about your ass. Honestly." They all laughed.

"That's bad." Hermione said. "But very true."

"I mean- okay for a man, he could have big male _parts_."

"Krys." Hermione scolded. "We're women, _that's_ what we should care about." Krys laughed.

"Well- she could have nice nipples." she said, in an 'in all fairness' manner. This made them all laugh. "But its true. If you don't have a job, and you don't have money, and you're dumb, ugly, and a bitch- what the hell? You can't do that. Otherwise you have nothing going for you."

"You just said it." Hermione said.

"But then think about those people who just radiate… confidence. You're ugly as hell, and you're rude… yet you have this good air about you. That's crazy." Krys said. "I'm… I have no idea what I am. What word would you use to describe me?" Hermione looked thoughtful.

"Cookie." she said. Krys laughed. "What about me?"

"Peanut." Krys said. "Okay- what about you guys? What word would you use to describe me? And orphan isn't an optio-"

"That's not funny." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"This is my sad ass way of making fun of myself. I- its- what words dammit?" she asked the others.

"Padfoot." Harry said.

"Krys." Jason said.

"Honey." A.J said.

"Kryssie." Ginny said.

"Krystathaili." Ron said. Krys looked at Emily and Kay.

"Murky." Kay said. "You know what that means, don't you?" Krys smiled.

"Scrounger." Emily said. Krys' eyebrows raised.

"_Whoa_. Hostility." she said. "My word for both of you would be… superseded." Hermione, A.J, and Gin laughed. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"Krys, that's not nice." Hermione mock scolded.

"Well, I'm murky and a scrounger. That hurt my feelings." Krys said.

"Cookie, you're at the top of the food chain." Hermione said.

"I mean, honestly- you could've chosen any word." Krys said to Kay and Emily. "You could've called me a doorknob. You could've called me a bicycle."

"Why bicycle? I've heard of the village bike, but bike?" Jason asked.

"Always down for a ride." Hermione said. They laughed.

"You could've called me a… discharge. You could've called me a latex condom. You know- 'cause almost any male part would fit. Dude, work on your material. But I have one for you… for Kay… I would call you a Kay." Krys said. They all looked at her. "Oh- 'cause a K, turns its back to any letter ahead of it. Get it?" Hermione laughed.

"You're special." she said. Krys nodded.

"I know. Then again, almost every letter does that. But still- it works." she said. "Anyway- that hurt. I should go in the corner and write a poem about feelings."

"You can't write poetry." Hermione said, in a dreamy voice.

"Did I tell you that I saw Luna?" Ginny said. Krys looked at her.

"The creepy girl?" she asked.

"That was your title, Krys." Hermione said.

"Excuse me but- Krystathaili and Luna are very different titles. I am a Krys and she is a Luna. Creepy girl is… that Slytherin with the crooked teeth." Krys said.

"Krystathaili Rodriguez?" said a familiar voice. Krys looked to where her name was being called and groaned softly. It was Brandis. Krys looked at him questioningly. "Don't tell me that you don't remember me."

"I'm sorry." Krys lied. "I have no idea who you are." He walked closer to her, ignoring all of the others.

"Its Brandis. I was on your dad's soccer team in England." he said. Krys squinted her eyes and shook her head.

"It doesn't ring a bell." she said. "I'm sorry. Maybe- maybe we never actually spoke."

"No- I used to call you 'Little Coach Rodriguez'. I used to date Veronica Granger. Remember?" Krys shook her head. "Hermione's cousin. Hermione your best friend."

"I remember them… I just- you don't ring a bell. I'm sorry." she said. Brandis shook his head.

"Its okay." he said. "Look, maybe we can get to know each other again." He gave her an obvious grin, and handed her a card. Krys looked at it, but before she could say anything, Brandis was looking to Krys' left, at Hermione. "Hermione Granger."

"Huh?" Krys said.

"I know that _you_ remember me, sweet." Brandis said to Hermione.

"Um- I'm sorry. Do I know you?" Hermione tried. Krys almost laughed at how badly she was doing, until she saw the glare on Ron's face.

"Look Brandon." Krys started. Brandis looked at her.

"Brandis." he corrected.

"Yeah sorry. Um-"

"How's Veronica?"

"I'm sorry… I'm still having trouble placing you." Hermione said.

"That's okay." Brandis said. Then he looked at Krys. "Maybe we can _all_ get to know each other again. Dinner tonight, my room, maybe? Room 112." He winked, and started to walk away, before Hermione tripped him. When she tripped him, he ended up on top of Krys. This seemed to piss them all off, especially since he took about two minutes to get up. After he started to get up, Krys pushed him up the rest of the way. "So- what do you say to dinner tonight?"

"She says no." Hermione said.

"Come on, sweet-"

"Don't." Hermione stopped him.

"I know that-" Brandis started.

"No, she's right. I say no." Krys said. "Plus- you're too old."

"And how do you know how old I am, if you don't remember me?"

"Okay, if she's pretending that she doesn't know you, then that means that she really doesn't want to be bothered with you. And you're pathetic for even trying to strike a memory that won't light… mostly because its underwater. Its sunk." Hermione said. "And she's right. You're really old. Bye-bye."

"Oi vey, Krys." Thai said, as she got to them. She was carrying Jamie, while Alex had Angel and Maggie. Maggie walked over to Kay and Emily, while Angel walked to Krys.

"What happened, Thai?" Krys asked, as Angel and Jamie cuddled up to her.

"Jamie's sick." Thai said. "He's been throwing up… and now… he's- dazed and out of it. It creepy how delirious he is." Krys looked at him. He actually did look a bit sick. He had little beads of sweat on his forehead, and he was pale. Krys felt his forehead.

"**Oh- he **_**is**_** sick**. Listen- you guys are gonna go to Disneyland without me. I'm gonna take care of Jamie." she said. "Listen- you guys should get dressed, the bus should be here in an hour." The worst part was when Krys looked at Angel. "I'm sorry Angel, I can't make anyone take care of you. So- you have to stay with me." Angel nodded.

"Okay." she said cutely. "Is Jamie okay?"

"Um- Krys, I'll take her." Ares said. Krys looked at him. "Kay and Emily are going to the spa place anyway. I'll take her." Krys looked at Angel who nodded.

"Um- okay." Krys said, as she got up. "C'mon, Angel, we should get dressed."

"I'm coming. There isn't much here for me." Hermione said, as she got up.

"Hermione." Brandis said again. "Are you sure about dinner?" Hermione laughed and didn't turn around.

"You have no idea how sure I am." she said, walking away with Krys.

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When Hermione and Krys got up to the room, Krys immediately put James down on her bed. Once she did this, she and Hermione picked out clothes for Angel to wear, while Thai bathed her.

"What's wrong with you?" Krys asked Hermione. Hermione gave her the questioning brow. "I mean, are you okay? Are you mad?"

"I don't know how to feel. He hasn't said two words to me since last night, when he came to your room and said goodnight." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"Actually- he asked you if you wanted something, so that counts as more than two words."

"Don't start with me, young one." Krys laughed slightly, then started to iron Angel's clothes. "That's cute." Krys nodded.

"Thanks. Did you see her hair this morning?"

"Yeah- in the sun. Her hair turned red. I swear, she'll be a heartbreaker." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"So… um- so what if he hasn't spoken to you, you home wrecker." she said. Hermione's eyes widened, and so did her mouth, causing Krys to laugh.

"I am no home wrecker. I just- you know how much I love him." she said. "Its never just been about the sex for me."

"Well- are you sure that its about emotion for him? Has he made it clear that you're more than his F.W.B?" Krys asked. "I mean- I'm definitely not saying that it isn't about love. I can tell that he loves you… but- I don't know. No- I know that this implication is wrong. He loves you."

"He gave me his heart gem, and said that he wanted to be with me. Do you think that I was actually duped into giving it up?" Krys laughed and shook her head.

"No." a voice shouted from the bathroom door. "He wants to be with you." Thai said. Krys looked at Hermione and nodded.

"Honestly, Bon-bon. You're the only lucky one. _You're_ getting some. I mean- you led him on for _seven_ years, and you're _still_ getting some." Krys said jokingly. Hermione laughed. "I mean- all I did was dump Kingie, and now he's all- '_Ooh, we'll never go out again_'. I went out _and_ had sex with him, but I only struck out _twice_. I'm supposed to get a third strike. _I_ should be getting some. I mean- its been two years. I didn't get the third strike." Hermione and Thai laughed.

"Well- maybe the third strike was not knowing that he liked you." Thai said, as she and Angel walked out of the bathroom.

"_You_ can't even talk about being stupidly clueless." Krys said, as she tossed the lotion to Thai.

"Well- neither of you can." Hermione said.

"Just 'cause you're getting some, doesn't mean that you can smash on the born again virgin." Krys said.

"Why don't you just tell him the truth?" Hermione asked her. Krys looked at her and smiled. Then, she handed Thai, Angel's outfit for the day. There was a pregnant silence, as Thai and Hermione waited for her to state her reasoning.

"Every time I try… something goes wrong. He'll either tell me not to, or his fiancé will open the door. Its- there's no longer a point. No good can come of me telling him. It'll either change everything, or it won't change anything at all. And I don't want either."

"Krys, something has to change." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"If he loves me, then he shouldn't need to know."

"If he believes that you felt the way you told him that you felt, when you dumped him, he'd be _dumb as hell_ to go back to you." Thai said. Krys and Hermione laughed.

"True. But- if I'm the same person that he knew back then, he should be willing to take a chance." said Krys.

"No- no, he _really_ shouldn't. He'd have to be an _idiot_ to go back to you, after the way you broke up with him." Thai said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"She's right, you know? Your breakup words were heinous. I'd have cried." Hermione said.

"There has to be a base." Krys said. "A smidgen of something rekindling. If not, then he'll only be coming back out of pity and reward. I'd rather him marry that… _thing_, than pity me. What happened is my business, and it was my problem." Thai laughed and they both looked at her.

"You guys are too picky. You need to suck it up and tell Loverboy the truth. Otherwise, you should prepare to live a life of unhappy and sexless nights." she said.

"You mean, unhappy, sexless nights, accompanied by my new lifetime asshole companion, _you_." Krys retorted.

"Excuse me, but I gave myself two options. I would either do something about it, or move on with my life. I intend to move on with my life. Meaning, even if I'm unhappy- there's that chance of me getting some." Thai said, as she finished putting Angel's pants on.

"The moment I think you're gonna get some… I'll be ordering a chastity belt online. You and your little fast tail. Don't start with me." Krys said. She walked over and ran her hand through Angel's hair. All three girls almost melted at how cute she looked. She was so small. They dressed her in a cute jade green cotton t-shirt, with ruffled short sleeves, and matching corduroy pants. She had a cloth belt with all different shade of green to match her green Pumas. Her hair had a low side bun with pretty green barrettes. Her bangs were side swept, and she had the little emerald studs that Krys got her in her ear. Krys picked her up and kissed her cheek. Then she put a light green thermal hoodie around the little girls waist. "Okay… so- I have a little gift for you, Angel." Angel smiled.

"What?" she asked. Krys pulled something out of her pocket. It was a cute little gold bracelet that said 'Angel'. The bracelet had little engraved butterflies around the name. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Krys said, as she put it on Angel's wrist. "You're going to have a lot of fun with Ares." Angel nodded. "Now if anything happens… just think of me, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Angel asked, as she wore a pout.

"I mean, if anything bad happens… I want you to think about me. Or about Harry. And if we don't come to you right away… I want you to rub the bracelet, okay? Like this." Krys said, as she rubbed her finger over the name. "Okay?"

"Okay." Angel said, as she nodded. "Like this." She ran her finger over the name. Krys nodded and kissed her cheek.

"Good." she said. "Hermione- can you take her over to Ares?"

"You don't want to see him?" Hermione asked. Krys sighed.

"You got it." she said. Hermione nodded, and picked Angel up.

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Hermione walked Angel out to the hallway.

"Are you happy that you're going to Disneyland today?" she asked the little girl. Angel nodded excitedly.

"I really wanted to go to SeaWorld to free Flipper, but now- I can't wait to see Pooh." she said. Hermione laughed, and knocked on Ares and Emily's room door.

"What do you want to be when you get older?"

"I want to be a marine biologist, a lawyer, or a concert pianist." Angel said. Hermione smiled.

"I used to want to be a judge." she said. The door finally opened, and Emily stood by it.

"Yes?" she asked. Hermione groaned.

"Where's Ares?" she asked.

"He's not here." This time, it was Kay who spoke. "Why don't you go back to your bottom feeding friend?" she asked. Hermione groaned, and picked Angel up.

"You know what the say about nice girls finishing last?" she said. "They are _so_ wrong." And with that, Hermione walked off to Harry and Ginny's room. Angel knocked on the door for her. When the door was opened, it was Jason who answered. Hermione walked in.

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The guys sat around in Harry and Ginny's room, while the girls hung out together.

"Ron- would Kay leave a date with you to go get her goddaughter?" Ares asked.

"Kay doesn't have one." Ron said. "But- if you're asking if she'd leave a good date to go get anyone, she wouldn't."

"Have you ever seen Kay without makeup?" Ron laughed.

"I have no idea what Kay really looks like. I haven't ever seen her without the works. The fully made up face- she always has it." he said.

"Get over it… with the way you're going, you're stuck with her for life." Harry said.

"A.J doesn't wear makeup. It makes her breakout." Jason mused.

"No one asked you about your _almost_ _natural_ girlfriend. What about the fact that she dyes her hair?" Ares said.

"Its not my fault that you don't know what your fiancé really looks like?"

"I swear, I have never seen her without any makeup." Ron mused. They all looked at him. "I need to dump her now."

"Yeah, so that you can spend another three nights in the same hotel." Jason said. "Do you know how awkward it is to break from a girl once you've beat it? I had to duck out for two months, after I had sex with Array."

"What were you thinking when you did that, anyway?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. But- once I was freaking off with this girl named Stacey… and she found out that I- anyway, her sisters _knew me_ pretty well. I had to hide out for a week. She kept sending me these notes. I mean- I-"

"What was your problem with girls?" Ron asked. "Why didn't you want to date any of them?"

"Alright, think about it this way. These were girls that I said two words to, before they started to put their hand on my leg, or whatever they would do. Any girl that you can have sex with on the first date… you can't wife a girl like that. I mean… I can understand if we had a relationship. Any and every girl knew that I didn't want a relationship. I told them that I didn't want a relationship." Jason said.

"I had sex with Lavender again. The summer after first year in auror training. I saw her in Diagon Alley and she invited me back to her place. I was drunk. It was sort of by choice. She still took advantage of me." Ron said. "I mean- with Hermione it-"

"Don't want to hear it." Harry said. "Ugh- you and Hermione, mate. I don't understand how you can do it." Ron looked at him. "Then again, you and I don't see her the same ways."

"That can't be worse than Ares being in love with _Krys_."

"I'm not even _attracted_ to her anymore." Ares said. They all laughed. "What? I'm _not_." The guys continued to laugh, when the door knocked. Jason got up and ran to it. Hermione strolled in with Angel in her arms.

"Hello ladies." she said, as Angel waved. Jason took her from Hermione and sat her on the bed.

"How's James?" Ron asked. Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know. But- I guess he's sleeping it off." she said. "He was looking a little pale all morning."

"Um- how are you?" Ron asked in a voice that was begging for flirtatious banter. All of the guys in the room groaned, and averted their eyes. Angel giggled, at the display of the friends and followed them in watching television. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Hermione said. "But you say that as if we haven't spoken in months."

"That's what it feels like." Hermione laughed and Ron took her hand. "I- trust me, I'll break up with her today. I just didn't want to have to be stuck in a car with her, or-"

"I'm not rushing you. I hope that its coming, and I know that you love me… but you don't have to rush anything for me." Ron watched her intently, figuring out what she was saying.

"Do you still love me? Even though I'm attached." Ron said jokingly.

"You'd just better hope that I still _like_ you. Because loving you is never going to be a problem." Ron gave Hermione a lopsided grin, then kissed her cheek.

"I love you." he said.

"Good." Hermione said.

"Um… can I ask you a question?"

"What happened?"

"That guy from the game room… do you-"

"Are you jealous?" Ron nodded.

"Insanely." he said. Hermione smiled.

"Good. You know- I could just get Krys to take Kay out. Then you wouldn't have to break up with her." she whispered. Ron chuckled softly, but stared at Hermione.

"Has she been bothering you?" he asked.

"This isn't second grade on the playground, Ron. But- she's mean." Hermione whined. Ron kissed her nose.

"I'll take care of it." he said. Hermione nodded.

"Okay." she said. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Good." she said.

"Um- what has she said to you?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Pretty much the usual '_stay away from my boyfriend_' talk. Then again, she's not worse than Emily." she said.

"Okay." Ron said, as he nodded. "I'll see you later tonight?" Hermione shrugged.

"Its up to you." she said.

"Then I'll see you later tonight." Hermione smiled.

"Wonderful. Its not like you had a real choice anyway."

"Are you going to Disneyland?" Hermione shook her head.

"No." she said. "You?"

"I have to take Maggie." Hermione nodded.

"Hot guy with a kid… turn-on. Don't forget about me." she teased. Ron chuckled.

"That's not possible."

"Splendid." Hermione said, before she kissed his cheek. "I have something special for you."

"Oh?" Ron whispered. Hermione nodded. "What is it?"

"Something sexy." she said.

"Mmm." Ron said, before he licked his lips. "I definitely can't wait for tonight, then."

"Well- you'll have to." Hermione said, before she moved away from him. "Bye ladies." Then she skipped out of the room.

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After Hermione left, the guys and Angel looked at Ron. Ron gave them all a salute, then walked out of Harry's room and down to his. He walked into the room and looked around. The room was dimly lit and there were candles and a table set for two. Kay walked out, in a sheer white thong and pushup bra. A pushup bra that she didn't need. At least, Ron assumed that, when she shed it, in an act of a striptease. She walked to Ron slowly, and started to kiss his neck. "Ronniepoo." she cooed into his neck. Ron looked at her.

"Yes?" he asked deadpan. Kay frowned and straddled him. Ron wasn't amazed that it didn't have the same affect as when Hermione did it.

"I love it." she said, as she showed him the ring on her ring finger. "And I do, Ron! I do! I can't wait until we can get marri-" Ron got up suddenly at the sound of the 'm' word. So suddenly in fact, that Kay slipped off of him when he did. She purred, when she dropped to the floor, in some pathetic attempt to be sexy. Ron ran to the door quickly, and didn't look back. He ran to Krys' room in horror. He banged on the door before Hermione opened it.

"Hey, what happened?" she asked, with a frown. "Are you okay?"

"Hey- hi." he said to her. "Um- um- I need to talk to Krys in private." Hermione nodded, and opened the door wider so that he could walk in. She walked in behind him, and Ron shook his head. "No, no, no- you can't be here."

"Why not?" Hermione asked in a confused tone. Ron kissed her cheek.

"You- you- you can't be here." he repeated. Hermione rolled her eyes, then huffed as she walked to the door. As soon as he heard the door slam, he walked to where Krys was. "I need your help." His voice was urgent.

"What happened?" Krys asked.

"Kay thinks that I want to marry her." Ron said. Krys looked at him.

"Why?" she asked, as she looked up at him. Ron looked at his feet.

"She found the ring that I was going to give Hermione." he said softly.


	16. Lets Talk About It

"What?!" Krys harshly whispered. "What type of ring?" Ron smiled slight.

"A ring."

"What's the occasion?"

"I want to…I want to marry her. I just don't know when to give it to her."

"Congratulations. Oh my God. Who knows?"

"Just you." Ron said.

"Oh- Jesus Christ- you? What exactly is it that you want me to do?" Ron gave Krys a small smile.

"I want you to break up with Kay for me." he said. Krys smiled.

"Gladly." she said, getting up. "I'll do it right now, and then you can stay with Hermione in her room." Ron laughed.

"Don't be cruel." he said.

"What's our lie? How do we explain the ring?"

"I don't know. What do you think?" Krys smiled.

"Its my ring… and you were getting it fixed for me." Krys said. Ron nodded.

"Can you go get me un-engaged, please?" he begged. Krys groaned, and nodded.

"Yes."

"Don't hit her." Ron said suddenly. Krys looked at him, then sat down.

"Then I can't help you." she said. "I mean- I'm-"

"Okay- you can hit her." Ron said.

"Okay. I won't, because… I'll be you." Krys said, before she got up, and turned into Ron. She walked to the door and left the room, before taking in the most fun that she'll have had in days. She walked to Kay and Ron's room, and knocked. Kay opened the door, and leaned in for the kiss. Krys held her hand out, keeping Kay away from her. "Don't kiss me." Krys walked into the room, and pulled Kay behind her. When she turned into Kay, she pulled the ring off of her finger. "We're not getting married. We're not engaged, and we're over."

"But- Ronniepoo, why?" Kay whined, as she tried to press against him. Krys moved back.

"Because you've cheated on me numerous times." she said.

"But- you said- you said that you forgave me."

"I lied. We're over."

"Can we at- why? I love you."

"No, you don't. You love the fact that I'm dependable and reliable. You don't love me. Maybe you should continue with those guys that you've been fucking with." Krys said. She walked over to Ron's stuff and picked it all up. She turned around, and Kay was completely nude. "Cover up." And with that, Krys walked out of the room. When she got back to her room, Ron was waiting eagerly. Krys touched her forehead and turned back into herself.

"What happened?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"You are no longer attached." she said, as she dropped Ron's bags. "You have to get going. The bus will be down there in about thirty minutes." Ron nodded, then hugged her.

"Love you, Krys." he said.

"I know." Krys said. "I'm great. Now get the hell out of my room, and tell your lady that you love her." Ron nodded, and left the room.

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As soon as Ron left the room, Kay tackled him, and forced a kiss on him. When he finally pried her off of him, he saw Hermione walking by him with her eyes focused on something else, as she hurried to Krys' room.

"Kay, I just told you that we're over." Ron said.

"But sweetie, I'm hot for you." Kay said. Ron pushed her off, and ran back into Krys' room after Hermione. As soon as he got in, Hermione looked at him.

"Did you change your mind?" she asked softly.

"No, no, no, no- Merlin, no." Ron said. "I just broke up with her- Krys broke up with her for me. But- when I got into the hallway, she tackled me. No, of course I didn't change my mind." Hermione nodded.

"Okay." she said. "Where are you staying?"

"On someone's floor." Ron said. Hermione smiled.

"How about my bed?" she asked. Ron raised his eyebrows.

"Aye, Ms. Granger. What would people think?" he teased. Hermione laughed.

"I don't care." she said, with her chin held high. "Do you?"

"I have no shame." Ron joked. Hermione's eyes widened, and she pinched him.

"Oi, Weasley… I am a perfect catch. I am brilliant and I am funny. Not to mention completely self sufficient, and sexy."

"You don't need to tell me." Ron said in a low voice.

"Okay- can you two get the hell out of my room?!" Krys yelled. "You're disgusting."

"Its only because you can't have him." Hermione teased.

"I can have them all." Krys said in mock cockiness. "I am a perfect catch. I am brilliant and funny. Not to mention completely self sufficient and sexy." Hermione laughed. "I have good hearing. Now get the hell out of my room. I've done my part for your relationship, by loaning out my boyfriend two years ago. I will not play host to your lovers rendezvous."

"We're not going to have a lovers rendezvous. I have to take Maggie to Disneyland with the others." Ron said.

"I'm staying with Krys." Hermione said. Ron looked at her with a pout.

"You don't want to come with me?" he asked. Hermione looked at Krys, then at Ron.

"Dude- I don't want you to get sick too. And if you stay… that'll happen." Krys said. "You should not miss Disneyland. Go on. Have fun."

"Goodbye." Hermione said in a singsong voice, as she dragged Ron out of Krys' room.

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"I am so bored." Krys said to no one, as she lie in bed next to a dormant Jamie. The hours seemed to drone by, as she waited for someone who wasn't going to come, to rescue and entertain her. As the clock struck four, Krys came to the thought that the others had only been in Disneyland for four hours. "I should've brought my books and games." Obviously and thankfully, no one responded. Krys groaned, while getting out of the bed, before she started to watch Dragonball on Cartoon Network. After the first hour of Krys' dream marathon, the noise caused James to stir. She looked at him and felt his head, causing him to wake fully. "Fever has gone down… a lot." Jamie gave small coughs, and yawned. "Are you hungry?" He shook his head slowly and weakly. "Are you thirsty?" James nodded, then coughed a few more times. "Okay." Krys got up and went to one of the food bags, pulling out a Capri Sun. She opened it and handed it to James, whose tiny hands gripped the juice.

"I'm bored." James said, after he took a long drink. Krys smiled, before she lied on the bed next to him.

"Well- I don't know what to tell you, Jamesie. Because, until I see that you're feeling 100 better, we're not going anywhere." she said. James pouted, and Krys kissed his cheek.

"I'm better. I want to go to Disneyland with Angel and Thai." James whined. Krys laughed.

"Well… you're stuck with me." she said, before she let him cuddle up to her. "Okay- I'll just say this now… don't throw up on me."

"I don't even feel sick." James whined, with a pout. Krys laughed and looked at him.

"But you look it." she teased. James looked at her narrowed eyes, before he growled playfully. Krys laughed and pointed to the television, before she and James watched. After another hour, James was asleep again and Krys was on the verge of it. She finally drifted to sleep shortly after.

Krys woke up to the feel of her phone vibrating slightly. She got up and looked at who could be calling. The LCD read '_Kingie_'. Krys picked it up, after she groaned. "Hello." she whined. "Okay." She got up and walked to the door. Ares was in the doorway holding a sleeping Angel, and a bunch of stuffed animals. He was carrying a big Mickey Mouse, a big Pooh Bear, and a giant Nemo in his hands, while Angel was in his arms. Angel was wrapped in Ares' big jacket, and the image alone was almost enough to make Krys weep. He walked in and looked at Krys, then Angel; a question of where he should set her. "The bed with the whole Pooh Bear entourage." Ares chuckled softly, before setting Angel on the bed.

"Um…" Ares trailed off. Krys looked at him.

"Do you want me to pay you or somet-" she asked.

"No, I don't want you to pay me." Ares said hotly. Krys looked at him.

"Well- what do you want?" she asked. "There must be a reason that you're still here. I mean… thank you, goodbye."

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for her." Ares said, looking at Angel.

"Well… goodbye." Krys said.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"_My_ problem? I wasn't aware that _I_ had a problem."

"Oh you have a problem. You…" he trailed off.

"I?" Krys asked calmly. She could tell that her serenity was angering him to the point of insanity.

"You… you've been treating m- you…"

"I? All I did was respond to the insults that _you_ threw _my_ way. Okay- I have a smartass mouth… I know that. And I don't expect you to brush shit off, Ares… but, '_It keeps me smart_'? Okay- we can make jokes about our relationship- _jokes_. How the hell was that supposed to make me feel? Was I supposed to laugh it off like I do everything else?" Ares didn't say anything. "Okay… bye."

"Krys, I- I really didn't mean to hurt you. I would never- I'm- I'm really sorry." he said softly, with his head hung low.

"What did you think that the statement would do?" Krys asked.

"Krys- I really didn't-"

"Ares… you have to still be mad at me… I mean… we've never argued like that before." Krys said. Ares nodded.

"You're right."

"Are you still mad at me?" Krys asked him.

"You should be mad at m-"

"No. I mean about the… about the way I broke up with you." Ares chuckled slightly.

"I'm not mad at you." he said. "I like that we're friends. I like us better as friends. We're really good friends." Krys gave a strained smile.

"Forgive me?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Are you sure? Are you sure there still isn't any pent up anger in that head of yours?"

"Well… I don't know. One day, it might just burst out." Ares said, as he opened his arms for a hug. Krys looked at him in mock question.

"What's that?" she asked mockingly. Ares walked over to her, and engulfed her in a seemingly unrequited hug.

"So… my lady friend/fiancé is getting a massage. Are you going to keep me company? I have a balcony with a table… _and…_ I have those smoked turkey legs." he said persuasively. He made it seem like she'd be eating the turkey leg. Krys looked at the kids, and picked Jamie up, while Ares picked up Angel. They walked to the room in a comfortable silence. Ares' room was a nice suite that looked fit for royalty. Krys started to set Jamie down on the king-size bed, before she paused. "No, Emily and I haven't done it on the bed… yet." He knew her too well. Too damn well. Krys almost laughed, and set Jamie on the bed. They walked out onto the balcony, and sat in the nice little chairs before the view. "Is sex always the first thing you think about?" Krys chuckled.

"Well- you're in a nice hotel room, king-sized bed, frisky lady friend… why not?" she said, as Ares started to pull out his turkey leg. "Oh- the turkey legs that make people look like savages." Ares laughed, and bit it viciously. "So- remember how you said that Emily and I are complete opposites?" Ares groaned, while he chewed.

"I remember." he said, after he washed the turkey leg down with Pepsi.

"You're right." Krys said. "My psychiatrist says tha-"

"You're seeing the psychiatrist again?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"McGonagall made me go back, a few months after we broke up."

"Did you know that when you found out about your parents, you'd find a bunch of parental figures to boss you around more?"

"Yeah, as if I didn't have enough. From your mom to Headmaster Cales, who would oddly tell _your_ mother when I did something wrong. Or- when they _caught_ _me_ after having done something wrong."

"So- what does your shrink say?"

"That I have trust issues." Krys blurted. "She says that the eating thing stems from my dependency and trust issues."

"Whoa. Trust issues? You don't have trust issues. I thought that you trusted people enough."

"I did too. But supposedly… I'll only eat off of people that I trust and depend on. I thought that I trusted people pretty well… and I depend on people."

"No… you really don't choose to. You only depend on people in life and death situations."

"Anyway… she said that I should try to eat. At least once a week. Then see if my body rejects it. I don't want to." Ares moved the turkey leg toward her. Krys laughed, and shook her head. "I apologize… I don't do vendor food."

"Yet you'll eat cake from coffee shops. Oh wonderful difference."

"Shut up." Krys said.

"Come on. If you're gonna trust someone… trust me." Ares said solemnly, as he made the turkey leg dance in front of Krys' face. Suddenly, he moved it and waved his wand. A place setting set itself on the table between them. Ares put the turkey leg down, and cut some of the meat off. He then handed Krys the fork. Krys laughed at his persistence.

"You're not going to get over this, are you?"

"Krys… do you remember that summer? The summer where we went at it like… rabbits."

"Hey… we were respectable rabbits in love, I'll have you know." Krys teased.

"Yeah, anyway… you made me feel so fucked up and shady about not knowing how to shoot your injection. And you made me do it, by using sex as a weapon." Krys looked at him as if to say 'your point?' Ares laughed slightly, as he nudged the fork closer to her. "I did it because I knew that if anything happened- I don't have a point. Just… why not do it for me?"

"Because I'm cold and distant, mean and heartless." Krys said, spraying guilt into the air.

"Don't make me do the train/food baby feeding bullshit." Ares said. Krys shook her head.

"Okay." she said. "Just-" Krys couldn't even finish her sentence, because Ares was using her signature feeding mark on her. He shoved a spoonful in her mouth, and all Krys could do was stare at him wide eyed, with her mouth open. Ares laughed, as she chewed angrily and her facial expression changed.

"I do not like them, Sam I am." he teased, before he oddly, yet very sexily wiped her mouth. Krys pulled floss out of her pocket and started to floss. When she was done, she looked at Ares.

"I didn't talk to you about this before, because it was supposed to be a surprise, and I was going to have you shot, but… I have some really great news." she said, her eyes softening a great deal, when she saw him look back at Jamie and Angel. '_Krys, you can do this. Just leave him alone. Give him the key to his newer painless life_' she thought.

'_You think it'll be painless if its with someone that he doesn't love?_' Harry's voice popped in her head. Krys looked at Ares and smiled, while putting all of her functioning mental power toward keeping Harry out. The stress of keeping Harry out, and pain of _really_ letting Ares go, caused tears to spring from her eyes.

"What's wrong with you? Hey- hey, are you okay?" Ares asked softly, as he reached over the table and put his hand over hers. '_Suck it up… you made your bed. Its time to lie in it._' Krys put on one of her trademark tough girl badass looks and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Of course I'm okay." she said with attitude in her expression, tone, and body language. "I'm _always_ okay." Ares grinned, and pulled his hand back. '_Cold… so cold._' she thought. "I have big news. Three- I'm sorry, _four_ cases of good news."

"Okay. What's going on?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and smiled. '_So sexy… oh my God._' Okay- here's Ares; picture the best looking light skinned Hispanic male that you've ever seen, _then_ think of the _Godlike creature_ that he was the abridged version of. Ares was- is- will always be the Godlike Adonis. And he wasn't a cocky dickhead. He owned up to his wrongdoing and he was genuinely a good guy. A good guy that deserved to be happy. '_Just let him go._' she thought, as she looked away from him. As soon as she looked away, a picture of him was embedded in her mind. And in her mental picture, he was at his sexiest. Krys was gently shaken from her thoughts. "Krys… you- are you okay?" Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Did we not just talk about this?" she asked cheekily. Ares smiled, and Krys noticed that his hair was sleek and sticking to his scalp, in his low haircut. He was looking at her in a casual way, before he licked his lips. He had a full bottom lip, and the perfect top lip. Krys pulled her Blistex tub out of her pocket and slid it out to him.

"Thank you." he said gratefully.

"What can I say? I'm a Blistex whore." Ares started to put it on his lips, only in that uncomfortable way that guys apply anything that's defaulted as feminine, when Krys snapped and snatched it from him. "Dude- put the goddamn Blistex on, and stop dancing around it." Ares laughed and put it on, before Krys started to dab his mouth for him. "Sorry- you looked so… feminine, with the glossy lips." Ares made his face up, as Krys continued to blot.

"So, what happened? What's your good news?" he asked, once Krys was done.

"Well- do you want to hear the absolute best?"

"Save the absolute best for last." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"I'm going to go see the woman who adopted me." she said. Ares looked at her and squinted, before he sat in a laid back position. "Say something."

"Okay. What else?"

"I'm going to be on the T. Banks show." Krys said, with a smile. Ares nodded and smiled.

"Nice. Haven't you idolized her, even though you didn't want to be a model?" he said. Krys nodded. "What else?"

"I found out something very shocking yesterday." Krys said. "I was paying some bills… when I got a bank statement. It was a joint beneficiary thing to be given when I turned eighteen, but… I haven't been around."

"What are you talking about, Krys?" Krys took a deep breath that hitched in her throat, before she forced herself to relax. Once she was relaxed, she inhaled and exhaled regularly and in stable motions.

"My father left us a wedding account." Krys said.

"How much?" Ares asked curiously. Krys exhaled.

"Lets just say that my dad wanted his entire business to attend our wedding, with a hundred dollar plate of food for each guest." she said. Ares scratched the back of his neck and exhaled.

"Wow. That much, huh?" Krys nodded.

"Okay- so you have enough to pay for your wedding, and… live." she said. Ares laughed and shook his head.

"As nice as that is, Krys… I'd never use your father's money to marry someone else. But, thank you." he said, as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. Krys closed her eyes as his lips connected to her cheek. '_I am so sad and pathetic. Get over it, Krys._' "You should just take the money."

"No, you don't understand. I can't take the money, because it doesn't belong to me. The money belongs to us. It'd be unethical and against my father's wishes to take this money by myself. Plus you need it. You're about to get married."

"Krys-"

"No. Lets at least split it. Please, for me." They didn't say anything for a while.

"Okay." Ares said quietly.

"Good." They sat in silence for a while, before Krys took another fork of the turkey leg. When she flossed again, she looked at him. "Oh!" Krys squealed. "I have more news." Ares looked up and smiled.

"What happened?"

"I want you to design my orphanage." Krys said, as she popped a stick of Trident in her mouth.

"What?" Ares said. Krys smiled.

"I want you to design my orphanage. I mean… you can do blueprints. I saw the blueprints that you did… and they're almost fully to scale, Ares. And that's when you were eighteen, and without training. But- I know that they won't be perfect so after you do it… I have a friend who can look over them." she said. "I don't know if it'll be a magical or muggle orphanage yet, but… I know that after I finish with Nemonora… I want to do something that makes a difference. Sure, curing lycanthrope inflicted scar tissue was a challenge, but… its fake." Ares looked at her questioningly.

"How?" he asked. Krys sighed.

"Its about vanity."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone who's been affected by a lycanthrope, won't care about the scars more than they'll care about their entire lives changing. This is basically for the people who survived, and don't want anyone to know that they got touched by a werewolf." Krys said. "Its fake… I need to do something that seems… worthy. Something that won't disgrace the name of healers." Neither of them said anything for an eternity.

"What was it like when you saw your mother?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him. "I'm sorry, is that-?"

"No, no, no, no. I mean, geez- its been like nineteen years." she said. "Um…I couldn't really talk to her." Krys paused and inhaled deeply. "Its was like… I knew that if I got too attached, it'd be harder to accept." Ares nodded. He just knew what she meant. "It took me month to get over the fact that she was dead. Even after seventeen years of not knowing her… it took me a month to accept it. So when Prongs and I went back… I knew that I had to stay away from her." Krys laughed. "It was _so_ hard to do. I mean… she was the perfect friend for me. I mean… she was… she would've been the perfect friend for me."

"What did you do?"

"I spent time with my dad… then with Lily and James."

"Why was it easier to hang with your father?" Krys sighed.

"Too many questions." she said, smiling. "I love Sirius… so much. I really do- after an hour of meeting him, I told him that I loved him. He was great… but when I met him, I had a father. I had my dad. And yes, Sirius was my biological father, and from the stories I've heard, he was wonderful at it. But- I wanted a real mother my entire life. I mean, Kingie, it is so uncomfortable having your dad ask you what your bra size is." Ares spit his Pepsi out in his snort of laughter.

"That's funny." he said.

"Ha." Krys said dryly. "How did _you_ know my bra size?" Ares laughed.

"I went to the sales lady in Victoria Secret, and told her that they fit in my hands perfectly. I spent the entire time, palming and caressing mannequins and bras, for your size." he joked. Krys looked at him, and bit her lip.

"You need help."

"You need me." Krys looked at him with a small smile.

"Only for-… why do I keep you around? What are you good for?" she asked. Ares held his hand over his heart.

"I'm good in bed." he said. "That should've been the first thing on your mind. How great I am in bed."

"You weren't that good." Krys said.

"I was great."

"_Were_? Is Emily not enjoying Kingie's crown?" Krys teased.

"You're horrible." Ares said.

"No, I'm not."

"You're terrible. And weird as hell." Krys laughed and pulled her phone out. She dialed his number. She heard Cuban Link's loud 'Still Telling Lies'. Krys looked at Ares with wide eyes.

"That's your ring tone?" she asked.

"Actually… it was the ring tone that I had for you." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"Ouch." she said. Ares shook his head.

"I put it on after you broke up with me. I'm sorry." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Everybody knows that you're really a hoe,

So why you still telling lies to me,

All my homies always told me you were phony,

Calling me your one and only,

But you really telling lies to me,

It's kinda funny, you be calling me you hubby,

Telling everyone you love me,

But you really telling lies to me,

Honey why you trying to play me like a dummy,

Fronting just to get my money,

When I know you telling lies to me,

Mami, you fly but you lie too much,

You not the type to trust,

You got ya eyes on the prize trying to ride the bus,

You like the plush life, but money cant buy true love,

You just a slut, right, 'cause every night you up in the clubs,

Shaking you butt, gettin drunk, coming home fucked up,

If you don't want me then I might just find somebody who does,

You too much, I cant put up with it, you driving me nuts,

You like to live it up when I'm the one supplying the bucks,

I thought I knew who you was, but you changed,

The way you used to do things for me,

Now all you do is hang out with your friends,

Only call me to bore me wit all your fake phony stories,

Talking 'bout you up in Jackie's house having a cup of coffee, C'MON?!

You know me better than that,

Always stay ahead of the pack,

Mad at the fact I didn't catch it from scratch,

Now that the cats out of the bag,

I'm looking back at the past,

Silly bag, you never loved me, you was after my cash...BIATCH!

Everybody knows that you're really a hoe,

So why you still telling lies to me,

All my homies always told me you were phony,

Calling me your one and only,

But you really telling lies to me,

It's kinda funny, you be calling me you hubby,

Telling everyone you love me,

But you really telling lies to me,

Honey why you trying to play me like a dummy,

Fronting just to get my money,

When I know you telling lies to me,

Hey lady, remember me?

That little kid who took your virginity,

Giving you all you need and swore to love you 'till infinity,

Remember me?

The one who's been there for you, willing to care for you,

Even when you don't share the truth,

Remember me?

I took you from a girl to a woman, gave you the world,

Plus made your toes curl when I put it in you,

Remember me?

And in the beginning we was friends indeed like it was meant to be,

But now its like I'm sleeping with the enemy,

Offending me pretending to be something you're not,

So I had to turn back the clock just in case you forgot,

Don't mean to blow up your spot but you owe me a lot,

You were so innocent, now you're the biggest hoe on the block,

Always looking hot, talking like you calling the shots,

I'm at my job while you freaking off sucking on cocks,

Now that I know the whole plot, should I forgive you or not?

Just kick rocks bitch and be happy that you didn't get shot, WORD UP.

Everybody knows that you're really a hoe,

So why you still telling lies to me,

All my homies always told me you were phony,

Calling me your one and only,

But you really telling lies to me,

It's kinda funny, you be calling me you hubby,

Telling everyone you love me,

But you really telling lies to me,

Honey why you trying to play me like a dummy,

Fronting just to get my money,

When I know you telling lies to me.

Everybody knows that you're really a hoe,

So why you still telling lies to me,

All my homies always told me you were phony,

Calling me your one and only,

But you really telling lies to me,

It's kinda funny, you be calling me you hubby,

Telling everyone you love me,

But you really telling lies to me,

Honey why you trying to play me like a dummy,

Fronting just to get my money,

When I know you telling lies to me." she sang. Ares looked at her. "You think I was cheating on you?"

"Not anymore." he said.

"Who did you think I was cheating with?" Krys asked. Ares rolled his eyes.

"_Vincent_. Or _Michael_." he said.

"My kickboxing coach? That's disgusting. He was a bitch, until he realized that I could take a hit, and would beat his ass senseless." Ares laughed. "Why him? I mean- I think I could do better." Krys teased. "I mean- I'm wonderful." Ares laughed.

"You're alright." They sat in silence for a while. "So- you didn't dump me for someone else." he mused. "Was I one of your regrets?" Krys looked at him.

"What?"

"That's what I was going to ask you a few days ago. Two years ago, during Christmas break, you started to malfunction. You were talking about your regrets in life, and all of the things that you- was I one of your regrets? Was I one of the things that wasn't worth the trouble? Is that what our relationship was?"

"You are way too sensitive. You know that?"

"I'm not sensitive, I'm curious."

"Ares… we broke up-"

"You dumped me." Krys looked at him and twisted his finger, causing him to apologize.

"I love the song 'There's Us'. I love it so much that I have to listen to it at least once a day. Its one of my favorite songs in the world. We _broke up_ a week before my birthday. And Hermione took a plane to see me. So- the day you left, I walked through the house… and I just broke down. Every single memory- every game of air hockey- everything that you and I ever did in that house… I kept. I remember everything about my life that has anything to do with you. Everything… and you can quote me. Well- I walked through the house, listening to the song. It played over and over, through the whole house. And- I kept listening to the chorus lines, '_not everything is supposed to come true, some words are best unsaid,_ _some love is not really love at all, I keep everything I share with you, and that's enough, there's us_'. And every time the chorus came on, I cried. There is nothing about you… nothing that you've ever said to me- nothing that we've ever done, do I regret. The one thing that I do regret is that I drove you away. Not everything is _supposed_ to come true. Some words _are_ best unsaid. Some love is _not_ _really_ love at all. I keep _everything_ I share with you. And _that's_ enough. _There's_ _us_. Not everything came true for us, Ares. We're not gonna have those weird children- and you're marrying someone else. I'm not going to be able to have a Dannitti Jade Delgado and a Davetti Jasmathes Delgado. Everything that I'm telling you right now- I have no idea why or how I'm doing this. But- I really do love you, Ares. You are still my favorite person in the world. And- it _was_ real. Everything about our relationship was real. And everything that we ever had- whatever we have, I'll keep. I want to remember it, and you. Because- the song is true… its enough for me. That's how we are- we _can_ not see each other for two years and pick up the friendship and just… _dust it off_. Its okay- _that's_ our relationship, and we have us. We have the friendship. And- its everything to me." said Krys. Ares was looking at her.

"You're very weird." he said.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"I mean- you start off somewhere and you end up with a completely complicated, yet detailed explanation. Its very weird." Krys laughed, and stared at him.

"You're going to the Minister's ball?" she asked. Ares nodded.

"Yeah, Emily got us invited." he said.

"Cool."

"What about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

"I know that Ms. Black-Rodriguez and Ms. Granger- first and youngest healers to make such an important discovery, are invited." Ares said.

"We are. But- I'm not sure about going anymore."

"Why not?"

"Well… Josephs asked me to be his date. And… Ministry parties… its not my thing."

"Josephs." Ares said. He took a deep breath. "What is it with you two, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you… like him? Or are you just… do you like him?"

"Are you trying to choose your words carefully, so that we don't end up in another fight?" Ares nodded frantically, causing Krys to snort with laughter. When the laughter died down, they stared at each other. "Ask me what you're trying to ask me." Ares didn't say anything for a while.

"Why are you dating him?" Krys laughed.

"Have you seen hi-" she stopped talking, when her phone rang. She looked at the LCD. It read 'Josephs'. Krys looked at Ares, who shrugged, before she ignored the call. "Have you _seen_ him?" Ares rolled his eyes. "He's smart, successful, sweet, and sex-"

"Okay. I get the picture." Ares said. "The four s's." Krys laughed. "Just- be careful." Krys nodded.

"You too. I hear pureblood women are man-eaters." she teased.

"Not pureblood women. Just pureblood girls named Krystathaili." Krys laughed. "I wanted to talk to you about the argument." Krys looked at him.

"What about it?"

"I'm sorry about everything that I said."

"Why? Most of it was funny."

"I didn't mean any of it."

"Yes you did." Krys said. "But its okay."

"No. I didn't mean any of it."

"Okay. What didn't you mean?"

"Well… about you being a man." Krys laughed. "When you wore the things that you wore… it drove me crazy. The mystery… it was worth it." Ares nodded as he spoke. "Oh, it was worth it."

"What I said about you… in bed." Ares nodded. "_Everything_ was a lie. You were _very_ good. _Always_. And when I say good… I mean _astounding_." Ares laughed.

"You too. What I said about you being cold and distant… it wasn't true."

"It just wasn't a lie." Krys said, as she read his face. "Come on… just tell me."

"Look… I didn't like that you lied to me a lot." said Ares. Krys looked at him.

"What- I _rarely_ lied to you." she said.

"Yeah, but when you did… they were _life altering _lies, Krys." Krys closed her eyes.

"Ares, I broke up with you, because-"

"Honey? Ares, are you here? Where are you? I'm feeling… _happy_." Emily called into the room. Krys looked into the room, and walked inside. Emily glared at her. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Well if it isn't my favorite useless blonde." Krys said.

"Tell me; who are you dating, again?" Krys laughed.

"I told yo-"

"Enough." Ares said, as he walked into the room. Emily looked at him.

"Fine." she said, with a pout, in an attempt to be cute.

"Anyway-" Krys started.

"You know, Crystalanie-"

"Rodriguez." Krys said.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked.

"Well, since you're so incompetent that you can't say my name, you can call me by my simpler last name. _Rodriguez_." Krys said slowly. Emily sighed.

"You could be very pretty if you just did your hair, and put on some makeup." she said. "I could help you with that." Krys looked at her, and made a weird noise, before she picked up James. Ares picked up Angel, and they walked to the door.

"Emily, I'll be back in a minute. I just have to talk to Krys." he said.

"Don't keep me waiting." Emily said seductively. Ares grinned, and walked out with Krys. When they got into her room, they set both of the kids down on the bed. Ares looked at Krys.

"Can you do it for me?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Can you try to get along with Em-"

"Ha. I don't like her." Krys said.

"Krys, I… I'm in- I love her. I'm gonna marry her in about a week. You're my best frie-"

"Whom of which she doesn't like." Krys pointed out.

"Only because she doesn't know how great you are." Ares said. "You are amazing, and everyone who breaks through to that diamond covered heart, knows that." Krys laughed at his joke. "Anyone who is smart enough, knows how lucky they are to have you in their lives. If she just gets to know you, she'll love you. She'll love you, just like I do. So… please." Ares stuck out his bottom lip, and Krys almost made to bite it, but stepped backwards instead. Then she nodded.

"Okay. But the moment she insults me, I'm gonna deck her. And I don't care if she goes crying to you… I've put up with a lot of shit from her, for you." Ares nodded, and kissed her cheek. Krys literally moaned, then whimpered, when he pulled back. "Be nice to Pinnossio."

"Hey."

"What?"

"Be nice."

"Whatever." Krys said, as she sat on her bed. "Go _do it,_ with your fiancé."

"Thank you for the consent."

"You're welcome." Krys said cheekily. Ares grinned, and hugged her.

"You know, its impossible not to love you." he whispered in her ear. Krys nodded when he pulled back.

"You're telling me." she said. Ares laughed, then walked to the door. "Hey Kingie." He looked back. "You're going to make her very happy." Ares grinned. "I mean… the fact that you're androgynous is just a bonus."

"Is that why we got along so well? We can both be both." Ares teased.

"Good one."

"Same." As soon as Ares got to the door, he turned back to Krys. "Oh… and that little thing you do with your tongue… don't do that with Josephs."

"Too late." Krys teased. "Hey- what's your word?" Ares' eyebrows furrowed. "The one word to describe me?" Ares looked thoughtful.

"Fair." he said.

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"Ron, I don't think it's a good idea that we flaunt this just yet." Hermione said, as she sat on her bed. Ron looked at her, and put the ring back in his pocket.

"What do you mean? Did you change your mind?" he asked.

"Of course not." Ron breathed a sigh of relief "I just don't want to throw it in Kay's face. I just don't think that it'd be right. Of course I didn't change my mind." She smiled. "You have no idea how much I want to call myself your… _friend_?" she said awkwardly. Ron looked at her and laughed. He could tell from her face that she didn't want to assume too much. It almost seemed stupid to him, considering he'd asked her to move in with him. He then shook his head, and kissed her shoulder.

"Girlfriend." he said, after he twirled his tongue one a patch of sensitive flesh. Hermione laughed at the contact.

"Hey." she said. "Do you know what the best part of you being here is?"

"What?" Ron asked. Hermione grinned devilishly.

"You can't tell me that you don't know." she said alluringly.

"I didn't want to assume too much." Ron said. "But- I'm hoping that we're thinking the same thing."

"What are you thinking?" Ron laughed.

"This could go on forever."

"And it will, unless you tell me what you were thinking." Hermione teased. Ron kissed behind her ear, then started to take off his shirt and pants.

"I'm going in the shower." he said, before he walked to the bathroom. Hermione rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, before she followed after him. As soon as she got to the door, she paused. A second later, Ron opened the door, and kissed her. When he pulled back, Hermione nodded.

"We were thinking the same thing." she said, before she took off her shirt, and pulled him into the bathroom.

Reviews, please. I had writers block, but worked really hard on this chapter. Thank you for reading. And possibly, a review from every reader, just to show that you're reading.


	17. New Krys Gets Hermione Pissed

The next morning, when Krys woke up, Thai, Ron, Harry, Jason, A.J, Ginny, Robyn and Hermione were in her room. Krys groaned and ignored them, as she walked into the bathroom. Naively hoping that they'd be gone if she went through her morning routine, she took a shower, washed her hair, shaved her legs, and did her entire morning routine. When she walked back into her room, they were all waiting for her.

"Okay." Krys said. "What did I do wrong, _now_? A.J, you can go first."

"Well… last night- Ares came by our room. Something about a wedding fund!" A.J said. "He _already has_ a wedding fund. Mommy's just waiting until its _you_ that he's going to marry." Krys almost laughed.

"We all have to get used to the idea that Ares and I will never be together again. He's already said it." she said lightly. They all looked at her like she was crazy.

"How can you say that so calmly?" Hermione asked in outrage. Krys smiled, and sat on her bed.

"I'm over him." she lied. "I can't keep lying to myself. I can't pretend th-"

"Padfoot, what would be happening if you wer-" Harry started.

"Don't." Krys said deadpan. "I don't want to- its not- Prongs, I don't want to ever bring it up again. I want it to be gone… and I'm going to let it go. Its over. Ares and Krys will never be Kingie and Bunny. Never again. I will never get to tell him why. And there's no point in trying. Its over."

"Krys-" A.J started.

"_Its over_. He doesn't want me anymore. He has his lady, and… I'm happy for him. He deserves to be happy and have a headache free life." Krys said. "Please… its difficult enough _saying_ it once… _please_ don't make me repeat it. If you guys really love me, you'll all go with me in giving Emily a chance."

"What?" A.J asked. It was in the '_I know I didn't hear you right_' tone.

"I'm going to ask Emily to hang out." Krys said simply. "I don't think that its smart for girls to fight over a guy. It isn't cute, and its one of the things that I regret about my Levebons years."

"Krys… you cannot be- you can't be saying this." Jason said. "You and Ares are _supposed_ to be together."

"Obviously not." Krys said. "I don't ever want him to know why. Really, I don't want you guys to tell him. Please, don't."

"Whatever." they all muttered in some way. Krys suddenly shook from all of her negative energy.

"Okay… now- I'm going to go and ask the girls about a spa day… and you girls can get ready. We have t get Jamie to Disneyl- oh, its raining. Well- somebody change that, please."

"Krys." Jason said one last time. Krys turned to him, her eyes brimming with tears suddenly.

"Jason. You don't know how hard this is for me." she said. "I- its _Ares_. He is… I love him almost more than _anything_ in the world. And he- he deserves this. _He_ loves _her_, _I_ love _him_- I can do this for him. So please, all of you… please don't make this any harder than it already is. You have no idea how much this is killing me. I- you have no idea how bad I feel right now. I swear… I have no idea how I'm even _talking_ right now. But the fact of the matter is; he's marrying Emily." Krys then smiled again, she still had tears running down her face, and she almost looked psychotic. "I must look like the perfect asshole." Thai got up and nodded.

"You really do, _Krys_tathaili darling." she said. Krys smiled.

"Thank you, Krysta_thai_li darling." she said.

"Hey Padsy, you know that this is all your fault, right?" Harry said. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Of course, Prongsie." she said.

"Krys, Krys, Krys… you are terrible." Jason said. Krys smiled.

"I know." she said, as she held down her laughter.

"Cookie… you're dumb as hell." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said.

"Krys… you have bed head." Ginny said. Krys laughed and nodded.

"Okay, Carrot top."

"I have no idea what to say to you." Ron said. "Well- you're psychotic, and I recommend an emergency appointment with the shrink." Krys laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, but when I go- I can't blame my mother like everyone else." she said.

"You look like shit." A.J said. Krys laughed and nodded.

"What the hell is up with your hair?" she asked, as she got a look of A.J's orange curls.

"I have no idea how this works." Robyn said. "But… you smell bad?" Krys laughed and nodded.

"You've got it." she said. "You'll make it in the group. Do you mind?" Robyn immediately got what she was talking about. She shook her head.

"I don't mind." she said.

"Um… you guys obviously know that this is Robyn Delgado." Krys said. They all looked at her.

"Yeah. She's Thai's friend." Hermione said.

"We don't hang out too much." Thai said. Krys looked at Robyn, who seemed nervous as ever.

"Um…no. This is Robyn Delgado." Krys said again. "A.J and Ares' little sister."

"What?" A.J said.

"Don't overreact." Jason said, as he held her waist.

"I never overreact." A.J said.

"Okay- um… more news." Krys said. "Turns out, you only really have one sister. Jennifer and Victoria aren't related to you."

"Okay- so… hi, I'm Robyn." Robyn said. This made them all chuckle slightly. "Okay- I have no idea what to say to you guys. I- our… you guys can call me Robbie… I have no idea what else to say." They all looked at A.J, as they waited for her next move.

"Um… so… do you like charms?" A.J asked. Robyn nodded.

"I love charms." she said.

"Nice." A.J said. Robyn turned to look at Jason.

"You're Jason." she said. Jason nodded. "You're very… you look… very- you're very- **oh me, oh my**."

"Hey, hey." A.J said. "Paws off, he's mine."

"Is everyone taken? How am I supposed to get my summer boy?" Robyn said.

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The next day, almost everyone was going their separate ways in avoiding Krys. The previous day, she publicly asked Emily to a spa day when they got back to Beverly Hills, and no one felt that they knew her anymore.

"Can you believe that she won't tell him?" Hermione asked Ron, as they sat in a café having breakfast.

"Hermione… would _you_ tell _me_?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at him for a moment.

"That's not the point." she said.

"Yes, it is. If you wouldn't tell me, how can she tell him? Would you have broken up with me?" Hermione sighed.

"Alright. What she did was probably in _his_ best interest. What about her? What about her, and it- _he's not even happy_." 

"How do you know?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at him pointedly. "Okay- he isn't happy. But, if he's willing to choose this woman, then… that's his business. I mean-"

"What about Cookie?" Hermione asked. "How do you think she'll react, when the wedding gets closer?" Ron sighed, and ran his hand through his hair.

"Merlin's beard, I can see it now." he said. Hermione laughed.

"Do you think she's really over it?"

"No, but… she'd rather be friends with Emily than tell anyone that."

"Oh God, do you think I'll have to be friends with Kay now?"

"Well, why do you have to do it, if Krys does it? Why don't you just let her do it?"

"I just think that if Krys can befriend the woman who's going to marry the love of her life, I can befriend the woman whose boyfriend I'm now shacking up with. Then again, Krys is voluntarily going to befriend Emily, I don't want to be friends with Kay."

"So then don't. As soon as this wedding thing is over, we don't have to see her anymore."

"Ooh- well, _now_ I'm looking forward to the wedding, too." Ron laughed.

"We should get back." he said. "With that weird new attitude that Krys has, I would hate to see what she does if we're late for Disneyland." Hermione laughed.

"She hasn't been that bad." she said. "She could be worse." Ron looked at her.

"How?"

"She could be mean, instead of sugar sweet." Hermione said. "Have you seen her when she's completely mean, without caring about consequences? When you see that, you'll know what I mean. Actually, you don't want to see it. Trust me."

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When Ron and Hermione got upstairs, they immediately went to find the others. Out of instinct they checked Krys' room first. She was inside, wearing short shorts, and a leotard.

"Hello, Hermione. Hello Ronald. How are you guys feeling?" she asked in an calm, yet upbeat way. They both looked at her.

"Hey Cookie." Hermione said, as she sat on Krys' bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling so relaxed. I went to the juice bar and got a natural carrot and beet drink. And now, I'm going to go to the gymnasium and get some exercise." Krys said tranquilly, as she stretched. "I feel so energized, yet tranquil. Do you know what I mean? I wonder why I haven't tried meditation before. It left me feeling so cleansed. No more cookies and junk for me. I am only eating fruits, before my injections."

"You're going to the gym?" Hermione said. Krys stretched, while nodding.

"Yes. Have you ever noticed how wonderful a gym actually is? You get healthier, and better looking at the same time. I mean, what-"

"Krys, you're talking weirdly." Ron said. Krys looked at him and took a deep breath.

"I apologize, Ronald." she said calmly. Then she smiled. "We should go running. Do you want to come to the gym with me, Hermione?"

"Um- I don't have anything to wear to the gym." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"Okay. I understand what you mean." she said. "Um- I'm just- I'm just gonna go now." Krys walked to and out the door. Hermione got up and walked to the door, before Krys popped back in and screamed. "Ha! I scared you." Krys laughed, then sighed.

"Krys." Hermione said slowly. "What have you eaten today?"

"Just fruits and vegetables. Oh- and some energy bars… and fruit drinks. I think I burned that all off, though, when I did my yoga. Lets go get some herbal tea." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"Yoga?"

"Oh, yes. I figured that I- I needed a break and to get away. So… they have this wonderful garden… and I was about seventy feet from it, doing yoga. It was lovely." Krys said calmly. "And I found inner peace. Do you know what I mean? And then I realized that the way I live my life is just wrong. Do you understand?" Hermione and Ron looked at her weirdly.

"What, what do you mean?" Hermione asked hotly.

"You sound angry." Krys said calmly. "Take a deep cleansing breath. Do you want to try some meditation? Come on, take my hand." Krys tried to take a livid Hermione's hand.

"Krys, don't touch me." Hermione said dangerously. "What the hell are you talking about? What's wrong with the way you live your life?" Krys inhaled deeply, then took long cleansing breaths.

"I just think that being rude and sarcastic aren't very unappealing qualities. And… the marks that I've made on my body. Having sexual intercourse before marriage. All of these things are Krys. And that's someone that I don't want to be." she said.

"What the hell-" Hermione started.

"Hermione." Krys scolded calmly. "Please, watch your language."

"Oh motherfuc-" Krys gasped.

"Please, stop. It isn't ladylike." she said. Hermione nodded.

"Are you saying that you didn't like who you were?" she asked.

"I'm saying that Krys was vulgar, she was just crude. And I don't like that very much. Meditation has helped me see that a life of violence and violent music isn't the way to go. I mean, boxing? And… the way I act towards people is just cru-"

"I'm outta here."

"Out of." Krys corrected.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"You said that you were… 'outta here'. That's incorrect, and its slang." Krys said. She seemed ashamed even to repeat the slang.

"Krys-" Hermione started. Krys shook her head.

"Krystathaili." she corrected.

"I have to go. Ron, come on." Hermione said, as she dragged Ron out the door. Hermione looked at him. "Something's wrong with her. She's crazy." Ron still looked spooked.

"She's creepy." he said. "I don't like that Krys." Hermione nodded, and banged on Harry and Ginny's door. Ginny answered, fully dressed. She saw the look on Hermione's face and nodded frantically.

"You've met _Krystathaili_." Ginny said.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with her? Did she take something?" Hermione asked.

"Come on." Ginny said, opening the door wider. They were all sitting around in the room.

"What _happened_ to her?" Hermione asked.

"Last night, Emily told Krys that she wanted the beach house for next week. Ares is getting married in about seven days. Maybe less. She's been like that since then." A.J said. "As soon as she heard it, she took a deep breath and asked the waiter to bring her a spring water and a fruit platter, instead of Pepsi and brownies, cookies, and chocolate cake." 

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Thai asked. "She punished me, because I cursed. Then I asked her for advice about Angel, and she told me that I should wait until I've finished school and have a suitable career, to have a relationship." They all looked at her. "Oh! And she removed all of her tattoos… and her piercings are all gone. Plus- she took away some of my clothes, because they were too inappropriate and she doesn't want Angel and Luis at her house once we get back, because that's inappropriate, also."

"She doesn't curse anymore, and she's through with boxing." Ron challenger. Harry and Jason were the only ones who still didn't say anything. They looked stunned.

"She didn't call me Thai. She didn't even do our _Krys_tathaili- Krysta_thai_li bit. She called me Elaine." Thai said. "That's my middle name. I hate my middle name. Harry, say something." Harry turned to her slowly.

"She doesn't want to be called Padfoot anymore, because it degrades and debases women." he said. "And she wants to… she wants to give up her magic."

"What the hell are you talking about? She can't give up her magic." Jason said. Harry nodded.

"Yes." he said. "She can."

"But how? She was born with the magic." Ginny said.

"Krys and Harry have the highest magic… ever. They can do whatever they want. She can do whatever she wants." A.J said.

"Exactly." Harry said. "So, if she wants to give it up, she can."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I've been doing my research." Hermione said. "And this isn't all about Ares. I mean- her reasoning is… but, we can get her to change her mind without him."

"How?" A.J asked.

"Your mum." Hermione said.

"What are you playing at?" Harry asked.

"Six stages of magic." Hermione said.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"The six stages of magic." Hermione said. "Who knows what I'm talking about?" A.J and Thai raised their hands. "Please, someone explain it to him.

"Um- everyone magic, can do wand magic. That's like a default stage. Everyone can be their most powerful, doing wand magic. That's the crawling stage." Thai said. "Next is hand magic. It is the first stage of wandless magic, second stage of magic. That's the easiest of wandless magic. It consists of snapping and waving of the hand. Next is wink magic. Its highly advance, and most people don't get to it. Next is blow magic. You can do anything just by breathing. Its controlled by how you exhale. No one this day in age can do it. Pretty much no one, except these two." She was referring to Harry and Krys. "Then there's stomp magic. The level of magic that you attempt is all in how hard you stomp. I've seen Krys do it, like nothing. Same with Harry. And last but not least is _drop magic_. The only person known able, was Merlin himself. Supposedly Gryffindor and Phoenixtear couldn't even do it. They only got as high as stomp magic. Its characteristics are used with the wand. Your magic travels through the floors. Supposedly… it's the most inconvenient, but the hardest to master and the most affective." Hermione looked at Harry.

"Do you get what I mean?" she asked him. Harry nodded.

"But, do you think it would work? I mean, she's pretty wound up." he said. "She's-"

"Harry, Krys is inside of _Krystathaili_. Its our job to bring back the Krys that we know and love so much."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Ron asked. They both looked at him.

"I can't tell you. It isn't my business, but if Krys chooses to… then you can obviously know." Hermione said. Ron nodded. "You're not mad?"

"At how loyal and cute you are? Heavens no." Ron said.

"Please swear… as much as you can. I felt like I was in Leave It To Beaver, a few minutes ago." Hermione said.

"Hell no? Dammit." Ron said. Hermione smiled in contentment.

"Thank you." They all laughed.

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The next day, their last day in the resort, they all went to Disneyland. While they were on the bus, they all stared at Krys. She was wearing a button down pink blouse, and a khaki skirt that hit her ankles. Around her neck was an ascot, and her hair was pulled back, but loose. Her bangs were out of her face, and she had on a headband. On her feet… penny loafers. She turned to the rest of them, and smiled serenely.

"It is a beautifully sunny day, isn't it?" she asked. She sounded dreamy. It was like she turned into Luna Lovegood.

"Oh my, she is scaring me." Hermione whispered in Ron's ear. Basically everyone knew that she'd changed. Everyone, including Angel and Jamie. As soon as she addressed them James and Angelica, they ran off to Harry and Jason. Angel and Jamie were in between Jason and Harry. They were both pouting. James was wearing a short sleeved polo shirt with khaki shorts, and sandals. Even as a two year old, he glared at her when she put these slightly fitting shorts, and sandals on him. Sandals and fitted shorts were not his style. Angelica seemed more livid in her bubblegum pink little Bo Peep dress. The dress was perfected with those shiny white shoes and frilly socks. Not to mention, Angels styled now dark red Shirley Temple curls. The worst was Thai. She had on pants. The skinny parachute pants that started big at the top, and ended very small at the bottom. On her top, she was wearing a vest over her golden cream blouse. Her hair was in wavy dark red curls… and it was the only part of her that looked like her. She was sitting down, with her arms folded over her chest, and the most sour look on her face. She was glaring at Krys.

"Oh Elaine honey, you'll mess up your pretty face." Krys said, referring to Thai's scowl. Thai growled slightly. "Do you guys want to try group meditation? Its very relaxing." Krys tried to take Thai and Hermione's hands, but they both pulled away from her.

"No." Thai said. "I don't _fucking_ want to _fucking_ meditate. I don't _fucking_ want to _fucking_ wear _fucking bullshit_ penny loafers. And I don't want to _fucking_ be here with the _goddamn_ Krystathaili that _fucking_ meditates and _fucking_ wears _bullshit_ _motherfuckin_ penny loafers. Okay? I don't want to eat tofu and bean sprouts for dinner. And I don't want to change my whole diet, because you're _psychotic_. I want to eat food and junk. I want to gain excessive pounds to my stomach, until I look like the blob, just because I know that it'll annoy you. I'm on the edge, and I want to hurt you and whoever made you do this. New Krystathaili is fucking annoying, and psychotic. Don't get me wrong… other people can pull this off. I just don't _want them near me_." Thai looked like she was about to pull her hair out of her head and Krys was staring at her in shock.

"Wow. I had no idea that I was annoying you this much." Krys said. "I apologize. Maybe we should both take some time out and meditate." Hermione had to stop Thai from screaming.

"Its okay." Hermione said. "Krys… I don't think that you and I mesh well as friends anymore. We don't mesh so much."

"What do you mean?" Krys asked. Hermione sighed.

"We're just different."

"I can help you change."

"Is she in a cult?" Hermione outburst. Suddenly, she calmed down. "I'm not alone 'cause the TVs on, yeah." she sang. She was trying to get Krys to sing their favorite song.

"Its too violent. That music isn't my type anymore." Krys said.

"Are you _high_ or something? What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Hermione asked. "You know what? I don't even want to be here anymore. You are so infuriating… I just want to cut you."

"Calm down." Krys said tranquilly. "Its not that big of a deal." All of a sudden, Harry started to stare at her.

"Something's wrong with her." he mused.

"I beg your pardon." Krys said.

"You're sick." Harry said, as he got closer to her. "She's sick."

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"She has a fever. She's delirious." Harry said, as he felt her head. He then looked at Hermione. "You can't tell me that you don't remember the last time she was sick." Hermione instantly laughed.

"She thought that she was a Jedi master. She ran around the streets telling people that she was better than Obi Won and Yoda." she said. "I should've known."

"What- what are you talking about?" Krys asked. Harry put his hand on her shoulder, and a minute later, she was knocked out.

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The ride back to Beverly Hills was fun, as they all poked and prodded at the delirious Krys. They decided to drive during the night, because they spent the entire day in Disneyland, to piss Krystathaili off. Hermione drove the Mercedes van back to Beverly Hills, while Harry drove the Porsche and Ares drove the Escalade. Krys was sitting in the front seat with Hermione.

"Ah, the birds are singing a wonderful song today." she said. "I think that I'll write some poetry." Krys took a pen out of the glove compartment and started to write. Hermione had to stop herself from laughing. A few minutes later, Krys sighed heavily. "Would you like to hear my poem?"

"Sure." Hermione said, on the verge of laughter.

"The day is blooming, like a tulip or a daisy. The sun is beaming, like the smile of a child. A gust of wind, it carries me. The birds chirp, it moves me. Love is nothing compared to my tranquility and peace. Love is nothing compared to my nature." Krys recited. Her voice was dreamy and nasal. She sighed.

"That was lovely."

"Thank you, Hermione. You know, I think that we should reconsider us being friends. I think that we could create a stimulating energy, if we meditated together." Krys said. "Maybe we can try at the rest stop." Krys sighed heavily, and drank some of her spring water.

"Do you need some pills?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, no thank you. I believe that nature takes care of all. I believe that the air we breathe is enough medicine. The plants and herbs that we have in this beautiful world, are just what we need to survive."

"You believe in 'glaucoma medicine', don't you?" Hermione teased.

"Oh, I don't have glaucoma."

"I mean marijuana." Krys gasped, and wore an appalled look.

"Oh- no, I do not. Although it is completely natural, I do not believe in it. I feel that we should live off of the land, yes. But to burn it… that's just appalling. That's killing herbs for a bad reason." she said. Hermione started to play with her lighter, as soon as Krys said this. Cookie Krys, was a pyromaniac. Hermione wondered what psycho Krystathaili thought of fire. "Oh- how dreadful."

"What?"

"Fire in a hand. Why use chemicals for something that you can cause naturally? I want to live in a shack. A mere cabin in the woods, where I can do my yoga and meditation in the grass. Listen to the birds chirp, and live off the fat of the land."

"Krystathaili… how old are you?"

"I don't know. How old are any of us?"

"I'll be twenty-one in September." Hermione said.

"Really?" Krys said. She sighed, then started to hum. Finally, a few minutes later, she was asleep. Hermione snapped, and Krys levitated to the backseat. Ron walked up to the front, and started to drum lightly on the dashboard.

"So… how are you?" he asked. Hermione nodded.

"I'm good." she said. "What about you?"

"I am… I'm having trouble." Ron said. Hermione looked at him for a millisecond.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Well… I have a job interview next week. Its this big job." Hermione looked at him and nodded.

"Okay." she said. "What's the problem?"

"The job is the morning of the wedding." Hermione laughed.

"Oh. Wow. That's great." she said. "Well… why don't you talk to Ares about your problem? I- I doubt that he'll go postal on you. He's very patient and understanding." Ron nodded.

"He'd have to be to marry Emily. The girl is… psychotic." he said. "She's demanding and obsessive. I think its from a guilty conscience. I guess she thinks that karma is gonna catch up with her."

"What do you mean?"

"She used to cheat on him." Ron said. "Didn't you know that?" Hermione looked at him.

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure that she stopped. I just know that when Ares found out, he decided to propose to her." Hermione looked at him, then back at the road.

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As soon as they found a near town, Hermione called Harry and arranged for them to find a drug store. They all parked in the parking lot of the first Rite Aid that they saw. Harry, Hermione and Ares got out of the cars. Hermione was in the middle of Harry and Ares, and skipped along with them.

"You're being a lot like Krys, right now, Hermione." Ares said.

"Someone has to." Hermione said. "I've decided to take on the role of the renaissance girl, while she's sick." Hermione jumped onto the sidewalk, and the doors opened. She skipped in, and waved to the security man. Harry and Ares had to laugh, because Hermione had the Krys role down packed. Everyone noticed that Krys walked a certain way according to how she was dressed. And because Hermione was wearing a fitted Bob Marley shirt and baggy black cargo pants, with red, gold and green on back Adidas, and matching wristbands, she had Krys' pretty and sexy, yet spunky bad girl walk. Hermione turned to the two, and gave a small bow. "See- I'm good." She even had the conversation down.

"What are we here for?" Ares asked, with his hands in his pockets. He was looking at Hermione.

"What, because I act like Krys, you're in love with and attracted to me, too?" she teased. "It makes me wonder how you ended up with Emily." Ares glared at her playfully, while she and Harry laughed.

"I'm not attracted to her." he said. Hermione nodded.

"I agree. I know that you're not attracted to Emily. Krys is your girl." she said, nodding in agreement.

"I meant Krys." Ares said. Hermione shook her head frantically, in mock agreement.

"Yeah, you're just emotionally, intellectually, and physically… _stimulated _and_ intrigued_ by her, right?" she said. He looked thoughtful before he nodded. "Right on, you're still in love with her. You didn't deny that." Harry laughed at the murderous look on Ares' face. "Its okay. A lot of people are still in love with their exes."

"Hermione, you're being more annoying than I've ever known her to be. So… please don't continue." Ares said. Hermione sighed.

"Deep, cleansing breaths, please." she said. "Okay- question."

"What?"

"Hostile."

"I'm sorry. Yes? What is it, Hermione?" Hermione walked to him, and linked her arm with his.

"Harry, go get Krys some children's Motrin, please?" she said, as she dragged Ares to the candy aisle. She let go and turned to him. "I consider us friends. We're pretty good friends, right?"

"Very good friends. You're the one who led me to one _hell_ of a happy summer. Although the summer led to heartache, but, yeah." Ares joked. Hermione chuckled.

"Why didn't you tell me that Emily cheated on you?" she asked, while laughing. Ares looked at her.

"Does everyone know?" he asked. He didn't seem torn about it at all. He said it in the most casual way imaginable. It almost sounded like a joke. Hermione looked at him. "Does Krys know?"

"No. Only I know, really. I think." Hermione said. "Ares… you're so much better than that murky, wannabe swanky but _just plain skanky_, bitchy blonde ho." He laughed slightly.

"Hermione, people make mistakes." he said. "She apologized and promised never to do it again. Plus, she broke up with her side person. I forgave her, and figured that I love her so much, I don't care. As long as she's with me now." He looked at Hermione, who was staring at him in disbelief.

"P.C, are you fucking kidding me?" she asked heatedly.

"What'd you call me?" Ares asked. Hermione laughed.

"Oh- P.C. Its what Krys used to call you, before we met. It stands for Papi Chulo." Ares raised his eyebrows. "But, Ares, are you fucking kidding me?" her tone went back to angry. She started to pack all items chocolate in the cart. She was throwing thing viciously. Suddenly, she dropped the cart and looked at him. "Okay… I want you to think about this." She sighed. "I'm gambling with my life here." she muttered. "Why did you and Krys break up?"

"I don't know."

"So, you're willing to give Emily a second chance, but you won't give one to Krys." Ares looked at her for a minute.

"What Emily and I have is… different." he said. "I love her in a different way. I love her more." Hermione laughed sardonically.

"Two years in Moody's program did wonders for your lying." she said. "Its not that you love her more. It's that you don't care, so it's easier to forgive her. Whereas you love Krys to the point that you're insane, and it's harder to forgive her. You really need to think about what you're going to do. You really need to think about your life, and how badly you're screwing it up. And if you make the wrong decision, I'm telling your mother."

"Are you done?"

"Not even remotely. When you finally come around, it'll already be too late."

"I don't love her like that anymore. So- I won't be any '_coming around_'."

"Is that why you're still picturing her every time you kiss Emily?" a voice behind them asked. Harry walked over, and handed Hermione the Motrin syrup.

"Are you two listening to me?" Ares said. "I love Krys. Yes, I do. But I am no longer in love with her. I am no longer sexually attracted to her. And I no longer want to rip her clot-"

"Couldn't you just stop there?" Harry asked. This caused Ares and Hermione to laugh.

"I'm just saying that you should think about it." Hermione said innocently.

"I'm in love with Emily. And she makes me happy." Ares said. "But thank you." Ares kissed her cheek, and Hermione looked thoughtful.

"Dude, you can't have me, I'm taken." she teased. Harry looked at Hermione. "I'm acting the part."

"Too damn well." he said. They all laughed, and walked to the cash register. When Hermione got back to the Mercedes van, Ron was looking at her.

"You said something, didn't you?" he asked. Hermione smiled innocently.

"Me? Never." she said as innocently as her smile. Ron laughed and kissed her cheek. "So, where are you staying, _good-looking_?" Ron looked at her weirdly. "Oh sorry. I was entertaining the guys, by being Krys." She pulled out of the parking lot. Harry and Ares were both leading the way in front of her.

"Yeah, I noticed the walk." Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"I can't wait until she goes back to normal, and we jog her memory." Hermione's words were full of laughter. "The last time she was sick, she walked around the place with a lightsaber, and she- she would- she went through the house challenging people to duels." Ron laughed.

"How have you been these two years? Have you been happy?"

"Ronald Weasley, what is going on with you?" Hermione teased. "This attention has me stoked. I'm loving it. I mean, first, there was last night." Hermione looked behind her. The only teen awake, was Thai. And she had her headphones on, while reading. "Last night. In the shower, the bed, the bed, and the bed. Then Disneyland and your roaming hands, while we were on… all of the rides. Now, the questioning. God, I love it. You must really have something to tell me." Ron laughed.

"What? Can't a man be good to his _girlfriend_, without something going on with him?" he asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Nope." she said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just want to know if you'll go to the Minister's Ball with me." Ron said.

"You mean, like, a date?" Hermione asked.

"Kind of."

"What does _kind of_ mean?"

"It means that it can be whatever _you_ want it to be. But, _I'd_ personally prefer a date." Ron said. Hermione made a small humming noise, and Ron almost drooled at how cute she was being at the moment.

"A date, huh? What makes you think I like you like that, Weasley?"

"Well… do I _have_ to answer that?"

"If you want a date, you will." she teased. Ron laughed.

"You know you want me." he said. Hermione laughed.

"Wow, Ronald. I don't think I've ever heard you speak like that. Very sexy." she said.

"All I'm saying is, most girls want to go to the ball with a catch like me."

"Well, I'm not most girls."

"You don't have to tell me. Not only are you a neurotic, neat freak, but you're a sexy, neurotic, neat freak." Hermione blushed slightly. "See- you know that you want me, Granger. You want to be my date." Hermione mock gagged. "Okay. I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman and keep my hands to myself."

"In that case, I don't want to go." Hermione joked. Ron laughed.

"Well, what can I say that'll make you go?" he asked flirtatiously. Hermione smirked.

"Well… you can convince me that we'll have fun there. Then you'll have to promise that we'll have _even more_ fun, when we get home."

"That's a given." Ron said. "Have I been known to disappoint?" Hermione smiled.

"Never." she said.

"So, us having a good time is a given. I'm a bit hurt that you didn't remember that bit." Ron said. Hermione chuckled.

"I would love to be your date. I was going to ask you, but… since I'm all dainty, I figured that it'd be better to hold back and dangle the bait." she said.

"Well- you caught me." Ron said.

"Yeah, you're hooked." Hermione teased.

"Well- _you_ fell for the Weasley charm."

"No, it's a known fact that Weasley men have a thing for Granger women." Hermione said.

"Or it could be the other way around. Granger women could have a thing for Weasley men."

"True, but…"

"No argument."

"Okay, Ronald. I'll admit it. I cannot get enough of you."

"Yeah, I know. I'm irresistible." Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"You're a prat, that's what you are." she teased.

"And you're a know-it-all."

"Oh, but you love it." Ron didn't say anything for a while.

"Yeah, you're right. I love it." he admitted.

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When they got back to Krys' house, they were all so exhausted, that they all spent the night there. The following morning, Krys woke up her normal self, in a gigantic bed. As soon as she got up, Harry groaned, and shifted a bit. She was in between Jason and Harry. Next to Harry was Ginny. Next to Jason was A.J. And next to Ginny was Ron, who was sleeping next to Hermione. Krys groaned, and crawled out of bed. When she caught a glimpse of what she was wearing, she almost screamed. "Jesus Christ! What the hell?!" she screamed. That was enough to make Harry look at her.

"What?" he asked. Krys pointed at what she was wearing.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked.

"You had a fever, and you were delirious."

"What did I do this time?"

"You did yoga and stopped cursing. Along with telling- you were anti Padfoot." Harry said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"I don't understand me sometimes." she said. Harry laughed, and got out of bed.

"I'm kind of glad you're back." he said. "You had us worried."

"Please, its me. I'm always alright. And I'll always go back to being little wonderful me." Harry laughed, and they went their separate ways to the shower.

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Ron and Hermione were sitting in Krys' kitchen eating cereal and toast, when Krys walked in. She was wearing a fitted Black t-shirt, that read 'Angel of Fire' with flaming letters. Her pants were black and baggy. And on her feet were flame on black Uptowns.

"Are you ready to do your yoga, Krystathaili?" Ron asked. Krys looked at him, then gave him the finger.

"Okay- how bad was it?" she asked, as she sat at the counter. Hermione laughed.

"You confiscated Thai's outfits, because they were too inappropriate." she said. "You insulted boxing, cursing, your tattoos were gone, so were your piercings. You tried to talk me into group meditation. And you wrote poetry." Krys laughed. "The worst, you invited Kay and Emily to a spa day, and you said that you'd stop dissing them." Krys didn't say anything when Hermione said this. "Krys?"

"Hermione- Bon-bon, she doesn't deserve to be snubbed, because they love each other." Krys said. "I mean, I would hate me, too. And maybe if I stop dissing her, she'll stop dissing me."

"Krys-"

"Hermione, she's not all bad." It was at that point that Ron decided to back away from the fire, and watch the brewing disagreement from a distance. With the track record of these two pretty, yet powerful girls, he didn't want to be where the spells had no names. Ron inconspicuously backed away to the far corner of the kitchen, and waited to see what'd happen.

"Name one good thing about her." Hermione challenged.

"She makes him happy. Look, you know that it isn't right to diss her out of nowhere. I mean, she's not all bad."

"This woman has insulted you, your late parents, and basically anything that you hold dear." Hermione said. "She's a skank ho, who thinks that she's so fucking special, because she has a beauty parlor. So, please, inform me of her good side."

"She loves him." Krys said in a noble manner.

"What do you think is going to happen when they get married? Do you think that if you're friends, that she'll invite you to Sunday dinner, and allow you to keep seeing him? No- as soon as they get married, she'll no longer need you. She'll no longer need you to help pay for her wedding. She'll already have scammed you out of the fake-ass wedding account that you created, just to pay for her wedding. She'll already have scammed you out of a dress, a 70 discount on an expensive ass cake, a free caterer; who happens to be your friend, and the open bar. What is it that you really want, Krys?!"

"Hermione, can you just stop contradicting _everything_ that I say for _one minute,_ and shut the fuck up!" Krys shouted. "You think I'm doing this for _her_?! I'm doing it for _him_! You'd be doing the same goddamn thing if it were you!"

"No really! After a while after being so fucking book smart, I got common _fucking_ sense too! For someone who is supposed to be so _goddamn brilliant_, you're acting mighty goddamn dumb right now! What _exactly_ is it that you want?! You want to kiss ass?! Is _that_ who you are now?! Are you back on your meditation binge?! Because, I really want to know if you'd rather be friends with Emily! The one who's screwing the guy that you're supposed to be with. What is it that you want?" Krys got up and started to walk away, before Hermione pulled her back. When she saw Krys' face wet with tears, she knew that she'd ultimately gone too far. Only extremely emotional things and allergies made Krys cry.

"I want him to be alive. I want the accident to not have happened. And I want to have been able to live my life with him, like I would've. I want to take care of him, like he would've done for me. I want to have seen him before he died. I want to be able to have held him, to kiss him, to hug him, before he died. And that's why I want Ares to marry Emily. Because, I don't want to destroy another life." Krys said softly, with tears running down her face. And suddenly, she was sobbing. "I mean, its all my fault- I didn't know that- why didn't I know?" Hermione sighed and tried to hold back tears. But she couldn't. The tears just fell.

"No- Krys, it was my fault. I was there too. I could've tried. I mean- you could've chosen him."

"No… Hermione. It was you and everybody else or just me and him… and I chose. I had a choice and I made it. I mean…it was my fault if any. If I could've just given me for you all to live, I would've. I really would've… he- I should've been able to." Krys said, before she lied her head on the counter. A minute later, she sat up and wiped her face. "Good thing I wasn't wearing mascara." Ron only laughed in attempt to make her feel better. It was a joke all in its own. Krys in mascara? Never. Although Ron hadn't been there, he knew how hard she took the effects of the accident. After all, it was the reason that Harry left auror training for a week to take care of her. And Jason had spent weekends visiting her. Ron himself had gone to visit her a few times, when he believed that Hermione wouldn't be there. Hermione looked at Krys and sighed.

"Don't you think that you should see Dr. Crane again?" she asked. Krys shook her head.

"I swear that man only wants to see me, because I'm known." Ron laughed, and Krys looked at him this time. "You're really going to have to stop laughing because you feel bad for me." she teased. "Ronniekins, I should be over it."

"No one gets over that." Ron said. Hermione nodded.

"Really, he's right." she said. "I mean, even if- forget it. Lets just stop talking about it, and we should do something. Ron, I'm ignoring you and leaving you alone tonight. Cookie, what do you want to do tonight?" Krys rolled her eyes, and hopped off of her stool.

"I'm sorry, Bon-bon, but I have a date." she said.

"Oh thank God." Hermione muttered obviously. Krys laughed, as Hermione turned back to Ron and gave him a devilish grin. "Um- who do you have a date with?"

"Dinner and movie with Josephs, Ares' sexy older boss man." Krys said.

"Ooh- way to go. I mean, if it isn't the godlike Adonis, Kingie, it should be someone almost as godlike." Hermione said. Ron looked at her.

"At least wait until I'm gone." he said. Hermione looked at Krys.

"Do you hear something?" she teased. Krys laughed. A second later, Ares jumped down the stairs. He looked like a mess. His clothes were disheveled and he had bags under his eyes. "No longer godlike." Hermione muttered.

"I'm late for my first day of work! The alarm clock didn't go off. Can you help me?" he said in a panic. Krys laughed, and held her hand up.

"Calm down. When are you supposed to be there?" she asked, the laughter evident in her voice.

"Two minutes." Ares said, looking at his watch.

"How long will it take you?" Krys asked.

"Including or excluding looking good?"

"Including, I can't look at you like this. My whole image of you is tainted. You used to wake up looking _good_. What happened?" she teased. Ares glared at her slightly, before he started to laugh.

"An hour."

"I'll give you three." Krys said. "That way you can make it seem like you went in early and are prompt." Ares walked to her and leaned in to kiss her cheek, but Krys held her hand out. "It doesn't have the same affect if you look like this. I'll wait until you're looking good again." she teased, before she kissed his cheek. Ares laughed, then ran up the stairs. Krys sighed slightly, and noticed that Ron and Hermione were pointedly staring at her. "What happened?" They both shook their heads. "Um- about before." Krys stopped and looked at her hands. "I really don't want him to know about _any_ of it. The accident _or_ Mark. That's why I told Harry to tell him that I left Nemonora to be a gymnast. I don't want him to be tainted from it. I mean- it isn't reprehensible, but… I just- I don't want him to know."

"We came up with the agreement when it happened. Whatever. I already promised that I wouldn't tell." Hermione said. The two girls looked at Ron.

"I'm too afraid to tell." Ron said.

"So… your new friendship with Emily."

"I don't know." Krys said. "She doesn't really like me."

"Oh- well, _everyone_ likes you." Hermione teased. "Krys, its first instinct for girls not to like you." Krys looked at her. "Pretty girl that befriends boyfriends. She hangs out with them, and its every straight guy's first instinct to like you. You're the cute girl that they can ogle at, without worry of you being in love with them. You don't follow them around, and you let them come to you. See- girls don't like you, because your confidence when it comes to talking to guys, is the same as the girls that don't like you. But they have confidence with only their looks. You should have both, but you don't. So basically, the only girls that you can talk to, are girls that aren't remotely intimidated by you. Then there are the girls who think that by following you, they'll gain instant popularity."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Dude, you're almost as sexy as me. That's what she's trying to say." A.J said, as she sat next to them.

"Thank you, A.J- that's exactly what I was saying." Hermione joked. They all laughed.

"Okay… girls don't like me, because they want to be me?" Krys asked. "If so, that's stupid. I don't think that I've ever envied anyone, but… who have I envied? Oh- I wanted to be Posh Spice so badly. Beckham is the sexiest man in soccer."

"So true." Hermione said.

"I'm right here." Ron said, waving his arms around. A.J and Krys laughed.

"Dude, give up now. I mean, you're cute and all but David Beckham… oh me oh my." A.J said. "Just one minute, and I'd have him in love with me."

"That's all you'd need, Apollie." Krys teased. "One minute, and they're all falling in love with you and shit."

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They were all sitting around the counter eating, when Ares walked downstairs in fresh new black robes. The robes had his last name stitched in red letters, over his heart. Over his name it said, Class 2. Krys looked at him. He was definitely back to beyond sexy. "Dude!" she said. He gave a toothy grin and nodded. "I mean, you're the first to be working, really. Harry's a lazy ass that only gets called when they need him desperately. And the rest of us are lazy slackers. Dude!" Ares laughed, and sat down.

"Don't get me dirty, people. But, I'm hungry." he said. Krys rolled her eyes, and snapped her fingers. A bowl of Captain Crunch placed itself in front of him.

"You're class two, already?" A.J asked. Ares shrugged.

"Yeah- everyone from Moody's program, would supposedly be in class two, by default."

"Wasn't Moody's program supposed to be frickin prestigious?" Thai asked. They all nodded.

"Moody is something of a legend." Krys said.

"So when he personally begs you to be in his program, you do it." Ares said, looking at Krys pointedly. She rolled her eyes.

"I have more of a knack for healing."

"Better than beating the shit out of most people? Pretty much having one lost duel on your record? You're _that_ good of a healer?" Ares asked. "I might make you my Doctor."

"I am a _wonderful_ healer." Krys said.

"She really is." Harry said. "Although, she would've been a better auror. There's no saying what we could've done with her in our fight team in Moody's program."

"Can you guys stop saying that? I made the right decision."

"All I'm saying is that Moody said that you could've come in as a first year, in our second." Harry said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"Okay- I was just going to ask how those women got in, if its so prestigious." Thai said. Krys almost laughed, but instead looked at her.

"Stop." she said. "You can't judge anyone that you don't know." They all looked at her.

"Krys, don't do that. Its creepy." Ares said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"Shouldn't you be pretending to be on time for work?" she asked.

"Shouldn't you be- wait, what the hell are you going to do today?" Ares asked. Krys shrugged.

"Take care of the kids. Angel is getting a Spanish lesson via DVD, right now."

"What else are you going to do _tonight_?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him questioningly. "Do you have any plans tonight?"

"Oh!- I have a date." Krys said. They all looked at her.

"With who?" Thai asked.

"With Josephs." Krys said.

"Who's that?"

"A dude that I used to go to school with."

"Also known as Ares' new boss." Jason said. Krys looked at him.

"Whoa." Thai said. "That's weird."

"Okay, you know what? I don't have to listen to this." Krys said, as she hopped off of her stool, and started to walk away. But she didn't get away, because Ares held her back by her shoulder.

"If I'm not feeling awkward about it, none of you should have anything to say." he said. "So just, let it go. All of you."

"Thank you." Krys said, as she got back on her stool and glared at each of them individually.

"Um Krys, I hope you don't mind, but… Emily and Kay slept over last night." Ares whispered. Krys looked at him and shrugged.

"It doesn't matter." she said. Less than a minute later, Emily walked through the archway of the kitchen. She was wearing a white miniskirt that had a mid thigh split. On her top was a black tube top that showed her midriff. On her feet were black pumps. She had a glowing peach blush on, and her lips were rosy red. Her hair was in curled and crimped. She walked in, and immediately went to Ares. Ares kissed her cheek, then turned around without giving her anything else.

"So, where are you going today?" he asked her, without turning around.

"Oh- I'm just going to spend the day with Kay and our mums." Emily said, as she started to massage his shoulders through the robe.

"Have fun with that." Ares said dully, before he started to shrug her off. "Listen, did you touch the clock this morning?"

"Oh- yeah, it woke me up at six am. Way too early." Emily said. Ares turned around and looked at her. Krys got up and started to walk to the opposite side of the room. If there was nothing else about Ares, he liked to be prompt. Instead of blowing up, he sighed and got up.

"Well… first day of work." he said. He walked over to Krys and hugged her, then kissed her cheek.

"Do you think that was a good idea in front of the Phi Iota Alpha Nu Psi Epsilon?" she asked, once he pulled back. He shrugged.

"Doesn't matter." he said. "You're the one that helped me get here."

"I only helped you pass transfiguration and potions."

"And history of magic and herbology. I could only do defense and charms." Krys nodded.

"This is very true." she teased. Ares laughed, and turned to the rest of them. He waved, then as Emily walked towards him, he disapparated, acting like she wasn't even there.

"So Emily, what are you doing today?" Ginny asked.

"I have to get the wedding shoes. And I have to check with the bartender." Emily said. "Not to mention finding a place to have the reception dinner." Krys nodded.

"Happy hunt-" she started, but stopped once her phone started to ring. She laughed at who was calling her. "Josephs, what do you want?… Didn't you say dinner?" Krys laughed. "Is that a good idea, coming to your office?… So even you admit that it isn't… where the hell are you? Muggle objects don't work in most areas inhabited with great quantities of magic. That's why the department of muggle studies has a gigantic room that only allows the magic of its workers. Did you think that I wouldn't know it?" They were all staring at her. "First off, I'm not coming to your office alone… that would mean that I trust you… Would you rather me lie to you? Well then, you're in for one hell of a ride, because I'll pretty much tell you the whole truth about yourself… What's the point of me coming to your office anyway?.. It's not like we're dating… no, we're not. Are you always this psychotic?… No, it isn't attractive. It's a bit sad." Krys laughed. "Well, if I come to your office, expect me to treat you like shit in front of your team. You want me to hang with your team for lunch?… why?… Does that dude work there?… Guy, if you're gonna quote laws, quote them right. Standard to intricate magic law states that during time of war, hitting an auror is _strictly_ prohibited to regular magic citizens. Read the book, thank you. I'll think about it. Yeah, whatever." Then she hung up. They were still all looking at her. "What?"

"You can flirt any which way possible, huh?" A.J said. Krys raised her eyebrows.

"It's true. I just didn't mention the loophole." she said. They all looked at her pointedly. "Common sense, people. Healers, unmentionables, spell makers, and aurors, aren't the regular magic citizens. And… its not time of war."

"You should really stop reading all of those law books." Jason said. Krys laughed.

"I have to go and get ready." she said.

"You're going?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Why can't you just wear that?" Krys laughed.

"Okay… I'll wear this." she said sarcastically.

"_I_ like it." Harry said.

"I'll see you later, guys." Krys said, as she hopped through the archway, waving at them as she left.

"I have to go to work." Emily said. Hermione looked at her.

"You just said that you were going to get shoes and hang with your mother." she said. Emily looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going to work, then I'm going to get shoes." she said, before she disapparated. Hermione looked at Ron, who was looking back at her.


	18. The Killer Question

"What the hell are we going to do?" Hermione asked him, once they got back to her apartment. Ron laughed.

"Why are you so invested in this?" he asked, as he sat on her bed.

"Because, when I wasn't with you, Krys did everything that she could short of physical contact. She tried everything that she could to get me to change my mind, and I was just dumb. Because now, when I look at you, I have no idea how I did it for that year." Ron nodded.

"You were." he joked. Hermione glared at him playfully, before she swatted him lightly. "Hey, you said it, not me." Hermione smiled and sat next to him. 

"You do know that you're a prat, right?" she asked. Ron furrowed his eyebrows, and put his hand to his heart.

"Hey, I was agreeing with you." he said. Hermione laughed, and buried her head in the crook of his neck.

"We should do something weird." she said. Ron laughed.

"Weird like what?" he asked.

"We should go read a book together."

"And how is that weird?"

"Because we're twenty. We should be clubbing like uncontrollable twenty year olds." Hermione said, looking at him.

"Well, I'd much rather read with you." Ron said, before he kissed her forehead. Hermione gave a small sigh, and hopped up. She skipped out the door, before turning back to him.

"Are you coming?" she asked. Ron got up.

"Do you even have to ask?" Hermione giggled cutely, and walked into a room with gigantic bookshelves and a quaint couch in the center. Hermione walked to one of the bookshelves and skimmed.

"What do you want to read?" she asked. Ron shrugged.

"I don't know. What kind of books do you have?"

"Well- I live with Krys. There are… how about the book of auror laws?" Hermione asked. "Knowing what you can and cannot do, when it comes to being an auror."

"Sounds interesting." Ron said, as he got comfortable on the couch. Hermione turned to him with a small handbook in her hand. When she sat on the couch, Ron wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't wanna read anymore." Hermione whined. Ron laughed.

"Good, because I never wanted to read." he said.

"So, was this all some little plan to get me alone?" Ron nodded.

"Yup. And it worked." he said. "I've got you here with me." Hermione turned to face him, and smiled. Ron stuck his tongue out at her, in a playful way.

"I'm telling." Hermione said, in a childish way.

"I don't care." Ron replied. Hermione gave a small smile, and lied on his chest. "I like this."

"Yeah, me, too." she said softly, as she inhaled the scent of his shirt. They just lied there, with Ron lightly massaging her scalp, and Hermione rubbing the bare skin of his six pack.

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"Krys, what the hell did you do?" A.J asked, as Krys hopped down the stairs.

"What?" Krys asked.

"She means what the hell are you _wearing_?" Jason asked. Krys looked down at herself.

"Clothes." she said. Krys was wearing a flimsy black pleated miniskirt with sapphire blue stitching that lined each pleat. On her top was a fitted sapphire blue halter top. Over her halter, she was wearing a fitted black blazer. She topped the look off with suede knee high boots, without a heel. Her hair was in its regular silky curly state and her lips were glossy pink.

"Are you wearing a thong?" A.J asked. Krys looked at her weirdly.

"No." she said.

"I don't wanna hear this." Harry said in outrage. Krys sat on the stool.

"Dude… what's the problem?" she asked.

"You're dressed just like… I don't even know what to say. I don't approve." Krys laughed.

"How old am I?" she asked. "I am an adult, no? I do have a job, I have my own money, and I'm not fucking every Tom, Dick and… Richard. How I dress is my business. Just like I can't tell you to stop making so much noise when you're doing it in your room." Ginny laughed and Harry looked at her.

"You're in it, too." he said.

"Okay- so-"

"I don't want people looking at you and talking about you." Harry said.

"And I love you for it. But they'll do it regardless. They do it when I wear my regular clothes. No matter what I do, people are going to talk."

"I guess I don't like the idea of you going into a staff lounge with a bunch of auror men, who think that they're high and mighty, dressed like that."

"And if I see no women there, I'll change." Krys said.

"You promise?" Harry asked, sticking his hand out. Krys nodded.

"I promise." she said, before they did their special handshake. "Now I have to go to navy port… and get some play, before I change." Harry laughed dryly.

"Very funny." he said. Krys nodded.

"I know." she said, before she disapparated. She landed in front of the N.A Ministry. She walked through the gold rimmed doors. As soon as she got inside, there was a big book. Krys rolled her eyes and skimmed to the auror's department. One of the names in the book was Ares Delgado. Krys actually wanted to take pictures of his name in the book, but she shook from those feelings and found Eric's name. Once she found his name, she stuck her wand in the check and waited for it to register. After about three minutes, her wand came back out with a card. The card read 'Krystathaili Black, Healer'. As soon as this happened, Krys walked on some more and had to stop at another gate. This time, a woman was at the gate, behind a podium.

"Card, please." she said, with a Valley girl accent. Krys handed her the card. "Who are you here to see?"

"Eric Josephs, auror department." Krys said. The woman looked at her, then at her card. She gave a small huff, and looked at the gigantic book.

"Mr. Josephs was expecting you ten minutes ago. What happened?" the woman asked. Krys looked at her and almost laughed.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked. The woman rolled her eyes, and stamped Krys' card. Krys took the card and kept walking according to the signs. "I should just apparate, right now." She finally reached the aurors office twenty minutes later and had to wait at another gate. This time there was a man at the podium. He was about twenty one years old. When Krys walked up to him, he gave her the once over, and a small smile.

"Name, please." he said.

"Krystathaili Black." Krys said dully.

"Who're you here to see?" he asked.

"Eric Josephs."

"He described you to a nicety."

"Is that bad?" Krys asked. The man looked at her again, and shook his head.

"Not even close." he said. He looked at her thighs. "A very good thing." Krys looked at him weirdly.

"So…" she said awkwardly.

"Oh- um, just walk through. He runs Class 2. So-"

"Yeah, go to the door that says Class 2." Krys said. "Thank you." Krys walked away and towards the door that was labeled 'Class 2'. When she opened the door, there were neatly lined desks with stacks of paperwork on each. Krys immediately saw Ares. He was in the back corner, reading some of the paperwork on his desk. There were a bunch of other men and two women. They were all in their twenties, and Ares looked like he was the youngest one there. When Krys closed the door, they all looked her way. All including Ares, who stared at her the longest. His stare was the one that made her look away. "Awkward situation." she muttered to herself.

"Hey, Hottie." Krys recognized the voice, and almost threw up at how disgusted she was. "You here for a little booty call?" Mike asked. Some of the men laughed. Krys turned to him.

"Did I ever say anything to make you think that you could talk to me?" she asked him. Mike put on what he thought was a sexy grin, and advanced on her.

"You know that you want me." he said. Krys laughed sardonically.

"Ha. Oh wow. You're disgusting, and you reek of eternal virgin, you prick." More men laughed this time.

"Chill, sweetie." Mike said, touching her shoulder. Krys was about to beat the shit out of him, when she felt another hand on her shoulder.

"Yo, Williams- chill." Ares said, as he pulled Krys away from Mike.

"I was just having fun, Newbie." Mike said, before he winked at Krys and walked back to his desk. Krys looked at Ares.

"You know I could've just killed him, right?" she asked him. Ares laughed, and nodded.

"_That's_ why I pulled you away." he said, in a matter-of-fact manner.

"First day on the job, and you're already saving lives." Ares grinned. "I can't say that I'm not proud of you." This comment made Ares blush slightly.

"You need to stop." he said.

"I know. So, where's your annoying boss? You know, that Josephs dude."

"He's-"

"Did I hear someone call my name?" asked a voice from the archway. Krys looked up and saw Josephs. He was wearing a toothy grin. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Whatever." Krys said. "I was in a giving mood."

"Okay- well, you might want to join us all in the lounge. Lunch just came in." Krys nodded. "After you." Krys nodded and walked ahead of him. When Krys got inside of the lounge, there were a few people in there already. Krys walked in by herself and wasn't joined by Josephs or any of the other people until a few minutes later. When they walked in, Ares looked livid. Krys looked at him and continued to stare him down, until she caught his eye. She gave him a questioning look, and he shook his head. Josephs sat down next to her and sandwiched her between him and another woman. "So, did you wear this to tease me?" he whispered in her ear. Krys looked at him, then his hands.

"Hands above the table, bucko." Krys said. Josephs laughed, and put his hands on the table, as food whizzed around and landed on people's plates. Krys looked up and Ares was staring at her. She looked at him questioningly, and he shook his head and looked down.

"So… you wanna eat in my office?" Josephs asked her. Krys almost laughed outright, but shook her head instead.

"No, not really." she said. Josephs laughed for her.

"Are you this hard to get alone?" he asked her.

"It depends on what you want to do when we're alone. And I know you well enough to know that you don't want to discuss my reading list, my IQ, or my favorite color. I'm guessing that you'll most likely be interested in finding out the color of my panties, the color of my bra, the size of my bra, and how much of my bra's contents can fit into your hand and or mouth. Either way, I'm not that interested. You'll have to charm me a bit more."

"Are you always this bitter?" Josephs asked her. Krys nodded.

"Yeah. I thought you knew." she said. He looked at her and grinned.

"Is it possible that it makes me like you more?" he asked.

"Well, yeah its possible. I mean… I'm wonderful. I'd love to be able to talk to me. I mean, sometimes I have little conversations with myself, just so that I can get how wonderful I make other people feel." Josephs laughed.

"That wasn't funny." he said.

"I know. I was serious."

"Now I'm scared." Krys laughed. "So...are you going to tell me about the rest of your tattoos, or what?"

"I'm not." Krys said. "What's the whole obsession with my tattoos?"

"Its not the tattoos. It's the fact that the tattoos have to be on parts that I haven't seen." Krys laughed.

"What about you? Do you have any tattoos?" she asked. Josephs laughed and shook his head.

"Something about a needle rubbing on skin, scares me."

"Wow… and you're one of the men that helps protect our world. I feel so safe now." Krys said sarcastically.

"Just because I'm not fond of needles, doesn't disqualify me from being able to protect people."

"I never said that it did. I just said that I felt safe. Plus- if you're not fond of needles and what they can do, why are you so interested in my tattoos. What is it with men and _marks, moles, and freckles_? I mean… you all need help."

"What, men aren't usually attracted to your tattoos?"

"Men don't see my tattoos." Josephs smiled.

"I'm sorry. Boys." he amended.

"Boys- men, don't usually see my tattoos. And when they do, they're either repulsed by the mutilation I've harmed my body with, or they're extremely turned on. Either way, its repulsive. Its all based on looks, which I find shallow as hell. Actually, shallower than hell. Actually- that type of shallow is the shallowest. Where is the emotional complexity? Who the hell bases a _whole_ relationship on surface and exterior?" Josephs laughed.

"You can't be mad at the fact that I'm attracted to you." he said.

"I'm not."

"Yeah, you are."

"And how can you tell me?"

"Because of the way that you're talking about it. And because of how we re-met. That's mainly how people meet people. They do it through attraction. So- you really can't be mad that I'm very attracted to you."

"I'm not. I- I actually like you because of it. I don't think that anyone's actually been attracted to me before." Krys said. Josephs laughed.

"You're still funny." he said, as he placed his hand on her thigh.

"Is this what its gonna be like at the movies tonight?" Krys asked, as she dropped his hand back on the table.

"No. You can tell me to stop. And if you want me to, I will." Josephs said. Krys looked at him.

"Which part of you thought that I liked your grubby, he-man paws on me?" she asked jokingly.

"The fact that you haven't taken your wand out yet."

"Fair enough." Krys said, as she put her hands on the table. "How about we both keep our hands to ourselves?"

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then you get slapped with a boot, and you lose all chances."

"Okay."

"Plus, its not even like I care what you want anyway." Josephs laughed.

"So, where do you want to eat tonight?"

"Somewhere with cake."

"Okay. So what about the movie?"

"I don't know. What about you?"

"Whatever you want." Josephs said. Krys nodded.

"That's how I like it." she said. Josephs looked at her, then covered her hand with his.

"I like you." he said.

"You don't know me." Krys said.

"Well- I like what I see." Krys smiled.

"Back to point A. Shallow." Josephs smiled, and rubbed her knuckles with his thumb.

"And I like what I hear. But, I _still_ like what I see." he said. Krys laughed.

"I wish I could say the same." she teased. Josephs grinned, and leaned in, but then suddenly stopped. He looked around the room and realized that everyone was staring at them. Krys realized that a majority of the women four were glaring. She suddenly looked for Ares, who was nowhere to be seen. She groaned and looked at Josephs. He suddenly got up, and held his hand out. Krys looked at him and grabbed it, letting him lead her out of the lounge, before he disappeared into his office. In the workroom, Ares was at his desk reading a particular file. "Dude, why aren't you eating?" Krys asked him. He looked at her and smiled slightly, while shaking his head.

"Not hungry." he said. Krys stuck her tongue out, and made a weird face that made Ares laugh.

"Get back to work, then. I expect great things from you, Delgado." she said. Ares smiled, then looked back at the file. Krys waited there, blowing her bangs from her face and inflating her cheeks.

"Krys, please stop." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"The humming noise." Ares said.

"What humming?"

"When you're bored, you do this cute little humming noise. Its like a purring moan. Its weird and creepy as hell, if you don't know what it is." Krys laughed.

"Sorry." she said. Ares shook his head.

"Its okay. Its also kinda cute and sexy." he said, before he went back to reading the file. Krys looked around the office. "Krys." She looked at him.

"Huh?"

"You're making it again."

"Sorry." Krys said, as she tapped her foot. Eric opened his office door and beckoned Krys in. She looked at him and laughed slightly. "See you later, Josephs."

"Wait, wait." he said, as he walked out. "Where are we meeting tonight?"

"Call me, and tell me where to meet you." Krys said. Josephs nodded.

"Do I get a kiss goodbye?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"Not unless you never want to see me again." she said, before she walked away. Walk #3 for Krys, the sexy swinging of the hips. It was the walk that made most men stare. Before she walked out the door, she turned around to see Eric, Ares and two unfamiliar men staring at her. "See you later, Ares. Um- you too, Josephs." Then she walked away.

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Thai sat in her room, updating the new 'Clueless' type closet directory that Krys got her, when someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?"

"Its me." yelled the person on the other side of the door.

"And who is _me_?"

"Thai, its me, Jennifer." Thai rolled her eyes.

"What?" she yelled.

"Can you just let me in?"

"I can, but I don't want to."

"Thai, please." Jennifer begged. Thai looked at her door and nodded. The door opened and Jennifer walked in.

"What happened?" Thai asked. She didn't ask it in a friendly way, but it was the polite version of 'what do you want'.

"Can I sit down?" Jennifer asked, as tucked her dirty blonde bangs behind her ear. Thai nodded impatiently.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Um… I wanted to know if Angel seemed a bit funny to you lately." Jennifer said.

"No." Thai said. "Is that it?"

"No." Jennifer said hesitantly. "But I mean- I thought that you'd know the reason that he broke up with me." Thai looked at her.

"He broke up with you?"

"Yeah. He said that we weren't real together." Thai nodded in involuntary sympathy.

"Well… what have you tried? Did you talk to him?" she asked reluctantly.

"Well- I tried to kiss him. I flirted. I tried to get him interested again." Jennifer whined.

"By cleavage, groping, forcing yourself on him, and acting in a promiscuously alluring way." Thai said. Jennifer looked at her questioningly. "Have you tried talking to him?"

"Yeah, of course."

"And what did you talk about?"

"I told him what I wanted. I told him what I wanted us to do. And I told him that I wanted him."

"That sounds pretty real to me." Thai said truthfully. "And what did he say?"

"That it was over, and that I shouldn't make it worse. I thought that I could get him to take me back, when I kicked Rachel and Vic out of my room."

"Well… maybe you should-… go get him, right now." Thai said. Jennifer got up and left Thai's room. "Krystathaili, what the hell are you doing? What the hell are you doing? What the hell are you doing?" Thai ran her hand through her hair and sighed deeply. She looked down at her black boxers with emerald green stripes on them, and black t-shirt. She touched her newly pedicured toe, before she went back to updating her closet. When she looked up, Angel was standing at her door. Thai sighed. "Okay… I'm not trying to play Jennifer's Cyrano, or devil's advocate on your part, Angel, but… get it together. I don't want to know about your little relationship drama, for reasons unbeknownst to me. But I don't want to hear it, nonetheless. Am I clear?"

"What has she been telling you?" Angel asked. Thai rolled her eyes.

"Obviously something's wrong with the fact that she's telling me anything at all. I don't want to know what problems have arisen in bed. I don't want to know what emotional problems that you have. And I don't want to know what you do to fix it. All I want to know is that its fixed." she said.

"I don't want it to be fixed." Angel said.

"Why are you such a jackass?" Thai asked him in exasperation, as she ran her hand down her face in frustration.

"I'm a jackass?"

"Yes."

"I'm a jackass because I don't want to be with her?"

"No, you're _difficult_ because you don't want to be with her. You're a jackass, because you've been grinding on her for the past year, and you were fucking her until the last day of the relationship."

"I just don't like her anymore."

"Then you're a jackass because you've been playing the girl for the past year."

"I haven't been playing her."

"But then you're still a jackass. If you liked _her_ at the same time that you were _falling in love_ with some _other_ girl, you're still a jackass. And even if you really love this other girl, you're still a dickhead. And even if you don't like this girl, and you do in fact like Jennifer, you're a jackass for kissing and groping me- you know what? I don't want to talk about this. You can go and do whatever you want with Jennifer and this dream girl, and tell her whatever the hell you want, because- I'm done playing fucking cupid in your relationship. You need to take your big head out of your ass and realize that you're a dick."

"What the hell are you talking about?! I'm not a jackass for losing interest. She- she was a completely different person from who I thought that she was! She used to write me these letters, then she finally signed her name on one, and I asked her out. _She_ changed. I didn't change, she did." Thai got up, and started to push him out of her room. Once he was out the door, she started to close it, before she stuck her head out for her parting speech.

"You are _still_ a jackass, Angel."

"Why? Why am I a jackass?"

"'If I never get to go out with you, I'd still consider myself lucky. You're a really good friend, Angel. And I can tell that you're all around good, by the way that your sister and Luis talk about you. So, I don't expect you to like me, and its okay if you don't. I consider just being your friend, more than enough. But if you like me, even better. And don't be afraid to ask me out, because you already know that I like you.'" she recited, remembering the final letter that she wrote to him. "When have you ever seen Jennifer talk to Alex or Luis?" Angel didn't say anything. "Are you kidding me? You think _Jennifer_ wrote that shit? You're so fucking shallow, that you can't even see what's in front of your face. Okay- you want something real?- I'll give you something real. Jennifer did not write those goddamn letters." Thai said. "I did." Then she shut the door in his face.

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"So- what happened between you two?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her.

"What was _supposed_ to happen?" she asked. "Nothing happened. I went there and went on a big fucking journey, to talk to him for five minutes, and the talk wasn't all that." Hermione looked at her. "He was a gigantic pervert, and kept touching my leg."

"I thought that you preferred perverts." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"I do. I mean- I _am_ a pervert. But he's one of those perverts that won't keep their hands off of you. I prefer, and _love_ the universal perverts. The ones that tell you all the things that they want to do to you, _then_ they do the touching once they have consent. That's my requirement." she said, as she licked chocolate off of her finger. "I mean, I like the regular touching, because- if I didn't, he's have been impaled long ago. But at least ask. Don't come out and say, 'can I touch your leg?', but give the perverted subtle tips. What about you and Ronald?"

"He asked me to the Minister's ball. Can you believe that Ron and I will have our first date in three days?" Hermione asked. Krys smiled slightly.

"Oh- the public relationship." Krys said. "Killer." Hermione laughed.

"You're so weird." she said. Krys shook her head.

"No, I'm really not. I just tell the truth."

"And the truth happens to be weird, when it comes from you."

"Hey, hey- none of that." Krys said, as she got up to get a cookie. She weirdly kept her cool, when Ares popped in the spot less than two inches from her. She was so calm that her hand ended up around his neck. When she saw it was him, she took her hand away. "Sorry." Then she walked back to her seat like it was nothing. Hermione and Ares were both staring at her, as she broke the cookie apart, and caught it piece by piece into her mouth. When she was eating, she made small moaning sounds that caused Ares and Hermione to laugh. When she was done eating the cookie, she looked up at the two of them. "Now what, may I ask, is so funny?"

"That cute little moaning sound that you make when you eat." Ares said. His choice of words earned him a look from Hermione. A look that he pointedly ignored, even though he got a clear sight of it through his peripheral vision.

"Well, I make noises. I apologize." Krys said.

"No, Krys. You make a noise for everything that you do." Hermione said.

"What do you mean?"

"You make this little purring noise when you read." Ares said. "You make a purring moan when you're bored. And when you're doing hard work, you hum the same song, over and over again. Oh- and regular work, you do the drum cadences of marching band songs." Hermione looked at him pointedly, while Krys just looked at him.

"I don't make that many noises." Krys said.

"Krys, you really do." Hermione said, as she laughed slightly. "Now- I think you should start going for your date. You have about an hour to get ready." Krys nodded.

"Yeah, I really have to get ready." she said, before she walked to the archway. Hermione watched Ares, as he watched Krys go. "Hey, hey." They both looked at Krys. "How was work?"

"Well… I got a case." Ares said. Krys' eyes lit up, and her smile almost brightened the room.

"Oh my God! That's so great." she said. "Oh man, you must be psyched- oh shit." Krys' face started to look sick.

"What? What happened?" Ares asked urgently.

"I just sounded like a serious preppy from Beverly Hills. I have to start cursing some more. Get my gangsta status back on track, man." Ares and Hermione laughed.

"Okay- I have to go get something." Hermione said, as she got up. "I'll be back." Then she walked out of the kitchen. Krys walked back in a bit.

"Are you serious, what kind of case?" she asked. She was still smiling. "I mean, dude. I send you out in the world for one day- and you come back with… a case." Ares laughed, and enveloped her in a hug. It was one of their adorable loving hugs. Krys' face was buried in his chest, and his chin was resting on her head. After about two minutes of inhaling the others scent, they both pulled back. Krys hopped on a stool and crossed her legs, before she patted the stool next to her. She was still wearing her miniskirt and halter top, the only part that was missing was the jacket, which made it harder for him to look and stop looking at her.

"Yeah, after you left he- don't you have a date?" Ares said. Krys took his arm, and looked at his watch.

"I have time. Plus- its not like he can't wait." she said. Ares nodded. "Okay- so what happened?"

"He called me in, and threw a file on his desk. Then he told me that I had the case. It isn't much, but its my first day." Krys shook her head.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked. "Dude, do you know how long it took _Moody_ to get a case?"

"No. How long?"

"Three years." Krys said. "Ooh- don't tell him that I told you. Better yet, don't bring it up. This should be a great experience. The question is; does it involve violence, or is it more research?"

"Its more research." Ares said. "Its about-" Krys shook her head.

"Don't tell me yet." she said, hopping up. She ran to the cookie jar and picked it up, before walking back to her seat. "Okay- now you can tell me."

"Well- its about-"

"Hold on." Krys said, before she snapped. A plate, a knife and fork whizzed over to her. "Go on." Krys placed three cookies on her plate, and made the three points of a triangle with them, before she lifted the plate on one hand. Instead of talking, Ares watched her and listened to the noise that she was making. She was doing one of the drum cadences from the movie Drumline. When she was done, she looked at him. "Why aren't you talking? I wanna hear about it. Go on." Krys picked up her knife and fork to start cutting the cookies.

"Okay… well it's a case about-"

"Hold on. Who's your partner?" she asked, as she set up her area with a napkin.

"Oh- Sasha." Ares said. "And she's good."

"You don't know how happy I am for you. You- oh my God, you must be so excited."

"Are you cold?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"Kinda, why?" Ares shook his head.

"No reason." he said.

"Yeah, sorry. Finish."

"I can't. You have to get ready for your date." Krys took his hand and Ares pulled his arm back. "Ah- ah! Hot!" Krys' eyes widened, and she looked at her hand that still had a flame in it.

"I'm so sorry." she gushed, as she let the flame out. "Come here." Ares moved his arm back to her. Horrible third degree burns in the shape of a hand were on his arm. "Are you mad at me?" she asked cutely.

"Yes." Ares said, just as cute. Krys looked at his arm, kissed her hand, then placed it on his arm. As soon as she touched it, the burn started to disappear. As she watched it disappear, she looked at his watch. She had an hour to get ready and show up for her date. She looked at Ares. "Do you have to go?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"Not yet." she said. "Finish your story."

"It is a boring case about how fresh out-of-school wizards and witches, are stealing from muggles. They're using their magic in a harmful way. But there's one guy. Supposedly, he could risk exposing the magic world, if he continues. He hasn't responded well to the warnings that he's been sent and now we can't track him down."

"So, what do you have to do?"

"I have to catch him." Ares said.

"I know _that_. I mean; _how_?"

"Well- he's… I have no idea." Ares said. Krys laughed, and Ares laughed with her.

"Hey- what does Emily think of you getting a case?" she asked. Ares shrugged.

"I haven't told her." he said. Krys looked at him for a minute.

"Hey- listen, as much as I'd love to talk to you all night- and you know that I do- I have better things to do." she teased, as she hopped up. She straightened her top and skirt, then smiled at him. "See- I have all the right parts." Ares laughed.

"Well Krys, I've tested the parts. I know this already." he teased.

"You need help."

"I need _you_." Krys looked at him.

"I know this already." she said. "You've told me many times, Delgado."

"That's when I wanted something."

"Yeah… you're right. User. Go tell your wifey the good news."

"Yeah." Ares said. Krys nodded, then started to walk away. "Hey, Krys." Krys gave an exaggerated groan, and looked at him.

"They keep coming back." she teased. Ares laughed. "Yeah, what happened?"

"Have fun." Ares said. Krys wiggled her eyebrows.

"Well… I doubt I'll be having as much fun as you." she said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well… fiancé gets honored on his first day of work. You're not even supposed to be there until next week. You personally preferred to start early so that you could get some work in before your wedding. Anyway- fiancé gets honored on first day of work. He gets a starter case. I'd think it was time to help you prepare for the job with a calm and happy state of mind, induced by positive sexual reinforcement. Its like… every time the doggy does something good, he gets a treat, making him do good again. Otherwise the d-"

"Are you comparing me to a dog?"

"No. My theory is universal, therefore can be used in almost any instance… except with inanimate objects."

"I might not even see her today." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded.

"Always. I mean, Bunny- you're here." he teased. Krys laughed.

"Not for long." she retorted. "But while I'm here, start talking. What's wrong with you and Emily?" Ares shook his head and smiled.

"Nothing at all." he said. "I can't wait to marry her." Krys looked at him and smiled sweetly.

"Good." she said. "You have no idea how happy I am for you… because of all of it. Emily, your wedding, your job, your case… I am so happy for you." She kissed his cheek and smiled. "You're very sweet, and no mortal woman deserves. You belong to the goddesses, nymphs, and nymphos." Ares laughed.

"And you belong to… no one deserves you. Only the best in the universe." Krys smiled. "No- even he doesn't deserve that kind of punishment." Ares teased. Krys laughed, and flicked him on the arm.

"You're hurtful." she said.

"I was just teasing." Krys smiled softly. "Krys, the man that you choose is going to be the luckiest man in the world. And… if I'm around when you choose him, I'll make sure that he knows it." Ares whispered. Krys stared at him for a minute.

"Are you always this sexy?" she asked. Ares looked at her entire outfit.

"I could ask you the same thing." Krys nodded.

"Yeah, I am." she joked. Ares nodded.

"I know. You are." he agreed.

"Well- as much as I'd like to sit here and converse with you, I won't. I have to allow Josephs to start falling in love with me."

"Well- that won't take long." Ares said. "See you later." Krys nodded and walked out of the kitchen. A minute after she was gone, Hermione walked back into the kitchen.

"You guys are the _dumbest_ people in the world." she said. "I mean '_no mortal woman deserves you_' and '_no one deserves you_'. You both might as well get it over with." Ares looked at her.

"What are you talking about, Hermione?" he asked. Hermione groaned, and sat on the stool.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't still love her." she demanded. Ares looked at her.

"Of course I still love her. She's my best friend." Hermione groaned.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you're not still _in love_ with her." she amended. Ares looked at her once more, the stared in her eyes.

"I'm no longer in love with Krys." he said.

"Liar."

"You just asked me to do something, and I did it. Why is it that you don't believe me?"

"Because, if you're… if you're telling the truth, then you were _never_ in love with her."

I'm sorry this took so long, and that it was so short. I'm still having writers block. Hermione and Ron are together, so what's the point in finishing the story, right? Dont worry people I'm trying. I just hope that it gets easier. Review, people, review. I want ten reviews for this chapter, please. I think I deserve it, don't you? Well- problem. I dont want people to stop reading once the seventh book comes out, so stay faithful people.


	19. A Reviving Answer

Ares stared at Hermione for the longest ten minutes before saying anything. "What do you mean?" he asked. Hermione looked at him and sighed.

"Its as simple as it sounds." she said. "If you don't _still_ love her, then you _never_ did." 

"Of course I loved her. She was my life."

"Tell me the truth." Hermione said. "You and Emily, can you compare this to how much you loved Krys when you were seventeen? Does it match up? If only half as much? Is it half as good?" Ares sighed and closed his eyes.

"The truth… I'll never love Emily the way that I loved her. I loved her more than anyone else in the world. But it doesn't matter anymore, Hermione, because- I can't go back to that. Its over. And you're right… there are times that I want to go back to it, but I'd rather be with Emily and not worry about being dumped in the morning."

"Yeah, but you'll also be with Emily, who you don't love." Hermione said. "You're still in love with Krys. You might as well give it another shot."

"I'm not still in love with her." Ares said.

"Well then, you never did." Hermione said. "Then you just lied to me. So, which one is it, Ares? Did you ever love her, or are you throwing your life away to spite her?" Nothing was said for about twenty minutes.

"I gotta go." Ares said as he got up. Hermione grabbed his arm, and was pushed back slightly by an invisible force.

"Don't go. I'm sorry." she said. "We won't talk about it anymore." Ares sighed and sat down.

"Its okay." he said.

"So… how's work?" Hermione asked casually. Ares laughed at her tone.

"Work is good." he said.

"So- your boss seems cool." Hermione said, as she tied her shoelace. "He really seems into Krys." Ares snorted. "What was that about?"

"He's a jackass." Ares said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well- when she came to my job, he was talking about her."

"What did he say?"

"Him and that bitch Williams were talking about her ass and her thighs." Ares said. "Williams was on some shit about how Josephs could bag her, and they started talking about how sexy she looked in the miniskirt. Josephs said something about how he doubted that she was wearing underwear. It was a bunch of bullshit. Then they started talking about how long it'll take to bed her. He started talking about how sexy she was, and how he was going to decide whether to date the two new girls, or Krys. Then Mike started talking about how the newest girl was too slutty and they would have sex regardless, then how the other new girl was too… he said that she wasn't prettier than the other two, and Josephs made a joke about settling down."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"It'll either hurt her, or piss her off. Either way, she's not happy." Ares said. Hermione smiled.

"Well- one way, she'll be duped into having sex with him, then she'll end up hurt. The other way, she gets a head start, and she doesn't end up caring for him and getting hurt. As a best friend, which one do you think that you should do?" she asked. Ares smiled.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"I never get involved in lovers quarrels." Ares looked at her. "What?"

"I don't like you." he said. Hermione laughed. "How do I tell her?"

"Well… you can do it the '_Ares_' way. Or you can do it the regular way. Either way results in you telling her that you'd like to sleep with her too." Ares laughed.

"I'll wait until she's about to leave."

"Right, 'cause then you get to see her dressed sexily." Hermione teased.

"No, because then, if she's sad we can go out." Ares said. Hermione nodded.

"Oh." she said. "_Sure_."

"So… how's it going with you and Ron?" Ares asked. Hermione smiled.

"I love it. Everything is going amazingly. I just want it to stay like this for a while. I don't want anything to change right now. You know, when Krys would tell me about you and her during that summer, I thought that because I was so stupid, I would never get that. But it's just the way she described it. When you get to a certain point in the relationship… even though we've only been together for like, a week- when you get to that certain point in the relationship, you can be honest about loving each other the most. I mean, Krys once told me about loving you more than anyone… and I know what she means now. And the part about the sex with ultimate commitment. Like… the best time ever was the time that he gave me his heart gem. What about you and Krys?" Ares looked at her weirdly. "What? Just tell me, I told you."

"I didn't ask. I didn't even want to know… the conversation scared the shit out of me." Ares said. Hermione laughed.

"But I want to know. Tell me." she said. Ares laughed. "Tell me."

"I'm thinking about it. There were a lot of times to think of. All of them were good times." Ares said. Hermione laughed. "The _best_ time was… it was the time that I gave her the promise ring. Aw man- I was supposed to draw her. I asked her to model this pink lacey thing for me, and… I _never_ got to draw her in it."

"Why didn't you just draw her after?" 

"I couldn't keep it on her for more than three minutes." Ares said. Hermione laughed.

"You guys need help." she said. "So- did you really do it with Emily, in _the_ bed?" Ares looked at her.

"Does it seem like I would?" he asked. "I would never do that. I wouldn't do it in her house, let alone _the_ bed. That's the bed that Krys and I couldn't lay in, without doing it. Actually, we couldn't go anywhere without doing it." Hermione looked at him.

"I didn't ask about all of that."

"Were you always like this? Or was it just time with Krys that made you like this?" Ares asked. Hermione laughed.

"It was time with Krys." she said. "Why didn't you… why didn't you… why don't you ever stand up for Krys, when Emily's being horrible?"

"What are you talking about?" Ares asked. "Emily told me that she wanted to be friends but-… I know that a lot of girls don't get along with Krys. And… I don't know why that is, but… I always just figured that it was Krys who did things. I mean, how can someone be unanimously be hated by the entire female population? Does that make me a bad friend?" Hermione shook her head.

"No. I used to think that it was Krys, also. I finally realized that she gets along with a lot of girls. She just doesn't get along with girls that… she doesn't get along with girls that… I have no idea. I guess a lot of girls think she's easy because she used to hang with guys a lot. And I guess a lot of girls are jealous of the relationships that she has with you, Jason, Ron, and Harry. I also think its because, she's the girl that makes guys like Brookes and Josephs want to settle down. But- yeah, Emily is horrible."

"She's not horrible. She's just really… she's- I guess she doesn't like Krys, because of our history. But- would you?"

"She doesn't know about your history."

"Well… she knows that my mom loves Krys. Would you like her if you were my fiancé?"

"The ex-fiancé that my fiancé is still in love with? Of course I wouldn't like her. But- I'd still be polite. Look at how hard Krys is trying. She offered a spa date, she's offered to pay for the wedding, she told you about the wedding fund that her father started for you guys, and she offered her beach house. Plus- she's trying to strike a deal with her travel agent, to get you a good deal on your honeymoon. Ares, she's trying. And your fiancé is just being awful, knowing that Krys wants to keep her friendship with you."

"What do you mean 'keep her friendship with me'?" Ares asked.

"Maybe Krys thinks that by helping your fiancé, she'll still be able to see you once you get married." Hermione said.

"Emily doesn't control me." Hermione nodded.

"That's why, when you see them arguing, you don't take sides." she said.

"I don't take sides because they're two important people in my life. And I don't want to piss either one if them off."

"And when you hear Emily call Krys a scrounger, you didn't say anything, because…?" Hermione trailed off.

"Because, I was mad at her myself." Ares said.

"And when Emily said what she said about Krys' parents? Why didn't you say anything when she said it? Why did you wait until the next day? And when Krys told you about Emily being prejudiced? And when you found out about her not liking Jason because he's a half and hal-"

"Hermione, I get it, okay? I'm a bad friend."

"No, you're not. But I remember that you used to argue when you were with Krys. And she's the girl that can kill you with the snap of her finger."

"Krys was easier to get along with. _Is_ easier to get along with."

"This is not about you being a bad friend. Its about the way your fiancé treats Krys, and what you believe. Do you believe that Emily starts it, or do you believe that Krys starts it?"

"I don't know."

"Um… if you had to describe how Krys acts with people, how would you? Girls in particular." Hermione asked him.

"She doesn't get along with girls, but she won't judge someone right out of nowhere. And… she has more tolerance for girls, even if she doesn't like most of them. She gives a lot of chances."

"So…"

"Emily." Ares said.

"What about her?" asked the voice coming from the archway. Krys was walking into the kitchen, with slightly baggy black pants and fitted white t-shirt on. On her feet were white ups, and a white hoodie was around her waist. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, while some of her hair was left out.

"Nothing." Ares said, as he gave her the once-over.

"Cookie, what are you wearing?" Hermione asked.

"Okay, Hermione… this afternoon I dangled the _precious_ bait. _Me_." Krys joked. She laughed at her own joke. "I made a funny." This made Ares and Hermione laughed. "Well anyway… now it doesn't matter." Hermione looked at Ares, and Krys looked at both of them questioningly.

"Um… okay, Krys." Ares started nervously. "I don't want to tell you anything that's going to hurt you."

"Babe," Krys said. She pointed to herself. "Bionic girl." Ares and Hermione laughed. "Tell me."

"You know how… first of all, you always look amazing-"

"Ares, its never gonna happen. You can't have me. We've talked about this." Krys teased. He laughed.

"Anyway, you always look gorgeous. You always look sexy. You really do. You're-" Hermione started to get up and leave the room.

"I'll be back. This seems like a private moment." she said with a huge grin, before she walked out. Krys looked at Ares. 

"What is it?" she asked.

"Williams and Josephs were talking about how you're sexier than the new girls, and that's why he was asking you out. And… then they started to talk about what you were wearing. And he started judging you guys. You were the cute and sexy badass, that was a challenge. Jane was the slutty and easy one. And Myra was the one that they said wasn't worth his time. Williams and Josephs agreed that you were the sexiest, and that Josephs would enjoy the challenge. Josephs only wants to fuc- bed you. Supposedly, you were either a virgin, or a pro in bed." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"I don't believe you." she said seriously.

"Krys, you can't be-" Krys started to laugh hysterically.

"Kingie, I'm just playing." she said. "Of course I believe you. Thanks. I'm not the asshole girl who'll ever choose a guy over her friends, and even if you were lying… it wouldn't matter. I trust you above all. Thank you very much." She hopped up and put her hoodie on. Then she picked up her phone and dialed. "Where do you want me to meet you?" she said after a minute. "Okay… I know where that is." She laughed. "Alright… whatever." Then she hung up.

"You're still going?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Why not?" she said.

"Because he's a pus- he's a punk bitch who doesn't deserve you. He only wants to beat. You're better than that. Krys, you need someone-"

"Kingie, I have needs, too." Krys said in mock outrage. Ares looked at her, and when he realized that she was joking, he laughed. "I mean, I hang out with a lot of guys that want to have sex with me. I mean, honestly… _look at me_. Can you resist this?" she joked. She smiled sweetly and hopped up on the stool. "If I want to do it… I will."

"Krys, you _always_ want to do it." Krys laughed.

"That was only with you." she pointed out. "I'm not looking for a relationship with him. And… I'm not a slut or anything but… everyone but me is getting some."

"Maybe you should wait until-"

"_Please_ don't give me advice. If I want to have sex with him… I will come home, and I'll probably knit all the frustration away."

"When did you learn to knit?" Krys hopped up.

"When you and I broke up." she said. She leaned in and kissed the corner of his lips. "I'll see you later." As soon as she left, Hermione walked into the kitchen.

"What happened?" she asked, as she hopped up on a stool. She smiled and pointed to the lip gloss on his lips. Ares wiped it off.

"She's still going out with him." he said. Hermione looked at him, then nodded slightly.

"Okay." she said.

"What do you mean 'okay'?" Ares asked.

"I mean _okay_." Hermione said. "She can take care of herself. I knew that after ten minutes of meeting her, and I'm pretty sure that Josephs will get the picture. And I get that you're still in love with her, and all… but green isn't your color, gold is."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Ares asked. Hermione laughed.

"It means that you shouldn't be jealous and envious. You should be prosperous." Ares looked at her questioningly still. "Green with envy, gold with wealth. Its very simple, you should either stop being jealous-"

"I'm not jealous. I just don't want to see her waste her time with a jackass that doesn't deserve her."

"What about you and Emily?" Hermione asked. Ares laughed.

"That's different."

"How?"

"I love Emily and she loves me. Krys is going out with a guy that just wants sex, and won't fully appreciate her like-"

"Like you do." Hermione said. Ares laughed.

"Hermione, I'm happy." he said. "I love Emily. So please, don't fuck it up for me, by making me second guess myself."

"Well- Ares, maybe the reason that you're second guessing yourself is because you know something isn't right with Emily."

"Hermione… I'm happy with her." Ares said. Hermione nodded.

"Don't you think that's why I'm doing this instead of Krys." she said. "I just want to say something."

"Okay."

"If you could erase that _one_ moment. If you could erase the day that she broke up with you, would you still want to spend your life with her?" Hermione asked. Ares stared at her.

"Hey- why did you say that if I don't still love her, then I never did?" Ares asked after thirty straight minutes of silence. This showed Hermione that he was looking for any excuse to claw his way out of that question.

"You still look at her the same way."

"What do you mean?" Ares asked. Hermione laughed.

"You still look at her the same way." she said. "You know what I mean."

"Not really." Ares said.

"Two years ago, when I asked you why you loved her, you looked at her." Hermione said.

"Okay? That's how you-"

"It was the same look that you gave her when you were about to tell her about Josephs, and it's the same look that you give her every time she says something _Krys like_. The way you talk to her. It was the same way you spoke to her when we were on the train back from Hogwarts, it was the same way you spoke to her that Christmas. The way you touch her. Everything about your relationship now, is what made your relationship then. So… you either feel the same way about her, or you never felt what you say you did. Which one is it? One marks you as a liar and a big piece of shit, who took a girls virginity in quest of climbing the mountain that couldn't be climbed. The other just says that you're doing all that you can to make sure that you don't get hurt again. That you're denying your feelings in hope that they'll go away. But… the truth is going to come out sooner or later."

"Hermione… I'm happy." Ares said once more. "Please… leave it alone." Hermione looked at him.

"What's the big problem?" she asked.

"Hermione, I cried." Ares said deadpan.

"Big deal. It doesn't make you any less of a man." Ares laughed.

"Yeah… it does." he said.

"Okay… so- that just means that you cared about her."

"I haven't cried since I was three and my father left. Okay? I lost weight. I gained weight. I _destroyed_ my room. I spent fifteen thousand dollars on an engagement ring that I still have. The only reason that I said nix on the suicide, was because I wasn't going to leave my mother like my father did. I had sex with a lot of women that I di-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You were a he-whore?" Hermione asked.

"_That's_ the part that you question? You just brush over my 'to be or not to be' moment?" Hermione laughed.

"You have too much to live for." she said. "Anyway, you were a he-whore?"

"Any girl that ever showed interest in me, got a piece of Kingie's crown." Ares said.

"Okay… so- what if she had a good reason?" Hermione asked.

"What's the reason?"

"Would it make a difference?" Ares didn't say anything. "Would it?" He nodded slightly. "So- if she had a good reason, you'd go back to her. Love has nothing to do with it?"

"Of course it would." Ares said.

"Then you're still in love with her." Hermione said.

"Hermione, what's the reason?"

"Does it matter if you're not still in love with her?"

"Yes, because then I'll know that I'm doing the right thing."

"Well… why won't you take a chance on her without knowing the reason?"

"Because."

"Well then how can you say that it'd make a difference, if you don't love her enough to take a chance on her?" Ares didn't say anything. "If her reason would make a difference, then you still love her. And if you still love her, you should be willing to take a chance and believe that she knows how badly she screwed up. And if you're willing to take that chance, it shows that her reasons don't matter… so either way, from what you've told me, you still love her." Ares nodded. She looked at him. "Are you saying what I think you are?" Ares nodded. "So you do?" Ares shrugged. "Then why aren't you willing to take that chance?" she asked.

"Its too late. I'm not going to mess up something good. If she would've come to me two months ago…I would've dropped everything and went back to her, whether she gave me her reasons or not. I'd rather die than fuck someone over the way Krys screwed me up. And I don't plan to." Ares said. Hermione really couldn't believe that he just told her all of that. He looked up at her. "You're not going to tell her, are you?" Hermione laughed, and shook her head.

"Its not like she'd believe me anyway." she said. Ares laughed.

"So… you'll forget that I said anything." he said.

"You know that's not happening. But I won't tell… as long as you try to see."

"See what?"

"That she's still in love with you, too. There really isn't much of a point in you both screwing your lives and being unhappy. Fate has a way of making sure that it doesn't happen." Hermione said.

"Hermione… its not going to happen again. Two years ago you told me that Krys would never make the first move. And… I'm not gonna forgive her without a reason. So… if its up to me, it'll never happen again."

I want reviews. The more encouragement I get, the more I like to write. Thank you. Bye.


	20. Effects

When Krys walked into the house at 2:30am, the girls were all waiting in the kitchen for her. She laughed as soon as she saw all of them.

"Hey guys." she said.

"Okay… so how was your date?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"Good." she said. "To think… I actually enjoy the fact that all he wants from me is sex. I can just use him for sex, without the attached feelings that come along. And it works. I usually have to go out with guys that are into my mind and shit because… well- I'm not the shiniest star in the sky. But he seems genuinely attracted to me. And… its so shallow, that its endearing."

"You got down on the first night?" Thai asked. She was looking at Krys like she'd never seen her before.

"No!" They all sighed. "I didn't even kiss him." Krys said. "He kind of grabbed my ass, and I was gonna punch him… when I hugged him instead."

"I will never know how your mind works." A.J said. Krys laughed.

"Where the hell is she?!" they all heard someone yell. Krys looked at the door, then hid under the counter. Harry had the phone and a bat in his hands. Behind him, Ares, Jason, Ron, Moody and Moony walked into the kitchen. "Okay… she hasn't answer-…" Harry stopped talking. "Padfoot." Krys crawled out form under the counter.

"Hey." she said. She turned to Moony who was looking at her. He looked a lot better. He no longer looked tired, and he looked kinda good with his salt and sand. "Hi." He walked towards her, and hugged her tightly. When he pulled back, he no longer looked happy.

"Okay… since when do nineteen year olds come in at 3am, without calling?" he asked calmly.

"Since the days of Mardi Gras." Krys said cheekily. He almost laughed, but didn't.

"Andromeda." he warned.

"Who's to say that I didn't call, Moony?" Krys asked, as she snapped. Harry's phone popped up right in front of her. She went through his missed calls and showed him the LCD. "He didn't pick up the phone. I called him to tell him that I'd be late." No one said anything. Krys scoffed, then looked at Moody. "Old man, why are you here?"

"You'd have been my best man on the job." Moody said. They all had to laugh at this.

"You're horrible." Krys said.

"So… what were you doing out at 3am?"

"I had a date."

"At 3am." Moody looked at her. "Muggle scum or wizard scum?"

"Wizard."

"Scum?" Krys laughed.

"Auror." she said. Moody looked at her.

"You oughtn't mess with aurors." he said. "Especially at 3am."

"Actually I was with the auror until 12am. I had something else to do. Some unfinished business." Krys said. They all looked at her.

"Well… I just came when Harry said that you weren't home. I should get going." Moony said, before he kissed Krys' forehead.

"Love ya, man." Krys said, as she waved. Moony hugged Harry, waved to the rest, then disapparated.

"I have to go do some surveillance, before I leave." Moody said. Krys looked at him.

"Surveillance for what?" she asked.

"Just because you have endless possibilities in power, doesn't mean that you know how to use it right." Moody said. "I bet that one of my first year students can beat you. Because they know how to use their power to their advantage. Potter has that up on you."

"I have no doubts that Prongs, or any of the people from your program can beat me." Krys said. Moody nodded, and threw a quick spell at her. A red light expelled from his wand. As soon as the spell shot from his wand and got close to Krys, who was walking the opposite way, she whipped around and smacked it with her hand, causing it to shoot through the middle of an 'o' on a plaque. Moody laughed gruffly.

"Pure talent. I swear… you're your mother's daughter." he said. Krys gave a small curtsey.

"Thank you." she said. "We should all get some sleep."

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That day Hermione woke up bright and early. She was lying on Ron's bare chest, and his arm was around her. She moved carefully so that she wouldn't wake up, and ran to the bathroom. After taking a shower and washing her hair, she redressed in girl boxers and a t-shirt. Her wet hair was spilling over the towel on her shoulders, as she watched Ron sleep. After what seemed like a minute, but was most likely an hour, Ron started to stir. He groaned, then covered his head with the pillow. Hermione laughed.

"Get up!! Get up! Rise and shine!" she yelled, while pulling the pillow away from him. "Up, up, up!" Ron groaned and trudged out of bed and straight into the bathroom. Hermione sat in bed counting, while he was away. When Ron walked back into the room. She hit 2529, which was forty-two minutes and nine seconds.

"Were you counting?" he asked. Hermione nodded, as she stared at him. He was only wearing a towel, and his hair was dripping wet. "Why?"

"I was bored." she said, as she took in his appearance. He brushed his hair out of his eyes with his fingers.

"So, where are we going?" Ron asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Nowhere." she said.

"And you woke me up for nothing?"

"Well… I apologize if I wanted to spend time with you, before I go shopping with Krys." Hermione teased. Ron grinned.

"What are you going shopping for?" he questioned, taking off the towel. Hermione covered her eyes and Ron laughed.

"Oh- Krys has a photo shoot and spread for Seventeen today. Then, when she's done- if she's done early, we're shopping for a dress for the ministers ball." Hermione said, as she felt Ron sit between her legs. He rested his head on her chest, and she automatically cradled his head. Ron started to rub his hands up and down Hermione's back, as he snuggled closer to her chest. "Okay Ronald, you pervert. We should dry your hair, so that you don't get sick." Ron laughed and nodded, before Hermione ran her hand through his hair, drying it instantly.

"I'm a pervert?" he asked.

"Yes."

"As if you didn't like it."

"I did not." Hermione said, in mock outrage, before they went back to their previous position. Ron laughed and cuddled up to her chest, after they lied down. Hermione stroked his shoulder lightly. "Have you spoken to your parents?"

"What about?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed.

"You need a reason to speak to your parents?" she asked. Ron realized that his words could take him to the doghouse, or it could keep him in the Elysian Fields. He blew on her stomach, and watched as goose bumps appeared.

"No." he said. "We should go visit them tomorrow. We can have dinner with them." Hermione moaned, as Ron lightly drew circles on her stomach.

"Okay." she said, as she pulled away from him slightly. Ron almost laughed at how she was ashamed to be this turned on by such small things. He got up and sat behind her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as his hands gripped her shoulders. He started to massage gently.

"Yeah." said Hermione. Ron pressed his lips to the back of her ear. "Mmm."

"Here. Let me help you with this." Ron said, as he removed her shirt. He pressed his lips to the dragonfly on her back, as he applied gentle pressure to her lower spine. Ron kissed her lips, while sliding his hand into the front of her girl boxers. Hermione gasped into the kiss, then moaned…(What they do is none of our business.)

(Ten minutes later) Hermione and Ron faced each other in bed.

"Ron, does our relationship revolve around sex?" Hermione asked.

"That wasn't sex." Ron said.

"You know what I mean."

"Did you enjoy it?" Hermione laughed.

"Yes." she said.

"Okay then. Its natural that I can't keep my hands off you. I've wanted to do that since I was eleven."

"Really?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Well… thirteen." Ron amended.

"Well… you know that I like it- love it. I do… but- I…"

"Hermione, we can just kiss." Ron said. "I'll keep my hands tied behind my back and I'll keep him under control."

"Like you can when I'm around." Hermione teased.

"See- that's why." Ron said.

"What's his name, anyway?" Hermione asked, as she moved closer to him.

"See- you're a tease." Ron joked.

"I am not." Hermione said in mock outrage. Ron laughed, before Hermione looked at the clock beside the bed. She kissed his cheek. "Oh- I have to go."

"What am I supposed to do today without you?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed.

"You have wonderful friends who miss you. Probably." she said. "Go hang out with them."

"You're just saying this so that you can get rid of me." Ron pouted. Hermione kissed the corner of his lips and walked to her closet.

"You're right." she said.

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That morning, Krys went to Angel's room at 4am. She gently shook the little girl awake. Angel stirred, then woke up entirely. When she looked at Krys, she pouted and made a small groan.

"**I apologize, for waking you up so early.**" Krys said.

"No Spanish in the morning." Angel said grumpily. Krys laughed slightly. "What happened?"

"We have to go out. I'm afraid that I've been neglecting you. You came here to spend time with me, so- if you want to, we can leave now. Or… you can go back to sleep, and we can hang out the day before you leave."

"If I hang out with you today, will we hang out the day before I leave, also?" Angel asked, as she got out of bed. Krys nodded.

"Of course." she said. Angel laughed, and nodded. "Its not like you had a choice anyway. Go brush your teeth and wash your face."

"Do I have to change?"

"Where do you think we're going?" Angel shrugged.

"I don't know." she said. Krys laughed.

"Just go brush your teeth and wash your face." she said. Angel huffed cutely, then strolled to her bathroom. Krys heard small bristles moving, while the water ran. A few minutes later, Angel walked out of the bathroom. Krys put a hoodie on her and picked her up, then walked out of the house. Krys carried her to the Toyota Acura, and put her in the backseat. Angel fastened her seatbelt before Krys got to the driver side. "Okay… so- I have this friend named Ms. Banes. And we're supposed to go meet her, so that she can take us out. Or… we can just look around her place."

"Okay." Angel said.

"So… we never got to talk about how you liked Disneyland. Did you?"

"Yup." Angel said. Krys laughed and started to drive. "Ares is fun."

"He took good care of you, right?"

"Yes."

"So, what'd you guys do?" Krys asked, as she drove down the streets of Beverly Hills to get to the highway.

"He took me on every ride that I wanted to go on. And we rode Dumbo. And we ate turkey." Krys laughed.

"The gargantuan turkey legs?" she asked.

"What does that mean?" Angel asked.

"Gar-gan-tuan. Say it."

"Gar."

"Gar-gan-tuan." Krys coached.

"Gar-gan-tuan." Angel said slowly. "Gargantuan." Krys nodded.

"Yes." she said.

"What does it mean?"

"It means big. Not just in size, but in amount and numbers."

"The turkey legs _were gargantuan_. We washed our hands, before we ate with them. I couldn't bite it." Angel complained. Krys laughed. "And he won me a Winnie the Pooh, a Mickey, a Nemo… and he got me the Minnie Mouse ears with my name on it."

"What else did you do?"

"We talked about cartoons, and he bought me cotton candy and a friendship bracelet." Angel put her arm up. There was a small black, pink, purple and white threaded bracelet below the bracelet that Krys gave her. Krys smiled.

"So you like him?"

"Uh-huh." Angel giggled. "He's nice and handsome. And I want you to marry him." Krys laughed.

"_Why_?"

"Because I like him."

"Well, why don't you want me to marry any of the other guys?"

"Because J.J is with Apolla, and I like her. Harry is with Ginny, and I like her. Ares is with that lady, and I don't like her. And Ronny and Hermione like each other. You should be with Ares."

"Well, what if I don't like Ares?" Krys said. Krys saw Angel roll her eyes in the mirror.

"Look at him. Of course you like him. I like him." Angel said.

"Your three." Krys said in outrage.

"I'm four." Angel said in an annoyed voice. Krys laughed. "Why don't you want to marry him?"

"I-… why do you want me to marry him?" Krys asked.

"You guys treat me the same way that mommy and daddy do. You call me your little angel. Mommy calls me her sweet Angel. Daddy calls me his littlest princess. And Ares calls me advanced placement."

"What does that mean?"

"A.P. Ares said that it stands for Angel Princess. And we came up with advanced placement, because he said that I'm smart."

"You and that photographic memory are completely brilliant. Did your mom and dad get the IQ results back?" Angel shook her head.

"No." she said. "Krys, I don't want mommy and daddy to put me in second grade, this September."

"Well… why not?"

"Its full of big kids."

"I understand. I never went to school, but where I met your daddy was full of big kids." Krys said. "Did you tell them that you don't want to go?" Angel shook her head.

"No." she said. "Mommy seemed happy."

"Well… you just turned four. Maybe you should give it a try, before you decide that you don't like it. And when that happens, then you tell mommy."

"Okay." Angel said. "I'm sleepy." Krys nodded.

"I can wake you up when we get there." she said.

"That's okay. I'll sleep on the way back."

"Okay. You wanna hear some music to keep you awake?"

"Yes, please."

"Angel, you can do addition and subtraction already, right?"

"Yes." Angel said.

"And you learned to read on a fifth grade book, when you were three, right?"

"I read The Wish Giver." Angel said.

"So… you should at least give second grade a chance, before you decide that you don't like it." Krys said.

"Okay." Angel said. "I want to learn multiplication and division already." Krys laughed.

"Maybe you should go to second grade first." she teased. Angel giggled.

"**Music, please**." she said in Spanish. Krys nodded, and put on her Lion King Soundtrack. She and Angel sang every single song on their way to Pasadena. When the finally reached the town, Krys drove to an area with small houses and a bright lit place on the corner. Krys pulled up to the place, and parked. "We're here?"

"Yup." Krys said, as she stopped the car. She got out of the car, and picked Angel up, before knocking on the door of the shop. A regular sized white woman in her late thirties opened the door. She smiled brightly, as she opened the door.

"Krystathaili." she said, before she kissed Krys' cheek. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Ms. Banes, how are you?" Krys asked. Ms. Banes smiled.

"I'm good. Engaged life is happy." she said. Krys' eyes widened.

"Engaged?!" she yelled.

"My ear." Angel whined.

"Sorry, Angel." Krys said, before she kissed the little girls ear a bunch of times. "Better?"

"Better." Angel said.

"Who is this?" Ms. Banes asked in adoration. "She's so cute." Krys laughed.

"This is Angel." she said.

"Hi." Angel said cutely. Ms. Banes laughed.

"Hi." she said, as she walked deeper into the shop. When Angel finally realized where they were, she went crazy. They were in Ms. Banes' candy shop. Krys let Angel down.

"No eating until we get to the house. Just show what you take for you, Jamie and Thai, and I'll pay." she said, before she sat down with Ms. Banes.

"You know that your money is no good here." Ms. Banes said. Krys laughed.

"So engaged?" she asked.

"Yes. Simon proposed."

"Yeah… I love him. She was always so sweet when he came by the house." Krys said. "So- did he start on the wedding cake?" Ms. Banes nodded. "It has the white chocolate soaked in crème de menthe… and it has to look royal."

"Yes… where do you need it? Which house?" she asked.

"The North Carolina beach house." Krys said. "Is that a problem, because if it is, then you can just have it brought to the house."

"No, he can get it to North Carolina. What's the cake for, anyway?"

"Ares is getting married."

"To who?!"

"Ouch. Ms. Banes, its okay. He's marrying some blonde French tartlet."

"Oh… he always seemed like the type to like a brunette. You know… those sassy, smartass, petite brunettes." Ms. Banes said. Krys glared at her playfully.

"Well now, he's into big nosed, big, tall, busty blondes. Not even a real blonde… she's bleached. And she's awful."

"Is he still dating that Ailen girl?"

"No… that'd be better."

"Is that even possible?"

"Yes. This woman is the worst. But Ares loves her… so I… love the idea of making this wedding happen." Krys said.

"Didn't you have a massive crush on Ares, when you were younger?" Ms. Banes asked. Krys shook her head.

"It was never a crush. I was in love with him… and I loved him more than I've ever loved anyone." she said solemnly.

"Then why aren't you two together?"

"The same thing that happens in a lot of young relationships." Krys said.

"What?"

"I wasn't ready." Krys lied. Ms. Banes nodded.

An hour later, Angel was sleeping in Krys' arms, with three gigantic bags of candy. Krys touched the three bags, and they disappeared.

"I will never get over that witch thing." Ms. Banes said. Krys laughed.

"Neither will I." she said. "Okay… well- call me about your wedding. And… we'll speak soon."

"Okay. I love you, honey." Ms. Banes said.

"I love you too."

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When Krys and Angel got back to the house, Krys gave Angel one of the gigantic shopping bags of candy.

"Okay… you cannot eat any right now. I expect you to put it in the candy bank. And of course you can eat some, just in moderation." Krys said. Angel nodded, climbed back into her bed. Krys kissed her cheek, then put Angel's candy away. When she walked to her room, Ares was sitting on her couch, asleep. Krys looked at him, then threw a gobstopper at him. He stirred, then woke up fully. "Hey." Ares waved at her. "What happened?"

"Nothing… I was just wondering how your date went." Ares said. "But, when I got here, you were gone. I know how you usually check in on Angel, so I went there… and she was gone too. Then I had a nice little talk with Thai. She told me that you have a photo shoot today." Krys nodded.

"I have a shoot and interview." she said.

"How do you feel?"

"Like they'll be disappointed when they see the pictures."

"Well… that's understandable. I mean, you're not very attractive. And the interview will go horribly, because you're really not that smart or interesting." Ares teased. Krys looked at him.

"Oh God. You're right." she said.

"Krys, shut up. Its annoying when you do that thing." Ares said.

"Oh- I'm making the sound again?" Krys asked.

"No, when you act like you're not the sexiest thing ever. When you act like perfect wasn't based on you."

"Ares… all they want is some would-be-nutcase that might've turned herself into a preppy material girl." Krys said. Ares laughed.

"Well… show them that the would-be-nutcase, turned out to be the nutcase, who's also very smart, sexy, and talented. Do it for your fans." he said.

"That's another problem." Krys said. "Why the hell do I have fans? Ares, I haven't done anything worth admiration or adoration." 

"Other than the fact that you're adorable?" Ares asked.

"Yeah. Other than that." Krys joked along.

"You turned something that would screw most people up, and you dealt with it. And now… you're doing things and curing things that could never be cured. And teenage girls want to know how you dealt with it, and came out to look like this." Ares said.

"I haven't done anything, though. I'm not to admired. I've done too much bad shit. And besides… there are girls that face worse than me everyday. What needs to be known is that they should get out." Krys said.

"Then say that." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"You're worse than me." she said. "As soon as you wake up, your breath smells like watermelon jolly ranchers."

"As opposed to someone who's breath never stops smelling like vanilla and raspberry." Ares said.

"I hate that smell." Krys said, before she started to eat a Charms blow pop.

"I don't."

"Oh- I have something for you." Krys tossed Ares a big zip lock bag of Jolly Rancher lollipops. She sorted through a few bags, and filled one up with Watermelon.

"See- this is why I love you." Ares said, as he started to eat a lollipop immediately. Krys laughed, as she continued eating her strawberry charms blow pop.

"There are many reasons why you love me. And that's not even one of them." she said. Ares chuckled, and walked over to her bed. Krys patted the empty space next to her. "Reason number one." Ares lied down next to her.

"You're pretty." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"That's horrible." she said.

"Well- I spent a year and a half hating you and everything about you. That is the first reason that I started to love you again." Ares said. "Reason number one for me." Ares took her lollipop and started eating it. Krys groaned, and took his, copying his actions.

"Because you don't think its _tre_ _gross_ for exes to have a lollipop switch." she teased.

"That's right. You used to think that it was weird for us to share soda."

"Well- we're both weirdoes when it comes to matters of us. You don't let anyone on your bed. And you were just as disgusted with the sharing drinks thing as I was."

"Real reason number one why you love me." Ares said.

"You're easy to talk to." Krys said honestly. "Reason number two why you love me."

"You're real." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"You mean anatomically?" she joked. "You know, about the little 't' and lot of 'a'."

"No- kind of… but you've never really been about bullshit. If I smell like hobo, you tell me. If I look like a bum, you tell me. I love that about you. I've seen you stop people on the street to tell them that you thought they looked sexy." Krys laughed. "And… unlike a lot of girls with money, you don't buy things because of the label. I've seen you go into stores with shirts that are three dollars. Reason number two why you love me."

"You have very pretty lips." Krys said bluntly. Ares laughed.

"You stole my third reason."

"Too late, you lose." Krys teased. "But yes… the lips- very sexy." Ares laughed again. "Reason number three why you love me."

"Inappropriate." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"I'm inappropriate? Or the reason is?" she asked.

"The reason. Listen- I'll see you later." Ares said, as he took his watermelon lollipop from her mouth.

"I want my lollipop back." Krys said. Ares looked at her.

"Gone." he said.

"I hate you." Krys said, as she threw her stuffed stag at him. Ares caught it and laughed.

"Déjà vu." Ares said, as he laughed.

"Well… this time, we won't be having sex." Krys said. Ares nodded.

"Obviously." he said. "Its always going to be there, huh? You and me."

"Yeah, but I don't mind." Krys teased. "It keeps me smart." Ares walked over to her, and gave her back her lollipop.

"See you later." he said, before he left.

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When Krys woke up again, Hermione was sitting on her couch.

"Get your ass up." she said. Krys groaned, and walked to her bathroom. She took a shower and washed her hair. When she was done, she walked out and put on the clothes that Hermione had out for her. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Krys said, as they walked to the door together.

After the photo shoot, Krys and Hermione searched all over for dresses. Krys finally dragged Hermione into Filenes, her favorite department store.

"Hermione… all we have to do is make sure that you look way better than Kay. And you don't really need a dress for that." she said. Hermione laughed, as Krys picked up a dark creamy green gown. It felt like butter. "Here. This dress is so fucking sexy. Try it on." Hermione rolled her eyes and took the dress. Krys pushed her into the dressing room, then started to look through the racks. When Hermione walked out of the dressing room, Krys whistled. "As if Ronald doesn't drool enough." Hermione's eyes turned a smoky brown, because of the dress. Her eyes almost looked gray.

"Does it look good?" Hermione asked. Krys gave a thumbs up. "Your pictures were good today. During the photo shoot. I could tell that they wanted you to be young, so they let you choose clothes from the rack. I can't believe they let you keep all of those clothes and free samples." Krys laughed and continued to look for a dress. She finally found a creamy gold gown. It was the same material as Hermione's, which made Krys fall in love with it.

"Is it my size?" Krys asked it. As soon as she said this, she felt it shrinking in her hands. Hermione laughed.

"Go try it on." she said. Krys nodded, and went into the changing room. When she walked out in the dress, Hermione smiled and clapped. "Very cool, Cookie." Krys laughed and looked at it.

"I like it. It makes my behind look big."

"Like you'd need the dress for that." Hermione teased. Krys looked at her and laughed.

"Lets just get this, some shoes, and go." she said. "Our spa day is tomorrow, and Emily said that we can get our hair done the day after… for the ball." Hermione laughed.

"You know that she's going to screw you over, right?" she asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "I just want to let it be known that I'm over him, and show Ares that I'm trying."

"So- you want to show him that you're over him, by getting along with his fiancé?" Hermione said. Krys nodded. "Why not just show him that your over him by not giving a damn, and not trying?"

"'Cause then it wouldn't be out on the open. It'd take time. I want it to stand out that I'm over him. His wedding is in five days."

"Well… you're already about to start having sex with his sexy boss. Why not just use that?"

"He's not noticing that."

"But if you're over him, why do you care if he notices?"

"I don't." Krys said defensively.

"Yes you do." Hermione said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"How can you tell me that I care?" she asked.

"Because I know you, and you care." Hermione said, before they walked into dressing rooms.

"I don't care." Krys yelled to Hermione. They were in the dressing rooms right next to each other. Hermione laughed.

"Then stop being so defensive. Get over what I say, and show me that you don't care by not caring."

"I've created a monster." Krys said. Hermione laughed.

"So have I. You're starting to be annoying."

"Excuse me, but I was always annoying." Krys said.

"At least you know." Hermione retorted. The rest of their change was made in silence. When they were both done in the dressing rooms, they headed to the shoe department. Hermione looked for green pumps, while Krys looked for gold round toe pumps.

"This is why I stick to colors like black and blue when I buy dresses." Krys said. Hermione laughed.

"Where the hell am I going to find dark mint green or jade shoes? Pumps at that? The dress would look weird wi- would it look weird with the stilettos that we saw in Nine West?" she asked. Krys looked at her and shook her head.

"Not really. Because the shoes had a marble base, all you'd have to do is wear a cream shawl." Hermione nodded. "You go get them and I'll wait her to pay for the dresses."

"Thank you." she said, as she rushed out of the store and ran to Nine West. Krys laughed and stood on line. In front of her were a few people, so she pulled her hat down over her eyes a bit more. When it was finally time for her to pay, she handed the man at the counter her items.

"$230.27." he said, before Krys handed him her debit card. A minute later, he handed Krys her receipt and a pen. When Krys was done, she instantly went to find Hermione at Nine West. When she got there, Hermione was walking out with two boxes of shoes.

"I found the shoes for you. But they require you to get a pedicure." Krys whined.

"Hermione… I only get pedicures because I like when my feet feel good. This would be a pretty pedicure. I never get those."

"Well… you will after we get our hair done by Kay and Emily. Who else is going? Is it just us?"

"Yeah. I don't know why though." Krys said.

"Why can't we just invite Jason and Harry?" Hermione asked. Krys laughed and shook her head.

"They could've invited us. Jason's dad was the MoM a few years ago. Prongsie saved the world. Ron's dad is now in International affairs… he's the ambassador. And Ares' mom is who she is… so we all could've been invited. She's in the top ten highest people at the Ministry. She's the highest woman. Basically it's the highest workers in the Ministry, and people who they think will be important to the world. The guys just don't want to go."

"Why not?" Hermione asked, as she and Krys walked to get frozen yogurt

"Jason and Harry are rebels now, supposedly. They're the guys that don't like to go to the school dances. And A.J and Gin are pretty much okay with that, because they get to chill with their boyfriends."

"Hey- when was the best time for you? When you and Ares had sex, when was the best time? We never talked about that… you know? Was he gentle?"

"Now I'm uncomfortable." Krys said. Hermione laughed slightly. "With us, it went one out of two ways. If Ares took charge, it was sweet, gentle, _incredible_, very passionate and sexy… and he drove me to the point that I… it was really good. Emily is very lucky in many ways." Hermione laughed. "And if I took charge, it was rough, demanding, still incredible and passionate, but it was like raw, animal, lust sex. They both resulted in very good times. Basically, whoever was on top did all the work. If I could've kept him, I would've. But I didn't feel right with what it would've done to him." 

"So- you still didn't tell me when the best time was."

"Oh… the best time was when he got me the promise ring. We alternated that night. It was the best two times in my life… but the second time was… oh man. The boy knows what to do. There's this Spanish saying '**Its better to be small and playful than big and lazy**.'"

"And what does that mean?"

"Its better to be small and playful than big and lazy." Hermione laughed.

"And what was Ares?" she asked.

"Big and playful." Krys was deep in thought. Then she started chuckling. "He was great." she whispered, before a single tear trailed down her face.

_Flashback_

Krys sat in their room, looking through the letters that were sent for both of them. Twelve different auror training programs wanted Ares. Five of them were offering full blown scholarships, Moody's program included. Krys almost squealed when she saw Moody's acceptance packages for both of them. "Hey." she heard a voice sound. She turned around, and smiled at Ares, then walked to him. He kissed her cheek. "Listen, can I talk to you?" His voice sounded crazily serious.

"Yeah. What happened?" Krys asked him.

"Stand right here." he said, pointing in the space in front of him. Krys nodded, and stood there. Ares smiled, and got down on one knee. Krys' eyes widened, and her eyebrows furrowed. Her hands started to shake, and her breathing got ragged. "Um… you know that I love you. You _have_ to know that. But, there's something else that I want you to know… _you_ are my favorite girl in the world, and I love you more than anyone else in it." Krys gave a small squeak. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Even though I don't know what tomorrow holds… I know that you're the only one in the world that I want. And it sounds horrible, but… you're the person that I love most in the world. I don't think I've ever loved another soul as much as I love you. I won't go into specifics, because it'd sound really bad… but you are the person that I'd do absolutely anything for. I'm not proposing marriage, but I am promising that I will. Will you accept my promise? When I ask, will you say yes?" Ares pulled something out of his pocket, and opened a black velvet box. Inside of the box, was a small yellow gold ring, with a single diamond. "Will you wear it, and accept my promise?" Krys nodded, and Ares shook his head. "Say it."

"Y-yes." Krys said.

"What?"

"Y-yes. I-I-I accept your promise."

"What else?"

"I-I-ha-wow. Wh-when the time comes, I'll accept your proposal." Ares slid the ring onto Krys' finger, and stood up. When he stood up, he kissed Krys.

"I love you." he said, when he pulled back. Krys nodded, and continued to kiss him. She pushed him towards the bed, before they actually fell on top of it. Ares laughed, when Krys fell on top of him.

"Um… I-I-I still have nothing to say." Krys; hands were still shaking violently.

"Did you mean it, when you said that you'd say yes?" Ares asked. Krys nodded frantically.

"Of course. I- I- I can't imagine anything without you." she said. "I-I mean, you're the person that I love most in the world, too."

"That's all you need to say." Ares said. Krys laughed, and got off of him. She stood up, and stretched, while letting a screeching, hissing, squeaky noise escape. "Oh- you're tired. Come on." Ares patted the bed, and Krys carefully crawled next to him.

"I'm not sleepy." she said.

"Yes you are." Ares said, as he rubbed her back. Krys winced and let a painful moan escape her lips. "What happened?" She shook her head.

"Nothing." she said. Ares pushed her back gently.

"What is it?" he repeated. Krys shook her head.

"Its nothing." she said. Ares nodded.

"Okay." he said, before he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Good." Ares laughed. "I love you too." He hugged her, and pulled the back of her shirt up a bit. But before Krys could jump back, Ares had seen enough. On the small portion of her skin that he'd seen, were numerous scars. He pulled Krys back to him, and slowly lifted up the shirt. All over her back were the most horrifying bruises, welts and scabbiest scars he imagined possible. Ares covered them back up with her shirt and pulled back to look at her.

"When did this happen?"

"Thirteen years ago." Krys said.

"What are you talking about? Your back- you fixed them." Krys nodded. "When?"

"Second year." she said.

"When did they come back?"

"This morning."

"Why?"

"Um- I had a dream about it."

"What dream was it? Was it the Shadowing dream?"

"Yeah. I just- I can't fix it." Krys whispered. Ares looked at her, and before he could say anything, Krys continued to speak. "I know that they're… hideous- and horrible, they really are, I know that. So- if you want to leave, you can- because, I understand 100. Actually- I understand 1000- completely- I understand and we can still be friends, because I can't look at them either." Ares just stared at her. "Its- its really okay. I mean, they're really bad and I can't look at them without wanting to finish the job." Krys moved up a bit on the bed, and her shirt rode up. It showed a bunch of scars on her side, and many on her stomach. He saw tears collecting in her eyes, and wiped them away, before kissing her face repeatedly. When he stopped, Krys looked at him, then wiped her face with fierce exaggeration. Ares chuckled slightly, then got very serious.

"I still love you more than anyone else. I don't care." he said, as he shook his head. He moved his hand closer to her shirt and eased it up gently. He moved closer to her, getting a closer look. He stared at the scars and after staring at them for an eternity, he kissed one. Then another, and another, until finally he gently brushed his lips over _all_ of them. When he was done, Krys laid in his lap in silence. After a while, she stood up and they stared at each other. They were staring at each other for an hour, when Krys finally decided to talk.

"Um-"

"No." Ares said. "See- you can't take this moment from me." Krys looked at him questioningly. "The moment that you're completely bare around me. The moment where I've seen everything of you. Where I've seen you at your most… probably your most loveable. The moment where I know that I really can't live without you. All of you." Krys smiled and Ares touched her stomach. "They're gone." Krys looked at him questioningly.

"What?" she asked.

"The scars. They're gone." Ares said. Krys gave a smal smile.

"I love you." she said. Ares nodded.

"Good." he teased. "Because I love you." Krys smiled cutely. "Do you want to do something for me?"

"Do I _want_ to? Or _will_ I? I mean- I will. But- I'm not so sure that I want to." Krys said.

"See- you've ruined the moment." Krys laughed. "I'm just kidding." Krys shrugged.

"I don't care." Ares glared at her playfully and Krys hissed.

"Will you do something for me?" Ares asked. Krys nodded.

"Anything." she said. Ares picked up his wand, and waved it. A medium sized bag whizzed through the air and landed next to him.

"Will you model this for me?" he asked, as he handed her the medium sized bag. Krys looked inside of the bag, and pulled out a lacy pink flyaway baby doll. Krys looked at him with her eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Huh?" Ares laughed.

"You know that you want to." he said.

"And why am I modeling this?"

"I want to draw you."

"You can still draw?" Ares laughed and shrugged.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." he said. Krys looked at his cheek and nodded.

"If I can have the scar." she said. Ares looked at her and shook his head. "Please."

"Why do you want it so badly?"

"Because… you've taken everything bad away from me. And… I want to do that for you." Krys said, as she moved closer to him. Ares kissed the tip of her nose, after she twitched it, then nodded. "I can have it?"

"If you model for me."

"Oh wow- a scar in exchange for sexual favors. Can't get any cheaper than that." Ares laughed at her sarcasm, then shooed her off with the bag. Krys rolled her eyes, then walked into the bathroom. Krys studied the details of her face, then gave a long sigh. She took a shower and washed her hair. When she finished drying off, lotioning, and fixing her hair, she got dressed in the lingerie. Ares got her a lacy pink, flyaway baby doll, with matching cheeky boy shorts. Krys rolled her eyes and walked out into her room. Ares was facing the opposite way. "See- I do all of this, and I don't even get noticed." Krys said jokingly. As soon as her voice sounded, Ares turned around. His mouth hung open. "That's not a good response." Ares walked towards her slowly. Krys saw a sketchbook on the bed with a few pencils on it.

"Jesus." he murmured, before he took a deep breath. "Well, I was going to draw you- but… that's not what I want to do now." Krys raised her eyebrow.

"And what is it that you want to do _now_?"

"Take that off of you." Ares said. Krys' eyebrows raised.

"And the point of me putting it on?" she asked.

"_So that I could take it off_." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"Okay. Well- maybe you should draw first, 'cause I ain't putting this on again." she said. Ares laughed, and kissed her lightly.

"Okay." he said. Krys walked over to the bed slowly, then looked behind her to see if he was looking. Ares puckered his lips, and blew her a kiss. Krys caught it and placed it on her cheek. Then she skipped the rest of the way to the bed. She laid against the pillows, then gave a light shiver, before she reached for his sketchbook. The first page was a charcoal drawing of Krys sleeping. She smiled, then looked at him.

"I say that you are pure talent." she said.

"And what are my other talents?" Ares asked flirtatiously. Krys bit her lip and gave a cute thoughtful look.

"Why don't you come over here and remind me?" Ares grinned and walked to the bed coolly. "Okay- you can stop acting like you're cool. Because, you're not. You're _a big loser_." Ares laughed, and lied down next to her. Krys continued to flip through the sketchbook. All of the sketches were of her. Krys smiled and turned to him.

"I love you." Ares said.

"You love me this much?" Krys asked, pointing at the sketch of her sleeping.

"I love you that much."

"Talk is cheap." Krys said. Ares grinned and wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you still cold?"

"Not even close. Very, _very_ warm." Ares laughed.

"Weren't you sleepy?"

"I was- but now I'm too worked up."

"I'm tired." Ares said. "You have way too much energy." Krys nodded.

"I know." she said, as she lied on her side to face him. They were at eyelevel with each other. Ares grinned, as Krys started to draw little circles on the inside of his forearm. Ares put his hand on her waist and licked his lips. "You said you were tired." Ares moved close to her, so that their noses were touching. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her body to him. Krys gave him a devilish grin, then kissed him. She kissed his top lip, then ran her tongue under it. Ares ran his hand up and down her back, and nibbled on her bottom lip. As soon as it started to get scorching, Krys pulled back. "Um- I just want to know something." Ares nodded.

"Yeah, baby? What's wrong?" he said breathily. The essence of watermelon jolly ranchers filled the air between them, because of how heavy his breathing was.

"Did you really mean everything that you said? Do you really love me more than anyone in the world?" Ares smiled.

"Of course I do." Ares touched her cheek tenderly. Krys smiled. "I- I mean… you're my Bunny. And- I've always felt this way about you." Ares' eyebrows furrowed when tears started to roll down her cheeks. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"You have to know that- you're the most important person in my life and you're everything to me. I'd do anything for you." Krys said. "I love you more than anyone… ever." Ares grinned and rubbed his thumb over her shield tattoo. "Lets pick up." She leaned in and kissed his bottom lip. Ares straddled her and Krys pulled him down, crashing his lips on hers. She moaned, when he started to kiss her neck, and fondle her as he unhooked the baby doll from the front. When the top piece was off, he kissed, licked and bit every inch of her torso, to the point that she had hickeys everywhere. He looked down at her, before he pulled his own shirt over his head. He almost laughed, when Krys bit him in anticipation. After that, they switched places, with Krys being on top. In a flash, Ares' pants were off, and all that stood between the two were their bottom garments. Krys smirked, as Ares grew more and more excited and started to take charge again. Somehow in a few seconds, Krys was back under Ares, and feeling better than she'd ever felt before. Ares' hands took to her hips, as he took her boy shorts off… resulting in her feeling the best that she ever felt.

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Ares cuddled up to Krys' chest and laced his hands with hers. They were fully clothed in pajamas. Krys was cradling Ares' head, and kissing his forehead repeatedly.

"Baby stop. You're making me feel like a woman." Ares said, as he nipped at Krys' skin affectionately. Krys chuckled.

"Do you love me?" she asked. Ares looked up at her.

"I'm type offended that you just asked me that." he said. Krys pushed him away slightly.

"It was a simple question. A simple question with a simple _yes_ or _no_ answer." she teased.

"Then yes, I love you." Ares said.

"I kinda just wanted to hear you say it."

"Then why didn't you just ask me to say it?"

"Because that sounds creepy."

"And the other one implies that you don't know that I love you." Ares said, as he moved out of the bed. "Now I'm mad at you."

"Really?" Krys said. Ares nodded.

"Yes." he said.

"You're mad at me?" Krys pouted. Ares nodded exaggeratedly.

"And you're cut off." he said, as he walked away from the bed and to the desk.

"You're cutting off the love supply?" Krys asked, as she got up. Ares nodded.

"Yes. Cut off." he said, as he turned his back to her and started to read some of his acceptance letters. Krys strolled over to him in her extra short girl boxers and matching tank top. They had Cosmo on them. Krys put her hands on his shoulders and wrote her name.

"You're cutting me off?" she asked, before she kissed his bare shoulder.

"Yes." Ares said. Krys gently nipped at the spot that she kissed.

"Really?" she asked, before she kissed his mouth. Ares' tongue almost touched hers, but Krys pulled back lightly.

"Yes. You get not love from me." he said, as he licked his lips.

"Oh yeah?" she said, as she lightly rubbed his shoulders. "No more?" Ares shook his head.

"No more." he said childishly. She turned him around in the chair and looked at his pout. "Don't do it, Krys." Krys sat on his lap. "Don't do it." Krys leaned in and kissed his scar multiple times. "Don't do it."

"You don't want me to?" she asked, before she used her hands to trace the scar, and all the features that defined his face.

"I don't want you to." Ares confirmed childishly. Krys nodded, after she kissed from his chin to his jaw.

"Then there's nothing that I can do." she said, as she got up and left the room. As soon as she got to her room, because of their playful fight, she fell asleep. She woke up to full soft lips kissing her. When she was fully awake, she smiled at Ares. "Hey, I missed you."

"I missed you too." Ares said, hugging her and rubbing her back.

"How long was that?"

"The longest sixty two minutes of my life." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"Am I still cut off?" she asked. She couldn't stop smiling. Ares shook his head.

"You're so beautiful." he said.

"Well… considering I probably have morning breath, drool in the corner of my lip and bed head… thank you." Krys said gratefully.

"Your breath always smells like vanilla… and you don't drool, you make this weird purring noise. Plus… your hair always looks the same when you wake up." Ares said.

"Well- I'm still weird looking." Ares rolled his eyes.

"You're crazy." Krys nodded in agreement. "But- you know what always looks good on you?" Ares asked. Krys smiled.

"Other than you?"

"Nothing." Krys laughed.

"You're a pervert." she said.

"So are you."

"Yeah, but you like it."

"Do you not like me being perverted?"

"Of course I like it. It's a big turn on, dammit. That and your lips." 

"Oh yeah?" Ares said, before he kissed her. Krys moved her lips with his, and stuck her tongue through his slightly parted lips. Krys backed up, and lied on the bed, never once breaking the kiss. She pulled back.

"Big turn on." she whispered, before he leaned down and kissed her again. Krys watched him as he sat on top of her, and undressed her slowly. Every time Krys groaned, Ares took ten times slower with the foreplay, making her a hundred times more excited.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're impatient?" Ares whispered in her ear. Before she could respond, he sank his teeth into her flesh, making her pulse quicken. Ares turned her over, grabbing her coconut body oil and pouring it on her back. Krys moaned as he rubbed her shoulders and blew on her paw prints. Ares pressed his torso against her back and whispered in her ear. "Let me take care of you. Its all about you, to me." When Krys finally nodded, Ares turned her back over and kissed her mouth. When he pulled back, he and Krys stared each other down before he let her take off his pants. That night, Krys let him knock down all of her barriers and insecurities. But he didn't knock down the most important wall. She'd never let him knock down her wall to protect him at all costs. She didn't let him knock down the wall to protect him from even herself. That night, Ares didn't come close to knocking down that wall… he only encouraged her to build it up.

_End Flashback_

"Krys, are you okay?" Hermione asked, shaking her from her thoughts. Krys looked at her, and ran her hand through her own hair.

"Of course I'm okay." she said before she stood up. "But I've decided something."

"You're gonna tell him?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"No… I'm gonna let him go. He really deserves to be happy. I'm not gonna be the one that stands in the way of that."

"You're not." Hermione said. "Emily is." Krys looked at Hermione and smiled.

"You're a good friend. You don't-"

"Why don't you just check how he feels about you? You have that power."

"Its an invasion of privacy, just like it is to invade the future. There's a reason that I don't use the power like that. I don't invade your mind." Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"Its true." she said. "Are you really going to give him up and let him go?" Krys nodded.

"Yes." she said.

"Then you have to tell him the truth… otherwise you're just hiding things and lying to him. If he doesn't know why you broke up with him, then he's just as trapped to you as you are to him."

"I'm not trapped to him." Krys said.

"He controls the three biggest parts of you. Your heart, your magic and your ass." Hermione teased. Krys laughed.

"Now say it the corny way." Hermione took a deep breath. "I'm not trapped to him." Krys said dramatically.

"He controls the two biggest parts of you." Hermione dramatized. "Your heart and your magic." Krys mock wept. "See- that's why I don't pass on the wisdom."

"Why?"

"You guys don't appreciate my endless knowledge." Hermione said, as they got up.

"Lets go find you a cream scarf that we can pass as a shawl." Krys said.

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When Krys got back to her house, Thai and Harry were sitting at the counter, having a talk. Thai was banging her head on the table, while Harry laughed.

"What's going on, people?" Krys asked, as she hopped on the stool.

"You've been neglecting me." Harry said.

"Well… I never really showed you much love anyway, it can't be hard to go back to the way things were." Harry and Thai laughed.

"I have problems here, people." she said. Krys looked at Harry.

"Angel told her that he loved her." he said. Krys' eyes widened.

"And?"

"Then he asked her out." Harry continued. Krys nodded.

"And…?"

"Thai said no."

"Then just go tell him the truth." Krys told Thai.

"That's one the problems." Harry said. "They all left." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. "Not a problem… go get dressed. And make sure you look good." Thai looked at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Go upstairs and dress like you're going on a respectable date. Note the word _respectable_." Krys said. "Go on. Get." Thai got up and ran up the stairs.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked. Krys smiled.

"A little midnight rendezvous can help and change anyone's mind." she said.

"You might wanna check why she said no, before you plan some Dawson's Creek getaway." Harry teased. Krys laughed.

"Why?" she asked.

"She's sticking by her decision. She said she doesn't want to be like you and Ares." Harry said.

Reviews are motivation and they help me. Give me your input and your opinions. I value them, even when they're not good. Thanks.

AlexzAndi


	21. About Teen Love

Ten minutes later, Krys was banging on Ares' door. When he opened it, he only had on a pair of sweatpants, and he was flushed and sweating. Krys was pretty sure that she was staring at him and drooling, when Ares shook her.

"Krys, what happened?" he asked. She looked up at him.

"Um……Thai!" she said finally.

"What about her?" Ares asked, as he walked back into the room. Krys stood at the door, as Ares sat on the bed. "Are you coming in or what?" Krys rolled her eyes and walked farther into the room. Ares pat the space next to him on the bed. Krys walked over and sat down next to him. "What happened with Thai?"

"Angel told her that he loves her."

"Wow."

"And he asked her out."

"You want me to chaperone a date, I get it."

"No, I don't."

"Then, what happened?"

"Thai turned him down, because… she says that she doesn't want to be like us." Krys finally said. Ares laughed.

"That's ridiculous. I'd want to be exes like us."

"Thank you!" Krys agreed. "I mean… how many exes can actually talk to each other like this, without being pissy. I tell you everything."

"Truth. I tell you everything too."

"So- I was thinking that if we could convince Thai that you don't hate me because of the breakup… and we can show her that sometimes a friendship is better after a failed relationship…" Ares nodded.

"Yeah, okay." he said.

"Good." Krys said, before she hopped up and clapped.

"How was your photo shoot?"

"So-so. They kept my hair extra curly and they supposedly wanted a close-up… and liked the smile. On the way home, Hermione told me that when I dress like that, I still look sixteen." Ares nodded.

"You look sixteen at the youngest. It depends on what you're wearing though, but you generally look young. Except when you wear your dresses." he said.

"So- are we ready?" Ares nodded and got up.

"Yeah… lets go." he said, as he dragged her out of the room. When they got out of the room, Emily was waiting outside. Her face was red and her eyes were wild. She pushed past Ares, and looked at Krys.

"What were you two doing in there?" she asked heatedly.

"We were talking, Em." Ares said monotonously.

"I should hope so, Ares." Emily growled. When her gaze turned on Krys, it somehow made the raven haired girl nervous. But suddenly, Emily smiled. "I hope you're still letting me do your hair on Wednesday. Oh- and our spa date. Neither Kay or I can wait." Krys nodded.

"Yeah. Neither can Hermione. And I'm ecstatic." Krys said. Emily smiled and kissed Ares' cheek.

"Honey, you were right. She's a doll." Emily said. Krys tried to tug free of Ares' hand, but he nodded, then tried continue to drag her to Thai's room. "Where are you going?"

"We have to go talk to Thai." Ares said. "I'll see you in a minute." Then he continued to drag Krys to Thai's room. Krys knocked on Thai's door. When it opened, Thai was sitting on her bed, she still hadn't changed clothes.

"Ta-Thai… Mahogany." Krys greeted.

"Raven." Thai responded. "Ares."

"His name is Kingie or Loverboy." Krys joked. Thai looked at her.

"Ares." she said once more. Krys dragged Ares in further.

"Can we talk to you?" Krys asked.

"That's what mommy and daddy said when they were having Angie." Thai said.

"Thai…why did you say no?"

"Krys, you brought Ares with you. You obviously know why I said no."

"No… I know what you told Harry. I don't know the truth."

"I don't want Angel and I to end up Kingie and Bunny. I don't want us to end up Loverboy and Krys. I don't want to see him marry another woman, and I don't want him to witness me coming home late from dates."

"Tha-"

"I don't want to pay for his wedding. And I don't want to have him notice his bitchy fiancé treating me like shit, and not saying anything. I don't want to end up like you two."

"Then what type of breakup do you want?" Krys asked. "Because if you don't want a breakup like ours, then you'll have a shitty relationship with your ex."

"I don't want to break up. Just like you don't." Krys and Ares were staring at her, with nothing to say. "Ares, do you still love Krys? Krys, do you still love Ares? Because, if either one of you is about to pimp a speech about how I should go for it because I love him, then you're both hypocrites." Ares opened his mouth. "And if either one of you is going to tell me that you two have a healthy breakup, then you're both liars. And if either of you actually believe that you both belong with other people, then you're both idiots. And if either of you believe that your relationship is fine, then neither is as smart as you both come off."

"Thai… I love him. Ares and I still love each other, you're right. But its in a different way. Of course we love each other." Krys turned to Ares. "I love you." she said.

"I love you too." Ares responded. The two hugged, and Krys kissed Ares; cheek before he kissed her forehead. "Thai, it's a different type of love now."

"Yeah, Thai… he's my platonic soul mate."

"Krys… I know that you love Ares, Krys. I was there for your breakup cry. The entire week that you cried in my lap." Thai said. She looked at Ares. "I know that you love her. I helped you set up at the planetarium, when you were gonna propose. When you came back to the planetarium without Krys, and cried on A.J's shoulder. Then you got drunk. I was there." Thai paused and looked at Krys. "What went wrong, Krys? Something went wrong." Krys' heart immediately stopped. Then she realized that Thai wasn't talking about the breakup. She was talking about something completely related, but completely different.

"Ares, can you give us a minute?" Krys asked. Ares nodded, then left the room. "What happened?" Thai had tears running down her face.

"Your father wasn't supposed to die." Thai said. Krys looked at her weirdly.

"What?"

"You had the vision… about Ron's girlfriend telling Ron to choose. Hermione was supposed to give him up, and Mark was never supposed to be in the picture. You and Ares were supposed to be married, and Ron was supposed to have proposed to Kay. He was supposed to be the one holding the grudge. Then Hermione was going to declare her love for him- something went wrong." Krys was still staring at her. "If your dad wouldn't've died, you wouldn't've broken up with Ares in the first place, and-"

"Thai, you show traces of a seer… a true prophet." Krys almost laughed at how she never noticed the matching moles that she and Thai had. The 'beauty mark' for the body, and Thai's three moles above the right side of her lip. The small moles formed a triangle. Similar to the other moles that Krys had on her cheek. The five moles that formed a pentagram when Ares once connected the lines.

"Krys, what the hell is wrong with me?!" Thai yelled.

"Nothing." Krys said. "Did you see the two of you breaking up?"

"No- but, you and Ares weren't supposed to break up. It wasn't in the cards. What went wrong?"

"Tha-"

"I don't want to end up like you and Ares. I don't want tro act-"

"Thai, you and Angel aren't me and Ares."

"Really, Krys? I'm not you and Hermione? You're the oddball, because Ares always noticed you. I'm the oddball because Angel didn't always like me. The surprisingly powerful girl best friend who… you fall in love with, then… some bullshit, Krys. We're all the same. Ares, Angel and Ron- the three purebloods, with little sisters who date and fall in love with their best friends. You can't tell me that you didn't notice the similarities. I am you… or Hermione- whichever. I'm not gonna wait for the universe to screw my life up and drag me to some weird ass path where I'll never be happy."

"I'm happy, Thai."

"You can honestly be happy? Watching Ares and Emily together? That's making you happy?" Thai asked. Krys gave a cheesy smile.

"If he'll be happy with Emily, I'll be happy for him. If Angel's happy with you, isn't that what you want for him?" she asked.

"Krys… I hate these visions."

"Then imagine having them since you can remember… and until you die. 'Cause that's what's gonna happen." Krys teased. "Now get up and get dressed, because we have to go." Thai got up at the same time that Krys did. Krys left the room. Ares was lying against the wall.

"Hey." he said. Krys smiled.

"Hey." she said. "So… still no bachelor party?" Ares shook his head. "Well… we can always get drunk and watch some porn." Ares laughed.

"Emily changed the wedding day again." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"She can't do that without talking to people first. Shit… I have a cake going to the house the morning of the wedding. I guess I'll have to change it all by magic." she said. "When is it?"

"Its Saturday now. She wants a rehearsal dinner. That's on Thursday." Krys smiled.

"Come on, Loverboy… you know that the only reason your mad is because you wanna marry her sooner." she teased. Ares smiled and nodded.

"You know me too well." he said. "So- what's going on with Thai?"

"She's a seer."

"Really?"

"Yup. Have you ever noticed the three moles above her lip."

"Kinda like your pentagram." Ares said.

"Exactly like it. Legend has it that you earn moles with your levels."

"Pentagram is a witches shape. You're at the highest on seer train." Krys laughed.

"I'll see you later, I have to go take Thai to the lover boy's place." she said. "A little midnight makin' up." Ares grinned.

"We did a lot of that back in our day." he said. Krys nodded.

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Krys and Harry were sitting in her room, lying in bed.

"Prongsie, do you think I'm kidding myself?" Krys asked. Harry laughed.

"Hell yeah." he said.

"You sound so British saying that. Don't ever do it again." Krys said. Harry laughed again.

"Padfoot, its simple. Tell him the truth." he said. "If you don't, then… you're due a lifetime of unhappiness."

"Did I tell you that Thai's a seer?" Harry shook his head. "I think Angel is too. She has two moles above her lip. Then again, they can just be moles. Prongs, she told me that my dad wasn't supposed to die. If it wasn't in the cards, then a witch or a wizard changed it. That's what the code of Merlin says in black and white. Muggles can't change the line of fate. So- a wizard or witch killed him. And since… I don't want to know who did it." Harry looked at her.

"Its okay… we already killed the person anyway." he said.

"Pettigrew?" Harry nodded. "He's bee-…" Krys stopped mid sentence and looked at Harry. He nodded. "He's the reason that the accident happened. He's- Mark died because of him?"

"Yeah, but I guess that he didn't do his- Padfoot, come on." Harry comforted. All of the lights flickered and he heard thunderclaps outside. When he looked at Krys' window, he saw the sky light up and form lightening. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Padfoot… we got him."

"Not good enough." Krys said through clenched teeth and flaming eyes. Suddenly she took a deep breath. "Prongs… I'm going to hell-"

"Well… you practice magic and you wear rosary beads… I'm surprised that they haven't melted already." Harry teased. Krys laughed slightly.

"No… because if I could take him from hell and torture him more, before I kill him again, I would." she said. Then she got up. "Are you coming with me?"

"Where?"

"Thai's rendezvous."

"Is that wise?"

"Have I ever done anything that wasn't?"

"Giving Ares $100,000 to get married to someone else… yes."

"It was $92 g's. I had to make it seem like I didn't come up with it to help him… I made it uneven." Harry laughed.

"Well… he paid for a lot of the stuff but you still paid for most of it, without the fund."

"I want him to be able to live. Which reminds me… I want you to go down to Josie's Kitty and talk to Mike. Tell him that you want Summer, Rain, Tammy, Missy, Cindy, Megan, Heather, Naomi, and Crystal. Tell him that you want open bar and minimal management."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Ares' bachelor party." Krys said. Harry laughed and nodded. Krys handed him a check and a card. "If you're not coming with me, you're gonna do some work."

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Krys and Thai landed in front of Angels house. It was a two story reasonably sized house in the magical neighborhood of New York. The neighborhood was in a secluded area of Long Island. The house had a cute little porch swing and a little freshwater thingy that held fish. Krys looked at Thai.

"Parents aren't home." Krys said, before she threw a few pebbles at a window. "You- go over there." Krys pointed to the porch seats. Thai ran up and sat down. The window opened and Luis stuck his head out of the window.

"Who the he- oh. Hey." he said. Krys waved.

"Hey sweetens… um- can you call the other cute one outside… or can I come in?" she asked. Luis nodded and stuck his head back in the window. A minute later, Luis opened the door.

"Come in." he said. Krys laughed and walked in, while Luis walked outside and talked to Thai. Krys hopped up the stairs and walked to Angel's room. In the room, he and Jennifer were kissing. Krys laughed and walked farther into the room. As soon as her voice sounded Angel and Jennifer pulled apart. Angel looked at her in shock and question.

"Dude, you're seventeen… use a better lock spell." she said. "Blondie- up." Jennifer glared at Krys. "Blondie… that's you. Up… that's a direction. Actually… its an order." Jennifer pulled her wand out and pointed it at Krys, who was looking at her in amusement. "Oh wow. Are you going to hurt me, Jenny?" Krys inhaled deeply, and Jennifer's wand flew into her hand. Jennifer then stood in shock and fear.

"Krys, what are you doing here?" Angel asked. Krys laughed.

"Well… I need to talk to you, but your little lady is… well- she's testing my patience and working my nerves. Jennifer, can you please leave the room?" she asked.

"No. I'm not leaving you alone with my boyfriend." Jennifer said.

"You're a brave one, aren't you?" Krys said. "Has it not occurred to you that I have your wand and… I'm extremely angry?" Jennifer huffed and left the room. Her lack of clothing didn't seem to be a problem to her. Krys looked at Angel. "Was that a mercy screw?" Angel cracked a small smile. "Okay… so- I'm not gonna sit on your bed because of what I think you might've been doing on it, but… what happened?"

"I told her. She looked at me. I asked her. She said no. Now she's probably laughing at me. And I am getting over her." Angel said.

"Number one… she loves you. The reason… her reasons are all because of me. Look- I guess that she loves you so much that she doesn't want to see you guys end up like me and…"

"Ares?"

"Yes. Look… a lot of the problems in my life have more affects than I care to discuss. It seems like everything I do… it seems that it's everyone's problem. And Thai's taken on the fear of commitment through her example… me." Angel looked at her with slightly innocent eyes. "She couldn't follow her parents example and love you because she loves you. But she… Thai _had_ to follow _my_ example. Why, I don't know. So… are you gonna talk to her, or what?"

"Krys… I'm embarrassed and I'm horn-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- I didn't ask about all of that." Angel laughed.

"I'm sorry… but- she can't expect me to come back to the house to talk to her. The least she could've done was come with you." he said. It seemed sheer coincidence that Thai walked through his bedroom door that minute. Angel sat up instantly.

"I'll be going now." Krys said, as she walked to the door. "Little girl… you only have an hour." Krys walked to the hallway and stood there. Finally after about a minute, she snapped and a chair appeared behind her.

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Thai stood up in her form fitting light blue jeans and white top that looked like Tinkerbell's dress. The white top was cut like a bikini and had sequins around the breast, before the rest of the shirt clung to her torso. Her jeans were cuffed once, and flared over her classic white Reeboks. Some of her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, while the rest was out. Her bangs were covering her eyes and she had on a clear pink lip gloss. They stood there looking at each other for a while.

"Do you want to sit down?" Angel asked. Thai nodded.

"Yeah… thank you." she said, before she sat a respectable distance from him. She looked down and played with the hem of her shirt, while she tapped her foot lightly.

"Thai, is there a reason that you're here?" Angel asked softly. Thai looked at him and bit her lip.

"Yeah." she said after a while. "Um…" She hesitated. "Okay… um… wow. Um… okay… so- you know how… I'm sorry." She bit the tip of her finger and chewed it slightly. "When you told me that you loved me… I was so happy. I really was, but… I look at Krys and Ares, and I don't want us to be like that. It…with us it shouldn't be like that. And that's what I kept telling myself. I kept saying that we aren't Krys and Ares, when in reality, we are. And… we would be lucky to be anything like the good Krys and Ares, but they're… psychotic. But then I realized that… I- um… wow… um- I… is that a shirt?" Thai pointed at Jennifer's piece of fabric. She picked it up and looked at Angel. "Isn't this funny? You're already cheating on me and we aren't even together."

"You're not mad?" Angel asked.

"That you're back with Jennifer? No. You two are good together." Thai said, as she got up. "Um… I just came by to see that there are no hard feelings and that we're still cool."

"Thai…"

"What?"

"I'm not back with Je-"

"Angel, you don't have to explain anything to me. I'm j-"

"Thai, shut up!"

"Don't yell at me, you big lipped, uncircumcised dickhead!"

"That's the problem. You and that fucking attitude!"

"And are you gonna do something about it?! No! So shut the fuck up!" That made Angel laugh.

"Thai…come on." he said, as he headed for his door.

"Where are we going?" Thai asked, as she followed him. In the hallway, Krys was juggling lollipops. Thai and Angel stared at her weirdly, before Thai took a strawberry blow pop and started to eat it. Angel looked at her, and took her hand.

"Are you coming?" he asked. Thai looked at Krys. Krys nodded, then gave the international sign for 'I'll be watching you'. Thai laughed and followed Angel outside to the porch swing. They sat down and Thai started to swing lightly.

"So… where's Jennifer?" she asked casually, as she did the hand movements for the itsy bitsy spider.

"She's probably in Alex's room." Thai nodded casually and looked at him.

"Remember that time that I saw you and Jennifer doing it in the shower?" she asked, remembering the scarring, heartbreaking time after Quidditch practice.

"Clearly." Angel said. He looked at her. "That was a bad time, wasn't it?" Thai nodded.

"Yeah." she said mockingly. "Well… you're like one of those dogs. You know, they're always thinking with the pink thing." Angel laughed.

"Well in my own defense I was a fifteen year old guy. And she offered it."

"I'm not dumb or naïve. I know what guys want, Angel. I'm just… I'm not willing to give it."

"Doesn't matter. That's not what I want anymore. That was in the past."

"History repeats itself."

"Thai, now I want something real. Something that's way beyond the physical."

"Is there no physical here?"

"Of course there's a physical here. Merlin, there's a physical here. But I want something more."

"So you'll never want sex from me?" Thai asked. Angel laughed.

"I never said that."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'll do whatever you're ready to do. Whatever you want to do." Thai raised her eyebrows, and moved away from him a bit.

"So- was it because I was flat when I was younger? Or was it because I was flat as a board when I was younger?" she asked.

"Both." Angel said. Thai looked at him and laughed. "No… it was because Jennifer was… _willing_."

"Thinking with the pink thing." Thai said.

"Okay… you had a pretty face." Angel said. Thai looked at him. "Have a beautiful face. And now the body-" Thai pinched his leg. "Ah- ah. Okay. Why did you like me?"

"'Cause you were pretty and popular." Thai teased. Angel smiled. "No… its because you were annoying. And that summer home… I realized that I missed it."

"I'm not annoying."

"No anymore." Angel waved her over.

"Come here." he said softly.

"What, you think your pretty boy game in gonna work on me? Never." Thai said. Angel smiled. "Plus… I'm the one who has to be wooed and courted… I'll let you come to me."

"Okay." Angel said, as he moved over a bit more. "See- I'm coming to you."

"Good for you. I never said that I was giving in that easily, though." Angel slyly put his arm around her bare shoulders.

"Come on, Thai. Are we gonna talk about us, or what? You came here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Of course I came here for a reason." Thai said.

"So…" Thai looked at him.

"Angelo."

"Don't." Angel warned. Thai laughed.

"_Angel Reyes_… will you go out with me?" she asked. Angel grinned. "Oh God… that weird look. You're not gonna sing now, are you?" Angel leaned in slightly and Thai backed up. "Sorry- sorry. It's just… it seems weird kissing you, now. You know… I'm nervous."

"No worries." Angel said, before he kissed Thai's cheek. "You wanna go out next week?" Thai looked at him and nodded.

"Uh-huh. Very much so." she said, before she got up. "You might wanna break the news to Jen. And my parents." She walked off the porch and walked a few steps backwards. "Write me." Angel puckered his lips slightly, as he walked off of the porch also. Thai laughed and walked towards him slowly. When they met up Angel looked down at her. Thai puckered her lips jokingly. Angel smiled and leaned down, making Thai go serious. When their lips met, it was like the perfect soft and open mouth kiss, minimal tongue. When they pulled back Angel leaned in again, but Thai backed up. "Always leave him wanting more, baby." He glared at her playfully, then his look disappeared and he stared at Thai with an intense look.

"I feel like I've wasted so much time." he said. "I'm sorry." Thai smiled.

"Don't be sorry." she said. "Just don't do it again." Angel grinned before he leaned down and kissed her again. Thai moaned slightly when he pulled away. "That was nice."

"Nice?" Thai laughed at the appalled look on his face. "I don't do nice."

"I'm sorry… that was mind… ugh- I can't even come up with words good enough for that kiss." Thai said.

"How about 'more'?" Thai laughed, before Angel continued to kiss her. After a few kisses, she pulled away.

"You're making it difficult to play hard to get." she joked.

"Come on, Thai… its been a year-"

"You liked me for a year?"

"Yeah… about a year and a few months."

"You dick, do you know-"

"Hey, hey, you didn't tell me ei-"

"You had a girlfriend." Angel inhaled.

"Okay, so I'm an idiot." he said. Thai rolled her eyes.

"Ya think?" she asked sarcastically.

"Are you always this difficult?"

"You've known me for six years, you tell me."

"You know, when I was telling you about my dream girl… I should've added that she's a very sexy pain in the ass." Thai laughed.

"You're a dick." she said, before she felt up his bicep. Angel looked at her weirdly. "Oh- I'm sorry." She laughed. "I just- I've always wanted to do that."

"Well- you can." Angel said, as he flexed. Thai laughed.

"See- now you're showing off." she said softly.

"Trying to impress you." Angel said cutely.

"You don't need to impress me." Thai said softly, as she looked at him. Angel leaned in, but Thai only pecked him lightly.

"Hey… what else did you like about me?" he asked.

"The cat eyes are… intense. Very cute." Thai said. Angel kissed her on the cheek.

"So-"

"Kids! Time to go." Krys said, as she suddenly appeared behind them. Thai looked at her.

"You said that I had an hour." she said.

"That was an hour and a half. How long were you two tonguing each other down. Thai, your lips are swollen." Krys said.

"Is that what the tingling is?" Krys laughed.

"Come on, Dude… its eleven." she said. "I'm sleepy. I have a big day tomorrow… I have a witch weekly photo shoot and teen witch in a few days. I'm stressed."

"Alright." Thai said, before she looked at Angel. They started to lean in, before Thai looked at Krys.

"Oh please. I taught you how, I should at least see if my work paid off." Krys said. Thai and Angel laughed, but continued to look at her. "Whatever." Krys turned around. Thai looked at Angel and kissed him softly, before grazing his bottom lip with her teeth, as she pulled away. Krys turned around and looked at them. "You're both disgusting." Angel looked at her.

"Thank you." he praised. "The work you put in-… thank you."

"Whatever kitty. Go in your house, and stay safe, you little pansy." Angel pouted, then walked to the house backwards, waving to Thai the entire way. When he finally went inside, Krys turned to Thai. "You little loser."

"Aha. Says missy that still has Ares' basketball jersey and shorts. And you slept with them for two years." Thai said.

"Have you smelled Ares?" Thai nodded.

"Yeah, he smells good." They both laughed, as Krys grabbed Thai's arm and disapparated.

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Ron and Hermione lied on the couch in the living room.

"Me and Krys had a talk on the way home." Hermione said. Ron looked at her.

"What'd you talk about?" he asked. Hermione smiled.

"Well… as soon as Ares and Emily leave for Paris, Krys and I are supposed to leave for Switzerland." Ron nodded.

"Oh… yeah, I forgot about that." he said. 

"Um… I- well… I'm not going." Hermione said. Ron expelled a rush of air, and looked at her.

"You're- what?" he asked.

"Are you not happy?"

"No, its just that…"

"Ron, if you want me to go…" Ron couldn't find the right words, so he didn't say anything. When Hermione saw that he didn't respond, she figured that he didn't want her to stay. "You know what? Forget it- I don't care! I'll go." Then she got up, and got about three steps, before Ron held her by her arm. Hermione stood there for a moment, facing away from him. When she turned around, Ron was on one knee with a black velvet box in his hand.

"Hermione, will you marry me?" he asked. Hermione's eyes widened, before she panicked and disapparated.

Review and I'll update tomorrow, when I get from school. It'll be a full chapter, I've already written it. Thanks. Luv yall.


	22. Wedding Countdown

Krys got shaken awake by a raging lunatic Hermione.

"Oh good, you're awake." Hermione said. Her eyes were bulging and she was breathing deeply.

"Hey, Bon-bon." Krys said, after brushed her teeth.

"Ron just proposed to me." Hermione said. She was sweating as she started to pace.

"That's great. He did it already? I thought he'd do it at the Minister's ball." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"You knew?!"

"Yeah. So- when's the big day?"

"There isn't gonna be a big day." Hermione said. "I had to get the hell out of-"

"What the hell are you saying? You said no?"

"No- I ran-"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Krys asked.

"About as much as is wrong with you!" Hermione yelled.

"Hermione, you strung him along for a year! He forgave you and you guys have been inseparable! What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you know what I would do to have Ares forgive me?!"

"All short of telling him that you wer-!"

"Don't even start!"

"Yeah Krys. You're such a hypocrite! You can't meddle in my problems to pretend that you have a life!"

"Whatever." Krys said. "You know what? Why don't you just go downstairs and we'll talk like the rational adults that we're supposed to be? Instead of you acting like a dickhead and me being calm as always?" Hermione glared at her, and Krys just gave her the look.

"Fine." Hermione said, as she stormed out of Krys' room. As soon as she heard Hermione walk down all the stairs, Krys disapparated to the apartment, and saw Ron sitting in the living room.

"Come on." Krys said. Ron looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Come on."

"What the hell do you want, Krys? I'm not in the mood." Krys clenched her teeth, and held her temper long enough to get near him. Krys grabbed his hand, and disapparated. The two ended up in the kitchen right across from Hermione, who was making tea. As soon as she looked up, she dropped the kettle. Right before it hit her foot, it floated back up and set itself on the fire. "Krys, what am I doing here?" Ron asked.

"If you guys just talk… I'll talk to Ares." Krys said. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, before they both walked to the table. Krys groaned, and left the room.

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"Hermione… I- I thought that things were going well." Ron said.

"Ron… everything is going… I can't even describe it. I love you… so much. And I love how everything is going." Hermione said, as she extended her hand. Ron grabbed it and squeezed gently.

"Then what's the problem?" he asked.

"I just- I want to milk this stage of the relationship for all its worth. And when we get married… I want to- Ron, I… time. I just need time."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed and shook her head.

"No. I meant time before we get engaged. Of course I want to marry you eventually…and I want to marry you now, too… its just that… I want to be able to… do you know what I mean about time? I want to do some things before I get married." she said. Ron smiled and nodded. "Are you mad at me?" Ron shook his head frantically.

"No. Never." he said. "I want whatever you want. You mad at me?"

"No. I'm just glad that you don't hate me. Plus- a lot of good things came from this. Krys is gonna talk to Ares about Mark, and we have a lot of making up to do." Ron grinned.

"Ill." Krys said as she walked into the kitchen. Hermione hopped up and looked at her.

"Did you do it? Are you two back together?" she asked.

"Oh- I said I'd talk to him, and I did… about plastic surgery. I told him that I wanted a breast augmentation and a tummy tuck." Hermione laughed.

"If you had your tummy tucked, you'd look concave and scary."

"That's what he said. He said it was a sexy muscular… I- dude… I can't do it. I was just b.s.ing so that you two would get back together. I'm sorry." Ron laughed.

"Krys, its okay… I-" he started, before he looked at Hermione. "We shouldn't bother you about it anymore… especially since the talk." Hermione huffed. "When are you guys supposed to do Witch and Teen Witch?"

"We had to change them both to Thursday, because I have Cosmo _and_ Latina tomorrow." Krys said. Ron nodded. "Before the talk show."

"Wow. Full day." Ron said. Krys nodded.

"Isn't tomorrow your spa day with Emily and Kay?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her, then pulled out her PDA.

"Holy shit! I hate this so goddamn much, but you'll have to go to the spa place without me, Hermione." she said.

"I'm not going anywhere with those women." Hermione said. "I'm staying home." Krys groaned.

"Are you always this difficult?" she asked.

"Since I met you, yeah." Hermione said.

"Okay… okay." Krys said. "If we move the spa date back to nine o'clock… then we can go. Goddamn facials… Okay- I can do this. You're going." Hermione crossed her arms and huffed.

"No I'm not." she said.

"I hate you."

"I hate you too. Don't worry, the feeling is mutual." Hermione said. Krys picked up her cell phone.

"Hello… Javi baby… yeah its Krys. How are you?… Oh- really?… Well, I'm calling in a solid… You owe me… That's right, I'm the one that turned him gay." Ron and Hermione laughed. "Well… okay- nine o'clock for the spa treatment. Okay… the whole shebang. I think about… hold on." Krys put her phone down. "Who's coming?" Hermione shrugged, Krys looked thoughtful. "Do you want a facial."

"Its weird with someone smacking your face up." Krys nodded.

"Two full diamond cream facials… and the whole shebang for four people." she said to the phone. Ron and Hermione heard loud screeching come from the receiver. "Javier, shut your mouth… you're the one making the money, and all you have to do is tell some people to do something… Oh- you don't have anything to say now, do you?.. Whatever, Javi- I love you too." Then she hung up. Ron and Hermione were laughing by the time she hung up.

"He's in love with you." she said. Krys looked at her.

"He's gay… and very flamboyant." she said.

"I know." Hermione said.

"You know what? Just tell Emily and Kay to meet us here by eight, so we can drive to Javi's."

"Who did you turn gay?" Ron asked.

"The guy that Hermione gave my number to. He was so… he was… a muscular Vince from Will and Grace type. He was cute… but he was on the verge, and I pushed him over the edge." Krys said. "Then I introduced him to Javi. They're still together."

"Krys, you're weird." Ron said. Krys nodded.

"Very." she said. "Guys- I gotta go. I'm sleepy." Then she waved and hopped out of the kitchen.

"I'm kind of sleepy too." Ron said, before he kissed Hermione's hair. Hermione nodded.

"Lets go." she said.

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The next day, Hermione was there with Krys when her interviewer from Cosmo came. It was a woman in her thirties. She wore trendy clothes and glasses. When she walked into the house, she smiled.

"I love your home." she said.

"Oh thank you…" Krys trailed off.

"Andrea Starling." the interviewer said. Krys nodded.

"Its nice to meet you, Ms. Starling." she said.

"Oh please call me Andrea."

"Well _Andrea_, this is my homey, Hermione." Andrea shook Hermione's hand and smiled at both of them.

"So- where can we set up?" she asked.

"Um… how about the game room?" Krys asked. The woman nodded.

"Whatever's comfortable for you." she said. Krys nodded.

"Okay, then that's the game room." she said, as she started to walk towards the game room.

When they settled into the game room, the woman stared at Krys for a moment, then took out her notepad.

"Oh my." she said. "Well… I just want to start out with the questions that everyone wants to know, then I'll bleed into different areas. How does that sound?" Krys nodded.

"Sure." she said.

"Well… Krystathaili, how do you feel about Persephone Bryant revealing your secret the way that she did?" Andrea asked.

"Well, I can't do anything about it now. All that I can do is sit back and wait for karma to take care of her."

"And how do you feel about her as a person?" Krys laughed.

"I could sit here, put a smile on, and tell you a big story about how we got along fine. But I am not going to lie to you. I only met her once. And I hated her." she said. "And that may not be good for my image and how I come off to people, but it is the truth. I hate that woman."

"Well, if you only met her once, what did you know to hate?"

"The way that she acted towards me. When I met her, it was at a dinner. And she was so rude about me being home from school… it was horrible."

"Is that part of the reason that she and your father didn't marry?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Well, everything about your childhood, and you having been adopted. Are all of the rumors true?" Andrea asked, as she eased the tape recorder closer to Krys. Krys looked at Hermione and thought long and hard. 'I can lie, and let that woman rest… I can tell the truth and do something about what's happening with other people going through the same thing.' Krys looked at Andrea.

"Yes." she said.

"What can you say that its done for the person that you've become?" Krys chuckled slightly.

"The one thing that its truly taught me is don't be an itch-bay." she said. Andrea laughed.

"Can you elaborate?"

"The honest to god truth about who I am now is… I give straight and forward. But I am truly in layers. I give a lot of chances, and I don't judge people solely on their present actions. It takes a lot for me to realize if I can develop a relationship with someone or not. And when I make friends with someone, I hold that, and I try to keep it. The weirdest part is, the people I love the most are the only ones who I'll throw away a relationship with, at first real screw up. And its horrible, but I feel that we're so close, that there should be no more screwing up. Whoever that woman was, she helped me become the person that I am now. And whether people like me or not, I am here. Done. Point blank."

"So, you know who you are. What would you say to the woman who did what she did to you?" Andrea asked.

"I'm here. I'm alive. And I'm cool. I'm alright, and I'm happy. Whatever it is that you tried to do, you didn't break me. And I forgive you… sort of."

"What did the _sort of_ mean?"

"I can't really say that I'll forgive someone if I'm not willing to forget. And I'm not likely to forget her. If I fully forgive someone, I have to be willing to forget what they did to me. And I will never forget what she did to me."

"Well- there's one question that a lot of us want to know. Does Krys have a male friend?"

"Of course. Most of my friends are guys." Krys said. "I've never been one to hang out with girls. I've kind of been a tomboy."

"No, I meant is there a special guy? Do you have a boyfriend?" Krys laughed.

"No. Not really." she said.

"So, is it hard getting into a relationship because of the money? Do you have problems building relationships because of you being an heiress?"

"I… when I start dating… I make sure that I'm Krys. And as Krys, I want Pizza Huts and Taco Bells. Mr. Softie ice cream and icy carts. That's just how I am. And that's what I want. So… whoever thinks that they'll get all of this fame and fortune dating me, they're wrong. With me, what you see is what you get. And I try my best to stay away from the spotlight"

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After Krys was done with her full day of Cosmo, Latina, the T. Banks show and a spa day with Emily, Kay, A.J, Gin and Hermione, she plopped into her bed.

"I can't believe that you, Emily, Kay and Hermione went on a spa date." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Gin and A.J went too. Yeah, I think we all might be getting along. We're gonna shop for jewelry tomorrow before she does my hair." she said. Ares smiled.

"Thanks for doing that. Not about the jewelry, but just hanging out with her." he said. "I know that she's been a bit… she's not the easiest person to get along with."

"Its okay. I actually like hanging out with her. I just hope that we're finally getting along." Krys said.

"Yeah, me, too." Ares said, before he hugged her. Krys smiled then waved him off.

"I have to fight you guys off with a stick, don't I?" she joked. Ares laughed and nodded.

"Yeah." he said. "So- how did today go?"

"It was crazy. I had two interviews. One at seven am. Another at nine. I had the talk show after that. Then I had two separate photo spreads. And lastly I had the spa thingy. Javi almost killed me because I had Ginny and A.J added. He went nuts, especially since we were an hour late."

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The next day, Krys and Hermione sat in the kitchen over tea.

"Krys, do you really think that this is smart? Do you really think that Emily changed? Do you really think that she likes you now?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her and shook her head.

"No, but I can try." she said. "Hermione, I need to be okay with this. Otherwise, I'm left stupid and alone. He's already mad it clear that he's gonna marry her. And now, I'm trying to be okay with that." Hermione nodded.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you about it." she said. "She was pretty cool yesterday."

"She was. I can see why he's interested in her." Krys said.

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Krys and Hermione went to Emily and Kay's beauty parlor in Paris. When the girls walked in, Emily immediately walked to them and hugged them both.

"How are you?" she asked Krys. Krys nodded.

"I'm good." she said. "What about you?" Emily smiled and Kay walked out of a back room. She waved at Krys and Hermione.

"I'm great." Emily said. "Well- we should get going." She walked to a walking coat rack, and picked up her jacket. "Corrine, we'll be back."

"Yeah, you'll have to take care of the rest of the clients." Kay said, as they all walked out of the shop. Kay and Emily walked ahead of Krys and Hermione. When they started to stroll through the more high priced stores, Hermione leaned into Krys' ear.

"I feel so threatened. I am a muggleborn hanging out with three pureblood women." she said. Krys laughed.

"Even if anyone wanted to hurt you… you've got me, Bon-bon. Nobody can test us. I have your back, Dude." she said. Hermione laughed.

"Krys, how long have you and Ares known each other?" Kay asked, looking back at the two girls.

"Um… since we were eleven. Sometimes it feels a lot longer than nine years. Why?" Krys asked.

"No reason. Emily and I just wanted to know." Kay said. "So- this is where we're going." The two blondes turned into a store where one item seemed to cost as much as Krys' house. Krys looked around.

"Ooh." Hermione said, as she eyed a bracelet. Krys looked at it. The bracelet had pink diamonds chained together, before a butterfly formed in the center. Krys had to admit that it was beautiful.

"Oh my!" Emily squealed. Krys and Hermione looked her way. "This is the necklace. It'll perfect the dress." Krys and Hermione walked over to the glass display that Emily was hovering over. In the case was a gaudy necklace of thick yellow gold and diamonds. The price tag next to it was what made Krys choke. All the jewelry in her boxes had been gifts, but she couldn't imagine paying that much for something that ugly. It seemed that she and Hermione were thinking the same thing, because they looked at each other at the same time and made the same face.

"Well… are you going to buy it?" Krys asked her. Emily smirked and shook her head, while pulling her wand out slightly. Krys laughed. "Cute." Then she took Hermione's hand, and dragged her out of the shop. "Okay… hmmm…stealing? I don't know. Um-"

"You babble when you're nervous." Hermione said. "You babble a lot."

"Whatever she was doing… whatever she's going to do, I have nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do with me."

"Krys, what's wrong with you?" Kay asked, when she walked out of the shop. Krys gave a fake laugh, to show Kay that she wasn't joking.

"Yeah, Krys- I was just joking." Emily said. Krys gave the laugh again, giving more of an emphasis.

"Do I have a joking look on my face?" she asked, as she pointed to her expression.

"I thought you were a bad girl." Kay said.

"Cute." Krys said deadpan. "Lets go." They all started to walk the way that they came, until Krys turned to them. "Lets go to my house." They all nodded and disappeared. Krys made sure that they all ended up in her room. When they all got there, she walked to her jewelry box and pulled out a bag. She whistled and was given their attention. Krys looked at Emily, and poured the bags contents on her bed. Krys picked up an elegant diamond necklace, then she held it out. Emily squealed.

"Oh my! You're going to let me borrow this?" she squealed. Krys rolled her eyes.

"If I'm not willing to let someone have something, I'm not willing to let them borrow it." she said, before she dumped it in Emily's hand. Krys looked at the bed again, and picked up a bracelet and a pair of earrings. She handed them to Emily and listened to the woman squeal.

"Your hairstyles are free!!" Emily squealed again.

"Yea." Hermione said dully.

"Lets get to the salon already." Kay said, before she and Emily disapparated. Krys looked at Hermione and smiled.

"Yea." Hermione said dully. Krys looked at her pleadingly. "Just how much did that jewelry set cost, anyway?"

"Only about two- three thousand. Its about half a carat. Its nothing much." Krys said.

"Well… my hair had better come out looking really good." Hermione said. Krys laughed, and took Hermione's hand before disapparating. When they got into Kay and Emily's shop, the two women were setting up their stations. Krys and Hermione walked over. Emily patted Krys to her station, and put a towel around her neck, after taking Krys' cap off.

"Why are you always covering up your hair?" she asked. "Your hair is gorgeous. What do you use?"

"Pantene Pro-V." Krys said.

"Um- I don't have that." Emily said. "But- how about my special mix?"

"Whatever."

"So- what do you want?"

"Something light and breezy."

"Do you mind if I cut?"

"No. Just not too much."

And hour later when Emily was done, Krys felt naked.

"Alright, I'm done." Emily said. Krys sat up at the same time Hermione did. The two looked at each other. Krys instantly screamed, at seeing Hermione's bald head.

"You're bald!!" Krys and Hermione screamed, pointing at the other. Krys stood up and looked at a laughing Kay and Emily.

"Oopsie, honey. I used Madam Mayor's magically permanent hair removal." Emily said, holding up the bottle. Krys smiled and looked at Hermione. Hermione was smiling too. "Oh honey, you'll need the pretty smile to draw attention away from your head."

"Which is why you have the hair. To draw attention away from that nose?" Krys asked. Emily's smirk was wiped from her face. Krys gestured running her hand through her hair, and her black curls sprouted from her head, before her bangs fell over her left eye. She looked at Hermione, whose brown hair had done the same thing.

"Oh- you thought she couldn't change that?" Hermione said. "She can change that." Krys laughed and looked at Hermione, before they both walked out of the store. "You should get your stuff back." Krys shook her head.

"I'm not an Indian giver." she said. Hermione laughed, and grabbed her hand before they disapparated.

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Later that night, Angel, Thai and James were ready to leave and meet their parents at the airport to fly back to New York.

"I wanna see you guys off, and make sure you get to the place safe." Krys said, as she and Hermione got into the limo with them.

"Why are we in the limo?" Thai asked. Krys looked at her.

"You know you like it." she said. Thai laughed.

"Dude… I'm gonna miss you."

"Well… you'd better not be stiffing me on letters or phone calls. You know that I'll always answer a phone call or bracelet touch from you guys." Krys said as she tickled Jamie, who was in her lap. Thai laughed.

"Listen up… if anything changes in the love life-"

"Nonexistent love life." Hermione corrected. Thai looked at her and they touched hands, doing their own special handshake.

"If anything happens in the _nonexistent_ love life, I want you to call me." Thai amended.

"Of course. And if Loverboy Angel starts to get out of hand, you can call me." Krys said.

"Will do." Thai said.

"Angelica Razzellie Parris, Krystathaili Elaine Parris, and James Alexander Jason Parris… you had all better visit me for Christmas." Krys said seriously. Angel hugged her and laughed, while Jamie kissed her cheek. Thai just sat across from her and gave her a look. A look that said 'you'd better call me'. Krys stuck her tongue out and Thai laughed. Since the airport was so close to Krys' house, they got there in no time. Krys and Hermione got out and walked the kids as far as they could. "Call me when you get home. And take care of them. Remember, if you need anything, I'm only a phone call, a bracelet touch, or a thought away." They were all loaded down with toys, candy and clothes that Krys had gotten then during the trip. "I love you." They all hugged, kissed, and said their goodbyes, before Krys and Hermione watched the Parris children leave.

"You miss them already, don't you?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"You have no idea." she said.

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Krys hopped down the stairs. They all looked at her and whistled. Ares, Ron, Jason, Harry, Ginny and A.J were whistling and cheering.

"I know. I know." Krys said, gesturing to herself. "Gorgeous." They all laughed. Krys was wearing a creamy gold gown, with a square neck, and thin straps that connected in the back like a halter. The top clung to her body, then the skirt flared out in waves and flowed behind her. The dress had a split that hit the middle of her thigh. She wore open toe heels with gold straps that tied around her ankles. Her hair was glossy and straight. She looked like she just stepped out of a Pantene or Tresemme commercial. Her black hair was pulled back and twisted at the right side, before clipped with a beautiful golden clip, while it slightly hung, spiked and covered her eye at the left side. Her gold cartilage bar was shimmering along with her thin hanging earrings. Her lips were glossy pink. She wore a thin gold choker, and all of the gold made the blue in her eyes seem nonexistent, as the brown in her eyes popped magnificently. Krys walked down the stairs and whistled. "Hermione- now!!" she yelled. "Your date is here!!"

"Dammit, Cookie!! I'm coming!" Hermione yelled, as she walked down the stairs grumpily. They all clapped and whistled as she walked down the stairs too. Hermione's dark jade green dress clung to her body. The dress was made of silky satin material and had thin straps. Her dress was pleated, flared and long. The dark jade made Hermione's brown eyes look fogged up and smoky, to the point that her eyes looked gray. Around her neck was a thin piece of cream satin fabric that worked as a choker. On her feet were open toe heels, with green and cream marble straps. In her ears were white gold studs and a matching cartilage bar. Hermione's lips were glossy pink and smiling. She and Krys spent an hour curling her hair by hand, and using curl definition spray to make them extra bouncy and glossy. Hermione's golden brown curls were the perfect, playful ringlets. Her bangs were pulled back to the top of her head by a pin, as her curls hung by her ears. She walked down the stairs and walked straight to Ron. "You look good." she said. Ron was staring at her wide eyes.

"You look… wow." he said.

"That was articulate." Krys said, as she walked to the archway of the kitchen. They all followed behind her and sat around stools.

"So- when's Josephs picking you up?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him.

"Who said that I was going with Josephs?" she asked.

"You said that he asked you." Ares said. Krys looked at him, before she started to cut slices of her cake.

"I don't go out with everyone that asks me." she said. That's when her phone started to ring. Krys looked at it, then picked it up on the fourth ring. "Hello." She laughed. "I didn't tell you where I lived, I figured that I'd meet you there… whatever." Krys gave him the address, then looked at the rest of them.

"Is this the first date that you've ever had?" A.J asked. Krys looked at her. "You and Ares didn't go on dates."

"Of course we went on dates." Ares said. "We-"

"One that wasn't in the Room of Requirements. And a full date."

"We went out a lot, but you know that I don't like shit like that. So- we went to parks, and street ball tournaments." Krys said. She looked up a second later.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked. It was then that the doorbell rang.

"Anyone want to get that?" Krys asked. Harry and Jason got up. "No one? Okay."

"I'll go." Harry said more forcefully.

"Whatever." Krys said, as she sat back down. "I swear…"

"So- are you going to dance tonight, Cookie?" Hermione asked. Krys laughed.

"I can't dance." she said.

"Oh yeah. I remember the graduation ball." Krys looked at her.

"Where the hell is my tiara?" she asked.

"Oh- its in my room."

"I want it, dammit."

"What do you want?" asked the voice behind her. Krys smirked and looked behind her. Josephs was walking in with black dress robes, and a white shirt and tie.

"A commendation for all the charity work I've been doing lately. You know, letting you be seen with me and all." Krys teased. Josephs chuckled slightly and kissed her cheek.

"Hi, everyone." he said.

"Okay… this'll go by fast, and you won't need to remember them anyway. They're not important." Krys said. "A.J, Ginny, Ron, Jason, Harry, Hermione, and you already know Ares." She pointed to each of them as she said their names.

"Okay. Hi, everyone." Josephs repeated.

"Ares, where's Emily?" Krys asked. Ares hopped up.

"Oh shit." he said, before he looked at his watch. "See you guys there." Then he disapparated. Harry, Ron and Jason looked at Josephs.

"You'll have her back by midnight?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him.

"Well… the ball started a half hour ago… and its nine already." Josephs said. "I think I can have her back by midnight. Yeah." Josephs took Krys' hand, and the guys looked at him.

"Okay- hold on. I just wanna say thanks for talking about me like I'm not even here." Krys said. "And I'll also say that I'm coming home whatever time I want. You all just happen to be lucky that Frasier is on at 12. And I wouldn't want to miss Will and Grace." Krys walked ahead of Josephs and grabbed his hand. "Lets go." Then they disapparated.

The first hour in the dance was a slow one. Krys was surrounded by all of the section two aurors and their dumb ass stories. She and Hermione were separated to two different sides of the table. And she had a migraine. Mike, Josephs' dickhead friend, continued to blow kisses at her and wink, while Krys fought the urge to incinerate him. She was just about to kill him with her shoe, when Josephs tapped her shoulder.

"Look- I'm sorry, but I have to do some mingling. Do you mind?" he asked.

"What, getting rid of you? I've been waiting for you to leave all night." Krys said. Josephs smiled and kissed her cheek, before walking and extending his hand to his bosses wife. A minute later, the head of the whole NA auror department, walked over to Krys with his hand extended. He was an older black man, and had been the head of the department since Ares' dad died and the job opened.

"It looks like your date has taken my wife." he said. "Would you like to dance?" Krys smiled.

"Mr. Stevens, I'd be honored." she said, as she took his hand.

"Don't be alarmed, but I'm not much of a dancer. That's the reason my wife is dancing with Josephs." Krys smiled.

"Well, don't be alarmed, but I am not a dancer. I cannot dance at all." she said. The two of them did the robot and cabbage patch to waltz music and slow songs.

"So- what do you do?" Mr. Stevens asked, once he dragged her to his table. He was sitting at the elite table. The table was where the highest of the highest sat. The new Minister was at the table, along with other ministers from different continents ministries. Only the highest sat at that table.

"Who's your friend, Michael?" asked an middle aged woman. She was the Head Chair of the NA Wizengamot. Her name was Harriet Green. She wore a cold disapproving look, as she looked at Krys.

"Oh- dear, I have yet to ask your name." Mr. Stevens said.

"Oh- its Krystathaili. Krystathaili Rodriguez-Black." Krys said.

"So, what do you do, Krystathaili?" Harriet asked.

"I'm a healer." Krys said.

"Oh. And where do you work?"

"Give her a break, Harriet." said a voice behind Krys. Ms. Delgado sat right next to Krys and kissed her cheek.

"You two know each other?" Harriet asked.

"Yes. And she's an amazing young woman." said Ms. Delgado.

"Honey, where do you work?" Harriet asked once more.

"Well- me and my best friend conducted a study to determine if we could cure lycanthropic scar tissue, or no-"

"This doesn't tell me where you work."

"I'm getting there." Krys said. "We've proven that we can cure the scar tissu-"

"Wait. You've healed lycanthropic scar tissue?"

"Yes." Krys said.

"And how old are you?"

"Nineteen. I'll be twenty-"

"You fully cured it? There were no side affect once you ran the tests?"

"No, it was fully cured."

"That's impressive." Harriet said, as she nodded.

"Um- I should be getting back to my table." Krys said.

"Well- don't you want to meet a few people first?"

"Um- maybe later?" Krys asked. "I'm sorry. Can I take a rain check?" Harriet nodded and smiled pleasantly. The smile almost scared Krys, before she waved to the three and walked back to her table. When she was walking back to the table, she felt drowsy, and she couldn't find the table. She soon realized that the tables split up into sections and were broken down more, and walked to where she recognized the most people. Hermione and Ron were sitting with Ares and Emily, Kay and her date. Hermione waved Krys over discreetly and Krys walked to their table.

"Oh Kay- Emily, you guys look absolute-…" Krys didn't even bother finishing her sentence. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to prevent the room from spinning. Hermione, Ron and Ares looked at her weirdly.

"What's wrong with you?" Ares asked. Krys looked up at him and shook her head.

"Nothing." she said.

"So- what were you talking to Harriet Green about?" Ares asked. "She's tough. She's my mom's mentor." Krys laughed.

"Well- I was talking to Michael Stevens……" she stopped and closed her eyes. "…and I guess she thought…" Krys stopped and fanned herself. "I guess she thought I was his honey pot, because she looked at me like I was some… thing."

"Krys, you seem really… are you sure you're okay?" Hermione asked. Krys smiled.

"Yeah… why? How do I look?" she asked.

"Just- you're not yourself. And… something's wrong. Are you sure you're not sick?" Krys gave a weak nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said.

"No, you're not." Krys shrugged slightly, before she blacked out. Hermione almost jumped at the scary sight. One who didn't panic was Ares, who pulled one of Krys' injections out of his inside robe pockets and injected it. "Oh Merlin. That was close." Hermione said.

"She should be up in a few minutes. She recovers well." Ares said, like it was nothing. Emily looked at him.

"Lets dance, honey." she said.

"Emily, in a minute." Ares said, handing Hermione the water and tissue to put on Krys' forehead. He looked at Krys, who was purring, with her head on his shoulder. Hermione caught Emily's glare and shook her head. She and Emily looked at each other for a minute, before a drink almost spilled in Hermione's lap. The drink actually tipped over, and the contents slid off of the glass table, but it stood in mid air, then traveled to hit Emily, who was across from Hermione. Ares was too busy looking at Krys to notice or care. When Emily squealed and grunted, causing Krys to stir, Ares still gave the stirring Krys all of his attention, as he wiped her forehead with cold water. Krys' eyes opened slightly and she looked up at Ares. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again, as if she expected to see someone else. She let her eyes close once more. Hermione smiled at the look on Ares' face as he watched Krys sleep. She then turned to Ron, who was smiling at her.

"I should be jealous." he said.

"No. You know that I love you." Hermione said.

"I do know that." Ron said, before he kissed the corner of her lips. The two were shaken from their moment, by a loud gasp from Kay, who was watching them. Hermione rolled her eyes, and turned back to Ron.

"Maybe that was mean." she said.

"You like it, don't you?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded guiltily, and Ron kissed her full on the lips. Neither of them broke from the kiss, when they heard Kay sob the first time. They broke up when they heard Kay let out a sad and pathetic wail. The loud wail from Kay was enough to get Krys up completely. She woke up wearing a pout. She got up and started to walk away from the rest of them. They all watched her go.

"Where did she go?" Kay's date asked.

"To brush her teeth." Ares, Ron and Hermione said simultaneously. The other three looked at them weirdly. A minute later, Josephs walked over to their table and asked for Krys.

"She went to brush her teeth." Hermione said.

"Okay." Josephs said weirdly. A few minutes later, Krys walked back to the table drowsily and sat down. "Are you okay?" Krys nodded and lied back on Ares' shoulder, before Josephs draped his jacket over her shoulders.

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An hour later, when Krys woke up again, she was back to normal. She and Hermione had broken away from the table, and taken Harriet up on the offer of meeting people. So far, they'd met the ministers of Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. Harriet, Ms. Delgado and Mr. Stevens introduced the two girls to many different people, all of who were very successful. When it came time for the minister to give his speech, Harriet and Ms. Delgado made the two girls sit with them. When the speech was done, everyone feasted. Then it was back to dancing and mingling. Krys and Hermione danced with Mr. Stevens together and apart. When they were all beat, they sat down again and mingled with the minister and the rest of the elite.

"In the code of Merlin, patricide is more liable to be punished than matricide. Same with frat_er_icide, over killing your own sister." a man said. Ms. Delgado rolled her eyes, along with half of the table.

"Fratricide." Krys said automatically. The man looked at her.

"What was that, dear?" he asked. Paul Scott was a known genius, for his mind and knowledge of the code, since he was the the second chair of the wizengamot.

"Oh- nothing." Krys said.

"No. I'd like to know what you said." Paul said.

"Oh- killing your own brother is known as 'fratricide'." Krys said. Paul nodded and looked slightly put off.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Krys nodded slightly.

"I'm pretty sure." she said politely. "I could be wrong."

"You probably are. And- well, pretty sure isn't enough, is it?" Krys shook her head.

"You know… it isn't." she said. "But I'm pretty certain killing your own sister, is so_ror_icide… and judging with my knowledge of Latin, yeah… frater means brother, where soror means sister. Pater means father, where mater means mother. Fratricide, matricide, fratricide, and sororicide… so- now I'm really certain." Harriet looked at Paul and huffed triumphantly.

"She does sound quite right, you know?" she said. Ms. Delgado laughed at the look on Paul's face, as he pulled out his handbook of the code. He read through a bunch of lines, then showed Krys a line. She read it, and the word in the book was '_fratericide_'. She nodded, then looked at the cover. The cover read 'Code of Merlin.', then under it read 'abridged version, archaic prose'. Krys looked at Ms. Delgado and Harriet, they both looked ready to laugh. Then she looked at Hermione, who was keeping a polite look on her face.

"It says frat_e_ricide in print." Paul said. "Thank you for your input." Hermione smiled.

"Do it, Cookie." she whispered. Krys looked at Paul and nodded.

"Okay. Its an _abridged archaic prose_. That means its written straightforward in the same old language. When the code was written, some of the language was written in Latin, because it was said that only witches and wizards could read it, from their knowledge of Latin words and spells. Frater is a direct Latin word, and the word ending -_cide_ always means killing. It comes from the Latin word caedare… meaning to kill. And cida, in Latin means killer. Genocide, homicide, suicide. So- its only because that's how they used to say it. Homicide, was known as hom_o_cide, because homo, in Latin, means man. Homicide, originally meant to kill a man. It was later made a more broad word, now meaning to kill someone. Genos, is Greek. It means race. Genocide means to kill an entire nationality, ethnicity- whatever. Suicide- in Latin suicidium, means to kill yourself. Suicida- someone who kills themselves. Sui- just means yourself. Frater- means brother. Soror- means sister. I was just speaking from the new modernized language." Krys said. They all looked at her.

"Wow. I've never seen Paul speechless." Harriet said. Paul was looking at Krys, and he was at loss for words. Finally he licked his lips and pursed them together, before he gave a small smile.

"What do you know about the code?" he asked. Krys pointed at Hermione.

"That's her forte." Krys said. "She's all about rules."

"I am not." Hermione said. Krys looked at her. "Okay- I am. Um- I'm sorry. We have to go."

"Okay. It was nice meeting you, sweetheart." Harriet said. "Both of you." Krys and Hermione smiled.

"You too, Ms. Green." she and Hermione chorused. They said their goodbyes, then walked back to their table. At the table, Kay was making it her job to be touchy-feely with her date, as her eyes were on Ron. Hermione and Krys made it their job to laugh and make fun of her.

"Okay- I have a question." Krys said to Ron. Ron nodded.

"What is it?" he asked.

"When are you going to ask me to dance?" she asked. Ron laughed.

"Do you remember the last time we danced together, Krys?"

"Yeah." Krys said, before she, Hermione, Ron and Ares broke out in laughter. "In my own defense… Hermione's body isn't as wonderful as mine, so the movement was off." Hermione pinched Krys. "Ouch, dude. Should I have lied?" Krys teased. They laughed.

"Krys, you just can't dance." Hermione said.

"I know. And people don't believe me. They just assume with this body and that one-" _Krys pointed at Hermione's body_ "- they assumed that _you'd_ be the uncoordinated one." Krys teased.

"You guys spend too much time together." Ares said. Krys and Hermione looked at each other nodded.

"We do." they said.

"I know. I know almost everything about this loser, here." Hermione said.

"Hey- hey hey. I am way too gorgeous to be a loser." Krys quoted. Ares laughed, and Krys felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, and Mike was touching her. He slipped in the seat next to her and smiled. Krys looked at him and growled.

"Chill baby. I just wanna talk." Mike said, as he turned her chair for her to face him. Krys looked at him like he was stupid.

"What?" she asked. Mike smiled.

"Are you gonna stop frontin' on me, or what?" he said. Krys closed her eyes and crossed her legs enticingly. The split showed her bare leg and the mole above her leg. She then drew little circles with her foot.

"You're right." she said. Mike grinned, and leaned in. As soon as he did, Krys moved back, but Mike continued to lean in and search for her. The idiot didn't stop leaning, and fell on his face. Krys looked back at him, and put her hand to her mouth innocently. Mike glared at her.

"Prissy, stuck-up bitch." Ares and Ron both looked at him, instantly ready to attack, but Krys shook her head telling them to leave it alone. Krys looked at him.

"Are you done?" she asked.

"No. You're nothing but a fast piece of ass anyway." Mike said. Krys nodded.

"Are you done?" she asked again. She was mocking him so perfectly, just by the way she sat. She was slouched, and holding her head up with her hand, while her elbow rested on her knee. She squinted her eyes and watched him as if he were interesting. That pissed him off ten times more.

"Eric is an ass, if he thinks he'll ever bag a bitch like you. And you're not even girlfriend material. You're not even that pretty."

"_Are you done_?" Krys asked once more. This time, her voice sounded very impatient. She sounded like a child. "You know what? Forget it." Krys expelled demure, inconspicuous puff of air, and Mike's pant leg set on fire. She then turned around and acted like nothing happened. Hermione, Ron and Ares were looking at her. After a few minutes, everyone was trying to put the fire out, as it spread slowly up Mike's pant leg.

"Krys, are you going to let him burn from the eternal flame?" Hermione whispered. Krys sighed, and turned around. She turned around, and soaked Mike from head to toe. The fire finally died, and Krys and Hermione pushed through the crowd and walked towards Mike, who was on the floor panting. Krys tied up her hair, as Hermione tore his pant leg open. They both looked over his leg and inspected the burns.

"Hermione, do you have any Vaseline?" Krys asked. Hermione pulled gloves out of her purse and shook her head, before handing Krys the gloves.

"All I have is these Vaseline moisturizer filled night gloves. They're curing Ron's calloused hands." she said. Krys laughed, before turning the glove inside out and rubbing it on Mike's burns. He started screaming like a falsetto singer. It took all that Krys had not to laugh.

"Its okay, Michael. You'll be okay." she said. "You gonna finish up?" Hermione nodded.

"Iuvenate." she said, before she tapped his burn with her wand twice. Mike's burns slowly started to disappear. Hermione got up and took Krys' hand before dragging her to the table. Krys untied her hair, she stood up and clapped politely, before pointing at Hermione.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how its done. Class A healer at work. Thank you, thank you." she teased. Hermione, Ron, Ares and Kay's date laughed. Kay and Emily scowled at Krys and Hermione, as they continued to have all the men at the table wrapped around their interesting conversation.

When the night came to an end, Josephs apparated with Krys to her house. Ron and Hermione, Ares and Emily did also, but they walked straight into the house. Krys looked up at Josephs.

"You know, I think you like me." she said. Eric grinned.

"Oh yeah? What makes you think that?" he said.

"Well- other than the fact that you're stalking me, you keep coming back. I mean, I've tried to shake you, but you just won't leave me alone." Krys joked. Eric laughed and leaned down, but Krys turned her head as he leaned in. He ended up kissing her cheek instead.

"That's cold." he said.

"I'm cold." Krys said, before she grasped the back of his neck. She stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his top lip, then his bottom lip. When she pulled back, Josephs shook his head, and kissed her again. This time, his tongue darted into her mouth and started to explore. Krys finally pulled back once more and waved. "See ya." Josephs nodded.

"I hope so." he said. Krys walked into her house and went straight to the kitchen. They all looked at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Lip gloss is gone." Hermione said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"I thought he left parts out when he groped me." she said. They all looked at her weirdly. "That was a joke. It was strictly lip action. And it was like a three second kiss. Had to leave him wanting more." Krys skimmed through the cupboards and found where she stashed the lollipops. She picked one up and started to eat it.

"You'd have to be a good kisser for that." Jason said. Krys looked at him.

"Excuse me, but I happen to be a phenomenal kisser." she said. "And… guys tell me that all the time. Well- the guys that I have kissed. I haven't kissed that many people." They all laughed at her musings. "Well- I should be going to bed. We have a full day ahead of us, Bon-bon."

"What's tomorrow?" A.J asked.

"Witch Weekly and Teen Witch. We have interviews and photos." Hermione answered. "Why do I not want to go?"

"Well- you're going. You set the interview up. I don't want to. Its your fault that I have to." Krys said.

"I didn't say that I wasn't. I just said that I don't want to." Hermione said.

"I don't either."

"You guys spend too much time together." Harry said. The girls looked at him and both hissed. "Fine."

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The next morning, Hermione woke up and Ron was gone. She groaned, and got out of bed before she headed straight to the shower. In the hallway, she got a glance of Ron in the living room. He was reading. Hermione smiled, then continued to the bathroom. When she was done in the shower, she walked into the living room and sat next to him.

"You're up pretty early." she said. "That's not like you." Ron laughed.

"I wasn't tired anymore." he said. "I entertained myself. I watched you sleep."

"That's disturbing." Ron laughed again, and kissed Hermione's cheek.

"Did you know that you talk in your sleep."

"No, I don't."

"You do." Ron said, as he nodded. "Its attractive."

"Um… I want to talk to you about something. We didn't really get to talk about it the other day… but about the job." Hermione started. "I wanna stay here with you." Ron smiled and looked at her.

"But I don't want to hold you back from your dreams." Ron said, before he turned away. Hermione angled his face back towards hers.

"Ron, the dream was setting the history. I want to stay here… with you." she said. Ron smiled.

"Then I want you to stay here, with me." he said. "Have you talked to Krys?"

"She was the one who asked me about it. She's okay with it. She likes you." Hermione said. Ron laughed.

"I should hope so… we've known each other for about three years." he said. "I like that you have Krys for a best friend. Other than the fact that you're spicy and scary, it makes me feel safe, when you're not with me." Hermione smiled and looked at him. In that instant, everything seemed to have changed, and Hermione sat on his lap. Ron wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to laugh. She leaned in and kissed him, before working on his bottom lip. She pulled back a millimeter and smiled.

"Ron." she breathed.

"What?" he whispered back.

"Marry me." Before he could answer, she kissed him again.


	23. The Lengths She Would Go

When Hermione pulled back, she got up and touched her mouth.

"Hermione." Ron said, after what seemed like two years. 

"Yeah?" Hermione said, as she looked at him. She was still shocked by her own actions.

"Did you just propose to me?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded slightly, in a joking way.

"Yeah. I think I did." she said. "Go figure." She was trying her best to be witty, to hide the pain if he said no.

"Yeah." Ron said. Hermione looked at him.

"What happened?" she said. Ron nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"Are you saying that you'll marry me?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, I proposed to you the other night… of course I'm saying yeah. The only reason that I backed off was because you said you needed time." Ron said.

"Time's up." Hermione said. Suddenly she stopped being witty and sarcastic, and stood quiet and still. "We're engaged." Ron nodded. "Whoa." Ron laughed, and hugged her waist.

"So- what changed your mind?" he asked, as he pulled her back onto his lap.

"I said that I wanted to do a lot of things before we got married… but… I want to be with you… always. And when I'm not with you, I'm thinking about you… so… I want to be with you forever." Hermione said, before she kissed him. When she pulled back, Ron grinned.

"You know, speeches like that'll get you anything you want from me."

"I already have everything I want from you."

"Maybe we should wait a while to announce it. We don't want to overshadow Ares' wedding." Ron said.

"Whatever we do… I'm happy." Hermione said. Then they were kissing again, and rolling around on their couch. Hermione wasted practically no time, as she threw her shirt to the ground and struggled with her bra. Ron laughed and snapped it off in an instant, before Hermione finished undressing him. When they were completely… in the buff… magic happened without wands or spells. (There is no need for me to tell you the rest. You're all smart enough to figure it out.)

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"Oh my." Hermione said, as she and Ron stared at the ceiling from their carpeted floor. "That was… wow." Ron laughed.

"Well- I pulled out the big guns for my fiancé." he said. Hermione laughed.

"That's cute." she said, before she slightly glanced at the clock. 11:30- Hermione jumped up and ran to the bathroom for a quick shower. As soon as she got out, she ran to her room and got dressed. She gave Ron a quick peck, before she disapparated. When she landed, she was in Krys' kitchen. Krys had her legs cross and she was angry.

"Where have you been?" she asked. Hermione looked at her and rolled her eyes.

"I'm too happy to let you spoil my mood-"

"You obviously don't know how powerful I am. I can spoil any mood." Krys said. This made both she and Hermione laugh. "So- what happened? Did you forget?"

"No." Hermione said, as she sat down. Krys looked at her and mocked gagging.

"Oh- you just had sex, didn't you?" she asked. Hermione looked at her.

"I never kiss and tell." she said.

"Ill! You did, didn't you?! You slut-butt." Krys yelled. Hermione laughed.

"Excuse me… don't be angry because… I'm-"

"Don't even start." Krys said.

"Well-"

"Don't. Tonight is Ares' rehearsal dinner. I'm not even happy… I just- I have to concentrate on being pretty for the pictures."

"You do it well, Cookie."

"Bon-bon, don't start."

"Are you jealous?"

"That you're having sex and I'm not? Hell yeah." Krys said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Hermione laughed. "Of you? Never. I love that you're happy. So- are you gonna cut the crap, or not? What happened with you and Ron?"

"We're engaged." Hermione said. Krys looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Wow… that's sexy as hell." she said. Hermione laughed. "I'm happy as hell for you." Krys started laughing. "Oh my God. I swear, I think I'm about to squeal." Hermione laughed.

"We're not announcing it until Ares' wedding is done." she said.

"So- you're staying here?" Krys asked. Hermione nodded, then gave a small frown.

"We've been attached at the hip since I came to visit you two years ago. The fact that we might be apart for more than two days is actually scary." Krys laughed and shook her head.

"Come on, Bon-bon… its okay. You and Ron have a great summer together, and I'll be back before you can get HAPDPS."

"Krys, it takes years to get Hyperactive Post Dragon Pox Syndrome." Hermione said.

"Well… I'll still be back before you get it." Hermione laughed. "You know were late, right?"

"We're divas… they can wait." Hermione joked. Krys looked at her, before they disapparated. The office for Teen Witch was a nice office, full of trendy little robes and cute hats. There was a young witch standing there, looking through outfits and writing things down. When she saw Krys and Hermione walk in, her face lit up and she ran towards them.

"Hello, hello." she said, as she took both of their hands and shook vigorously. "Andrew… Andrew!" A young man ran out of the back. "Can you show them to Jeanie?" Andrew looked at Krys, then Hermione, then back at Krys, then back to Hermione. Finally he moved back to Krys, then again to Hermione. The two girls looked at him weirdly, before they walked ahead of him. When they got to their interviewer, Jeanie, she was sitting down with a notepad floating in front of her. She looked at Krys and Hermione, then waved them over.

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When the two interviews and photo shoots were over, Krys and Hermione were off schedule and had to rush back to Krys' house. When they got into Krys' kitchen, an envelope was on the counter. It had Hermione's name on it. Hermione picked it up and rolled her eyes.

"What is it?" Krys asked.

"Emily's bachelorette party is tonight." Hermione said. "She wants me to come."

"Are you going?" Hermione looked at her pointedly. "You should go keep A.J and Ginny company."

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked.

"You know." Hermione nodded.

"Oh yeah."

"We only have a few minutes to get to the reception hall. We're already late." Krys said, as she looked at her watch. She and Hermione touched Hermione's hand and disapparated. When they landed in the reception hall, a bunch of wizards and witches looked at them. Krys dragged Hermione and ran to a table. Krys looked around. Everyone was there. Ares knew a limited amount of people, and some of the people there were people that Krys had introduced him to. Moony, Moody, McGonagall, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley… they were there. They waved at she and Hermione, before turning their attention back to the stage.

Krys and Hermione sat at a regular table. Ares, Jason, Ron, Harry, A.J and Ginny who were at the wedding party table smiled at them. Emily got up to announce that the best man would be making a speech. Jason got up reluctantly and walked to the microphone.

"Um… I'm a man of few words. But… I've never seen Ares as happy with a woman, as he is with this woman. He's always smiling, and he's just annoyingly cheerful and peppy now...in a way that I haven't seen since high school. I haven't seen him smile so much since we all really realized that high school was done… and we'd kinda part ways. He couldn't've chosen a better woman to make him happy and embark on this journey of life with. She is sweet and funny, and she's also one of the coolest and most understanding women I've ever met. Oh- and I forgot to mention how beautiful she is. She's everything Ares always wanted in a woman, and then some. Sometimes, I think he's just too dumb and doesn't deserve her. I just want to say that- she and Ares are the epitome of true love. To the happy couple to be." said Jason. His eyes were on Krys through the entire speech. Everyone clapped. Especially all of the people who knew Krys. Hermione laughed as she clapped.

"That was a lovely speech." said Kay. "Thank you, Jason." Jason gave her a fake smile. "Um… well I hope I can top that. I have to say that I've seen the way that Ares and Emily look at each other. And- whenever I see them… it shows me that true love is real. It shows me that true love is _very_ real. Even outsiders looking in can see that everything about the relationship is _so_ right. And I just want to congratulate them on finding true love. Congratulations to the bride and groom to be." All of Emily's family clapped this time. Not many people from Ares' family did. The people who didn't were Ms. Delgado, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, A.J, Tia Lauren, Jezzie, McGonagall, Lupin and Moody. Krys clapped, and looked at Harry and Hermione. They started to clap also. Emily got up and walked to the microphone. She was smiling.

"Well- there is one more person that I'd love to hear from. I just hope that she'll speak." she said. "Um… Ms. Delgado?" Everyone looked at Ares' mom. Ms. Delgado smiled and got up. She walked to the microphone.

"Wow- I have no idea what to say. I just- I'm so happy that my little man is in love. I mean- I'm happy that someone gives him the feeling that his father gave me. Finding your other half is a wonderful experience. To find the person that gives you goose bumps and makes your heart thump. A person that makes colors more intense, and they make food taste better. A person that you would do anything for… the person that'd… _ruin_ their life for you. The person who would let go of you, so that your life could be easier. I just- the sacrifices that I've seen her make for him-… it makes me very happy that my son has found someone like that to love him. I'm so happy that my baby found his true love. I hope that everything works out for the two of you. I hope that you can work through any problems that you ever have." she said. Then she walked back to her seat. Everyone clapped.

"Krys- do you think she was talking about you?" asked Hermione. Krys looked at her and nodded.

"That was somewhat embarrassing." she said. Hermione laughed slightly and shook her head.

"It was nice." she said.

"The speech, yeah. The fact that neither one of them was about Emily, no." Krys said.

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Later that night, after the French dinner, Krys and Hermione were joined by the wedding party. One of Emily's bridesmaids named Corrine, was holding a bottle of Firewhiskey. They all sat down around the table, and a shot glass magically appeared in front of each person.

"We thought it'd be fun to play a little drinking game." said Kay.

"That's only really fun for people who have no lives, no class, no one." said Krys.

"Well- then _you'll_ enjoy it." said Emily.

"Don't want a broken nose before your wedding." said Hermione. "Although plastic surgery _will_ do you _some_ good. Although, there are a bunch of things that surgery can't fix. Your bitchy attitude being one of them." Krys looked at Hermione, then their fingers touched and they both made the sizzling noise.

"Ladies, that's enough." said Jason. "If you're gonna fight- we have to get some supplies. A pool, some mud, bathing suits. And A.J has to join you. There's no use in a top being pulled off, if I won't enjoy it. A.J, maybe you should loosen your dress a bi-"

"Shut up, Jason." said A.J. Jason's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked like a pouting puppy, as she kissed his cheek.

"This game is _I Never_. Only- if you've done it, your glass lights up and if there's anything worth explaining, you have to explain. If you're not telling the whole story, your drink refills and lights up." said Corrine. "I'll go first. _I never_… played in a Quidditch match." Harry, Krys, Ron, Ares, Jason, A.J and Ginny's glasses lit up, so they drank up. Right before she drank, Krys touched her shot glass, and changed their drinks to butterbeer.

"Krys, why don't _you_ go next." said Kay. "I'd love to hear what _you've_ never done."

"Okay… I never… got punched in the face by my boyfriends cousin." said Krys. "Kay- fifteen seconds, your glass may light up. Oh- no… I forgot. He's no longer your boyfriend." Kay growled at Krys.

"I'll go." said another one of Emily's bridesmaids. "I never… had romantic interest in one of my friends." Krys, Harry, Hermione, Ron, A.J, Ares, Ginny, Jason, and Corrine's glasses lit up. Krys once again, changed their drinks into butterbeer.

"Ooh- do tell, Jason." said Kay.

"I'm in love with A.J, who was my friend." said Jason, as he drank the shot of butterbeer. His glass filled itself up again. Krys groaned, and snapped, changing his drink to butterbeer once again. "Oh- I used to have a crush on Krys." His glass was still glowing.

"There's _more_." Kay said, as she looked between Krys and Jason.

"Okay- I had a little thing for Krys." said Jason. His glass continued to glow, as it refilled itself with butterbeer. "Okay- I had a _very big_ thing for Krys." He drank up and the glass continued to glow as if refilled itself. "Alright- I was…… _in love……_ with Krys." he said, before he drank up. His glass stopped glowing. They all looked at Krys.

"What?" she asked.

"Your glass is glowing." said Kay.

"I used to like Jason." said Krys, before she drank her butterbeer. Her glass continued to glow and refilled itself.

"Why didn't you two go out?" asked Emily.

"Yeah- why didn't you go out?" said A.J acidly.

"A.J, calm down, it wasn't like that." said Ares. They all looked at him.

"What do you know, Ares?" Emily asked.

"I've seen the way they act. I'm with Apolla, there's something going on." Kay said. Krys, Hermione, Ginny, Jason, Harry, Ron and Ares looked at her. "Its true."

"No. I'm just starting to see that everything we had, everything that we were- I was just a substitution for her." A.J said, pointing at Krys. Krys' eyes widened. "And the reason he was so interested in your and Krys' getting back together- was because he wanted it for himself. Living vicariously through you."

"You dated her!?" shouted Emily. Krys started to bang her head on the table as everyone stared at them. Krys stood up.

"Can you all stop staring?!!!!" she and A.J shouted in unison. Everyone else's head turned the other way. Krys looked at A.J.

"Apolla Jade Delgado- I can't believe you think that- ugh." she said. She looked at A.J who was shrugging Jason off. "Are you listening to me?"

"No… because, now, a lot of shit is starting to make sense-" started A.J. Then she got up. "You know what? Fuck it. I don't wanna hear anything from you. _**Any**_** of you**." Krys instantly knew that she was directing the last part to her. Who else spoke Spanish?

"A.J." Jason shouted. "Come on, you know how much I love you."

"I don't care." A.J said, as she started to walk away.

"A.J!" shouted Krys.

"WHAT?!" A.J screamed back. Krys looked at her like she was seeing her for the first time. Both of their heads shot in the direction of the people who were staring. Neither one of them had to say anything, because as soon as they looked, every head turned away.

"Okay- the truth? There was _one_ point when I was _eleven years old_, that I liked Jason. And if he did ask me out when we were _eleven_, I _probably_ would've said yes. But once I turned _twelve_… I have _no idea_ what happened. I didn't blush when he called me pretty… and he was like my big brother. He was the first person to know that I liked Donatello- he was the first person that I cried to when Donatello started to date Fluffy, and he's _Jason_. He's my number one… he's my blood brother. Know this- I have _never_ kissed Jason, I have never- _none_ of that. The thought of it is enough to make- ugh. Now- even if I _did_ continue to like him… as soon as I learned how you felt about him- I would've buried those feelings to the tips of my toes, because of how close you and I were- _are_. _As soon as I turned twelve_. It was _eight _years ago." A.J looked at Ares.

"When?" she asked him. "When did he stop loving her?" Ares shrugged.

"I stopped liking her when I was about thirteen- fourteen- fifteen _maybe_." said Jason. Krys looked at Jason, who was staring at A.J.

"Jason- I love you. Remember you _are_ my number one. And I know that you don't like me like that anymore. So- I don't see the big deal in this. You're my J.J. You know everything about me. You and Prongs have seen me at my worst. Better yet- you know what my worst was."

"It doesn't matter." said A.J. "Everything that we had… all I am to him, is his own version of you. And… everything would've turned out differently if Ares hadn't gotten you first." Then she walked away. Jason ran after her. He caught up to her in the hallway outside of the reception hall.

"A.J, its not like that." he said. A.J turned to him.

"Then how is it?" she asked. He looked at her and sighed.

"I don't love you because you remind me of Krys. I love you because-… I always have. Okay- when I was fourteen, I loved her. Or I thought I did. I didn't know what love was when I was fourteen… okay- I liked her… a lot. I'm not gonna lie and say that I didn't. And okay- I didn't act on those feelings because, I didn't think I could be faithful, and I thought that I'd screw up the friendship that we had- and because of how Ares feels about her. And now… when I think about it, I have no idea how I could've _ever_ felt that way about her. I don't even see her the same way… she's my sister now. When I realized that I… she and I never would've worked, and we were too good as friends. She was my blood sister. And the thought brings me to the point that I wanna throw up, but-. But- I _always_ loved you… and when we were younger, I loved you. You are the first girl, other than my mother, sister and your mother that I ever loved. Not Krys. I loved you first. And okay- I didn't realize how much, and _how_ I loved you until I was fifteen and stopped liking Krys that way. But- I never stopped dating because I was in love with her. I stopped having sex because I was in love with _you_. I stopped having sex with every girl around, because I wanted you to see that I could be a good guy, and that I could be a one woman man. And- I wouldn't've been able to be faithful to Krys, so I didn't take that chance, but- I knew that I could be faithful to you because, you'd always be there… and because you see the best in me… and because I would never want you to be ashamed of me… and I won't dare to allow myself to hurt you… I would never want to let you down. A.J, just please forgive me, because I love you like my next breath. I just didn't think it was important to tell you how I once felt about her. I just figured that it was in the past. Just- please." begged Jason. A.J looked at him for a minute. Jason looked at her, then got on his knees and hugged her waist. "A.J, please."

"Get off the floor." said A.J. Jason nodded, then got up. "Saying that I forgive you would make it seem like you did something wrong. You didn't do anything- and it was in the past. Plus… if I can get over you fucking with Array, I can get over this. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. But, why were you so mad?"

"Because, everybody that knows us, tells me how much me and Krys are alike. And… Krys is… she's Krys."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't want to sound whiney."

"You already do. What is it?" Jason asked, as he held onto her waist.

"Is that why you love me?" A.J asked. "Because I'm a lot like her?"

"No… I love you because you're smart-"

"Like Krys."

"You're beautiful-"

"Like Krys."

"You're funny-"

"Like Krys."

"And you're sweet-"

"Like Ares _thinks_ Krys is." Jason laughed.

"But… okay, this is embarrassing, but- one of the reasons I really love you is because my mom did." A.J looked at him.

"I loved her too."

"No, she raved on about how brilliant you were, and how cute you were- and she once teased me about using her ring to propose to you." A.J laughed.

"Yeah- you're mom had good stories. She used to tell me stories about Jerusalem and Saladin leading the Saracens."

"A.J, I really am sorry about what happened. Can we just forget about it?" asked Jason. A.J looked at him.

"About what?" she asked cheekily. Jason laughed and kissed her.

"Lets get back- they might miss us." he murmured against her lips. He pulled back and they started to walk back to the reception hall.

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"What do you have to say for yourself?" Emily asked Ares, as the party ended, and almost everyone else filed out.

"Um- Emily, I know you don't want to talk to me about this but- the thing that me and Ares had was… it was a _fling_ type thing." lied Krys. "I mean- if I think about it now… its stupid to be mad about it because- it wasn't a big deal."

"Did you love each other?" asked Emily. Krys looked at Ares. He was looking down.

"No." she lied. "I mean- yeah, of _course_ I loved him. But- that was because we were friends for so long before that."

"How long were you two together? When did it happen?"

"In seventh year. It lasted almost all of seventh year. But- we only saw each other on holidays."

"Why did you two break up?" asked Kay. They all looked at Krys, even Ares.

"We were too young." lied Krys.

"Did you guys have se-?" Krys started to gag, as she shook her head.

"I was too young for that." she lied. "And if the relationship got that serious, I wouldn't be able to look him in the eye now."

"Well- Em, its time for your hen party." said Kay as she took Emily's hand. All that knew, looked at Krys, who was biting her nails.

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The girls met A.J out in the hallway. Ginny and Hermione dragged A.J to the back of the group.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked. A.J gave a sad smile.

"I have to apologize to Krys, huh?" she asked. "I mean- the only time I've ever seen her show any interest in Jason was when she was showing interest in everyone." Hermione and Ginny laughed. "You coming?" They nodded and all started to walk back towards the reception hall.

"Apolla?!" Emily called. A.J groaned and cringed, before she turned around. Emily was running towards her, with a card in her hand. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go see something."

"Oh- well… we'll be at my house." Emily said. "You already know where that is. And… just make sure that you come. I need my bridesmaids there." A.J gave a strained smile.

"Okay." she said.

"Oh- and so that you don't forget where it is." Emily said, handing A.J a card. A.J nodded, then dragged Hermione and Ginny with her to the reception hall. In the hall, Krys was banging her head on the table and Jason was laughing at her. He said something to her and her eyes widened, while she laughed. A.J walked in and sat down. Krys looked at her, then at Jason.

"I'll leave." she said. A.J shook her head.

"No." she said. "He leaves." Jason kissed A.J's cheek, then walked away. Krys looked at her. "I'm sorry… and stupid." Krys nodded. "I'm just… knowing that he liked you, and that you two are so close… it seemed threatening to me. He loves you… I know that for sure… I was just being an ass."

"He loves you… and he treats you better than I've seen him treat any woman other than Jezzie. And I love that he loves you… and he loves that he loves you. A.J… you and Jason are you and Jason. And you guys are my friends… my best friends." Krys said. A.J got up and kissed her cheek.

"I love you, Krys." she said.

"Good. Now go to that bachelorette party." Krys said.

"You weren't invited?" A.J asked. Krys shook her head.

"No, but its okay. 'Cause this way I get to look at your brother, instead of celebrating my loss and some other woman's gain." she said. A.J smiled.

"You're good for him, you know. He's just mad because even after two years, he still believes it too. He just hates that you have the power over him still." she said. Krys laughed.

"Don't let the stripper shake it in your face." she said. "You either, girls." Hermione and Ginny were casually acting as if they didn't hear the entire conversation. "I know you heard me, girlies." The two nodded and sat at the table.

"We did." Ginny said. "And we should go. You know that I'd never miss an opportunity to see a man in a thong." The girls got up, while laughing.

"Share the opportunity… and remember, don't drink anything that they give you." Krys said.

"I know that's right." A.J said.

"I don't want to go." Hermione said.

"Go, loser." Krys said. "Have fun." They each rolled their eyes, then disapparated. When they got to the party, it was wild as hell and it looked like a night club. The three girls stood at the door, not being noticed by anyone. There was a disgustingly muscular man shaking his ass in Emily's face, while she smiled and put a sickle in his hat.

"Private dance!" Kay yelled. The man took Emily's hand and dragged her to a different room. Hermione, A.J and Gin all looked at each other before they sat down in a corner.

"Are you going to tell him?" Hermione asked A.J.

"Tell him what?" A.J asked. Hermione and Ginny looked at her pointedly. "He already knows. Why do you think- he already knows. He's just being a jackass."

"What makes you think he already knows?"

"Well… doesn't Ron tell you anything?" Hermione laughed. "Before they came back, they made a run on the weekend for condoms. If he thought he could trust her, he'd have just used a contraceptive charm." A.J said. "I know him. When he gave up on Krys, in his sixth year… he brought a bunch of condoms to have sex with Ailen. Which of course, he didn't do."

"He tells you all of this?" Ginny asked. A.J laughed and shook her head.

"No. Jason does." she said.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Hermione asked. A.J shook her head.

"My real question is; what's Emily doing in there?" Ginny said. "I can't believe she'd cheat on Ares. I mean, have _you_ _seen_ your brother?" A.J and Hermione laughed.

"He is gorgeous." A.J laughed.

"How easily girls are deceived." she said. "He doesn't have the attitude of a good looking boy. And its mostly about the attitude for me. He's too great to be good looking. He has that shy boy attitude… and he's a softy. He's not sensitive, and he's- he can fight, but he'll try to be demanding and it isn't who he is. I love him though. He's cool."

"You guys are closer than me and Ron." Ginny said.

"Well… he's all about layers. I swear, that's why he and Krys get along so well. He's great, she's great. And… that's who he should be with. He's just not smart enough to realize it."

"I think that she'll stop him from getting married. That's probably all he wants. A public declaration of their love." Ginny said. Hermione shook her head.

"I think that she'll talk to him like ten minutes before his wedding and he'll forgive her, before they run away together." she said. A.J laughed.

"Or maybe she'll stop the wedding, and they'll get married on the spot." she teased.

"Ooh- that'd be cute." Hermione said. Ginny and A.J laughed at her.

"You're weird." Ginny said.

"So… how was the photo shoot?" A.J asked. Hermione gagged mockingly.

"It was such a pain. They went crazy when I told them that I was a muggleborn. It was like they thought the only people who could do anything worth while, had to be purebloods." she said. A.J shook her head.

"You're actually better than most pureblood women." she said. "And smarter."

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After Emily went to her Bridal shower, all the guys left. All the guys, excluding Ares. The reception hall was empty, and he was sitting on stage. Krys looked at him, then slowly made her way there. She scratched his hand gently, and he looked up at her. He smiled slightly.

"Did your homies leave you?" Krys asked. Ares nodded. "Its 'cause you're no longer a free agent. Can't be in the group anymore." Ares laughed.

"You always know what to say." he said. Krys nodded.

"Its what I do." she said. "So what do you say, Loverboy? You wanna blow out of this joint?" Ares nodded.

"Okay… but first, you have to prove that you're really… Krys." he said in mock suspicion. Krys nodded.

"And how do I do that?"

"Tell me something that only you would know."

"Well- the answer would've been about sex, but- you and Emily seem pretty frisky. So… I guess I'm not the only one who _knows_ you."

"That was enough to prove- but, I don't want that. Plus- I tell you more stuff than I tell Jason."

"Really?"

"Well- not when we were going out- but, now… yeah."

"Oh wow. Lucky me." Krys said. "Okay- you have two little sisters. Robyn is in fifth year. And the girl you love most in the world is called Apolla Jade Delgado."

"Bravo." said Ares, as he got up. "Where are we going?"

"My house." Krys said, as she dragged him out the door and dragged him to her car.

"Whose car is this?"

"Mine."

"When did you get it?"

"It was my dad's. His beloved Jaguar. He named her Kryssie." Ares nodded and got into the car. Krys looked at him, after she started the car. He looked back at her questioningly. Krys rolled her eyes, then turned to the computer. She pressed '_Krys' Selection's_', then started to bop her head jokingly. Ares laughed. She started to play '_But Its Better If You Do_' by Panic! At The Disco. She pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive home. 

'Now I'm of consenting age to be forgetting you in a cabaret.

Somewhere downtown where a burlesque queen may even ask my name

As she sheds her skin on stage

I'm seated and sweating to a dance song on the club's P.A.

The strip joint veteran sits two away

Smirking between dignified sips of his dignified peach and lime daiquiri

And isn't this exactly where you'd like me

I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know

Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

Oh, isn't this exactly where you'd like me

I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know

Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

But, but I'm afraid that I

Well, I may have faked it

And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place

Well, I'm afraid that I

Well, that's right, well I may have faked it

And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place

And isn't this exactly where you'd like me

I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know

Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

Oh, isn't this exactly where you'd like me

I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know

Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

Well, I'm afraid that I

Well, I may have faked it

And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place

Well, I'm afraid that I

Well, that's right, well I may have faked it

And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place

And isn't this exactly where you'd like me

I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know

Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

Oh, isn't this exactly where you'd like me

I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know

Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

Praying for love and paying in naivety

Praying for love and paying in naivety, oh'

"Okay- must you play this while I'm in the car?" Ares asked.

"You never used to mind." Krys. Ares nodded.

"Of course I didn't. We were having sex back then. What do I get out of it now?" he asked jokingly. Krys looked at him with wide eyes.

"You jackass." she said.

"Part of my charm." Krys gave him the finger, then searched for a song. She started to bop her head before the song started to play, causing Ares to laugh. The song '_Big Pimpin''_ by Jay-Z featuring UGK.

'Jay-Z

Uhh, uh uh uh

It's big pimpin baby..

It's big pimpin, spendin G's

Feel me.. uh-huh uhh, uh-huh..

Ge-ge-geyeah, geyeah

Ge-ge-geyeah, geyeah..

You know I - thug em, fuck em, love em, leave em

Cause I don't fuckin need em

Take em out the hood, keep em lookin good

But I don't fuckin feed em

First time they fuss I'm breezin

Talkin bout, "What's the reasons?"

I'm a pimp in every sense of the word, bitch

Better trust than believe em

In the cut where I keep em

til I need a nut, til I need to beat the guts

Then it's, beep beep and I'm pickin em up

Let em play with the dick in the truck

Many chicks wanna put Jigga fist in cuffs

Divorce him and split his bucks

Just because you got good head, I'ma break bread

so you can be livin it up? Shit I..

parts with nothin, y'all be frontin

Me give my heart to a woman?

Not for nothin, never happen

I'll be forever mackin

Heart cold as assassins, I got no passion

I got no patience

And I hate waitin..

Hoe get yo' ass in

And let's RI-I-I-I-I-IDE.. check em out now

RI-I-I-I-I-IDE, yeah

And let's RI-I-I-I-I-IDE.. check em out now

RI-I-I-I-I-IDE, yeah

Chorus One: Jay-Z

We doin.. big pimpin, we spendin cheese

Check em out now

Big pimpin, on B.L.A.D.'s

We doin.. big pimpin up in N.Y.C.

It's just that Jigga Man, Pimp C, and B-U-N B

Yo yo yo.. big pimpin, spendin cheese

We doin - big pimpin, on B.L.A.D.'s

We doin.. big pimpin up in N.Y.C.

It's just that Jigga Man, Pimp C, and B-U-N B

Bun B

Nigga it's the - big Southern rap impresario

Comin straight up out the black bar-rio

Makes a mill' up off a sorry hoe

Then sit back and peep my sce-nar-e-oh

Oops, my bad, that's my scenario

No I can't fuck a scary hoe

Now every time, every place, everywhere we go

Hoes start pointin - they say, "There he go!"

Now these motherfuckers know we carry mo' heat than a little bit

We don't pull it out over little shit

And if you catch a lick when I spit, then it won't be a little hit

Go read a book you illiterate son of a bitch and step up yo' vocab

Don't be surprised if yo' hoe stab out with me

and you see us comin down on yo' slab

Livin ghetto-fabulous, so mad, you just can't take it

But nigga if you hatin I

then you wait while I get yo' bitch butt-naked, just break it

You gotta pay like you weigh wet wit two pairs of clothes on

Now get yo' ass to the back as I'm flyin to the track

Timbaland let me spit my pro's on

Pump it up in the pro-zone

That's the track that we breakin these hoes on

Ain't the track that we flow's on

But when shit get hot, then the glock start poppin like ozone

We keep hoes crunk like Trigger-man

Fo' real it don't get no bigger man

Don't trip, let's flip, gettin throwed on the flip

Gettin blowed with the motherfuckin Jigga Man, fool

Chorus Two: Bun B

We be.. big pimpin, spendin cheese

We be.. big pimpin, on B.L.A.D.'s

We be.. big pimpin down in P.A.T.

It's just that Jigga Man, Pimp C, and B-U-N B

Cause we be.. big pimpin, spendin cheese

And we be.. big pimpin, on B.L.A.D.'s

Cause we be.. big pimpin in P.A.T.

It's just that Jigga Man, Pimp C, and B-U-N B.. nigga

Pimp C

Uhh.. smokin out, throwin up, keepin lean up in my cup

All my car got leather and wood, in my hood we call it buck

Everybody wanna ball, holla at broads at the mall

If he up, watch him fall, nigga I can't fuck witch'all

If I wasn't rappin baby, I would still be ridin Mercedes

Chromin shinin sippin daily, no rest until whitey pay me

Uhhh, now what y'all know bout them Texas boys

Comin down in candied toys, smokin weed and talkin noise

Chorus Two

Jay-Z

On a canopy my stamina be enough for Pamela Anderson Lee

MTV jam of the week

Made my money quick then back to the streets but

Still sittin on blades... sippin that ray...

Standin on the corner of my block hustlin

Still gettin that cane

half what I paid slippin right through customs

It'll sell by night its extra white...

I got so many grams if the man find out

it will land me in jail for life

But im still big pimpin spendin chesse

with B.U.N. B, Pimp C, and Timothy

We got bitches in the back of the truck, laughin it up

Jigga Man that's what's up

Chorus'

"Was that better?" Krys asked. Ares nodded.

"Much." he said. Krys smiled, then another Jay-Z song played. It was called '_Jigga What, Jigga Who_'.

'Jay-Z

Uh-huh uh-huh, gi-gi gi-geyeah

Roc-a-Fella y'all, uh-huh uh-huh, Jigga

Timbaland shit, nine-eight BEYOTCH

Say what, say what? Uh-huh uh-huh, follow me beotch

Nigga what, nigga who?

Nigga what, nigga who?

Switcha flow, getcha dough

Can't fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe

Switcha flow, getcha dough

Can't fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe

Jay-Z first four lines overlap the section above

Can't fuck with me

They ain't ready yet

Uh-huh uh-huh

Yeah, yeah

Motherfuckers wanna act loco, hit em wit, numerous

shots with the fo'-fo'

Faggots wanna talk to Po-Po's, smoke em like cocoa

Fuck rap, coke by the boatload

Fuck dat, on the run-by, gun high, one eye closed

Left holes through some guy clothes

Stop your bullshittin, glock with the full clip

Motherfuckers better duck when the fool spit

One shot could make a nigga do a full flip

See the nigga layin shocked when the bullet hit

Oh hey ma, how you, know niggaz wanna buy you

But see me I wanna Fuck for Free like Akinyele

Now I gotta let her take this ride, make you feel it

inside your belly, if it's tight get the K-Y Jelly

All night get you wide up inside the telly

Side to side, til you say Jay-Z you're too much for me

Chorus: Jay-Z (with Amil-lion)

(Nigga what?)

Make you think you can fuck with me

(Nigga who?)

Recognize girl, Jay to the Z

repeat 3X

(Nigga what?)

Make you think you can fuck with me

(Nigga who?)

Recognize bitch, Jay to the motherfuckin Z

Jay-Z

Got a condo with nuttin but condoms in it

The same place where the rhymes is invented

So all I do is rap and sex, imagine how I stroke

See how I was flowin on my last cassette?

Rapid-fire like I'm blastin a Tec, never jam though

Never get high, never run out of ammo

Niggaz hatin n shit cause I slayed your bitch

You know your favorite, I know it made you sick

And now you're, actin raw but you never had war

Don't know how to carry your hoe, wanna marry your hoe

Now she's mad at me, causer Your Majesty, just happened to be

A pimp with a tragedy

She wanted, us to end, cause I fucked with friends

She gave me one more chance and I fucked her again

I seen her tears as she busted in, I said, "Shit..

there's a draft, shut the door bitch and come on in!"

Chorus (with variation in last line)

Jay-Z

Gotta vendetta even though I been better

Left him in the cold with a thin sweater

Rap niggaz on Prozac get the bozack, niggaz threw

two at me I threw fo' back, hold that

Let the dough stack, way before Big had the gold Ac'

Dame had the Lex black

Motherfuckers wanna test that, stress that

And right where you're stressed, where you rest at

I suggest that, niggaz invest, in a vest, when I come through

with the glock jet black, you niggaz step back

I'm the best at, you know I ain't no apprentice to this

Me and my niggaz we invented the shit

I came into the business with this, The Originator, non greater

Jaz-O finish this shit

Big Jaz

Better learn, Jaz'll relax that, ever heard of me?

Worldwide Originator, say word to me

The population holla certainly, I burn a nigga

like a third degree, see me shine so bright

Nigga I'm my light, runnin rulin with rigor and vigor

Nobody bigger than me and my nigga Jigga

You fly-by-nights stop chirpin B

Heavyweights type work to me

For the time, in this motherfucker ain't nobody hurtin me

What? Cut your face in like surgery

Who the fuck got a VS, fuckin BM's on the road

when you had to be in bed at the PM

Need the info, Jaz on the C-N-N

forever touchin my workers beginnin you're endin

Nigga your style's no style my style's hostile

C'mon, faggot nigga down to take the gun home

O-R-I-G-I-N-A-T-O-R (can't FUCK with it can ya?!)

Chorus (with variations)

Amil-lion repeat to fade

Switcha flow, getcha dough

Can't fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe

Switcha flow, getcha dough

Can't fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe'

"I swear- I love that song." said Krys. She pulled into her driveway, and looked at Ares. "Come on, Loverboy." Ares laughed, and followed her, as she got out of the car. They walked up the steps, and Krys punched in the security code. Krys walked in and smiled. "Home." She looked at Ares. "Hey, if you guys have a fight... you always have a place to stay."

"Yeah- 'cause that'd make the fight better." Ares said sarcastically. Krys laughed.

"Hey- I was being sweet, thoughtful, and adorable." she said. Ares laughed. "What? I'm sweet, thoughtful, and adorable." Ares nodded, and Krys dragged him up to her room. She took off her shoes and hopped on her bed. Ares followed her. "Okay- so what are we gonna do?"

"Double D." Ares said. Krys looked at him, then a look of realization dawned on her face.

"Ed, Edd, and Eddy." she said. Ares nodded. "Elmer."

"The Fairly OddParents… or Looney Tunes." Krys nodded.

"The first one." Ares nodded, then looked thoughtful.

"Kitara."

"The Avatar." said Krys. "At least challenge me." Ares laughed. "I'll give you a good one… Numbah 2." Ares laughed.

"Codename: Kids Next Door." he said. "Betty."

"The Flinstones." Krys looked at Ares. "Ron."

"Kim Possible… Jake."

"Jake Long, American Dragon." Krys said. Ares nodded. "Bob."

"The Incredibles. But- that's a movie." Krys nodded.

"I just figured that it'd be okay." she said.

"It is." said Ares, as he stood up.

"I'm gonna take a bath." Krys said as she walked to the bathroom. She looked at her Jacuzzi tub, and filled it with hot water. Krys stared in the mirror, then took out her hair. She gave a big sigh, then sprinkled bath beads and bubble bath into the tub. Twenty minutes after she stepped into the tub, there was a knock at the door. Krys arranged the bubbles to cover all the right places, then yelled, "Come in!" Ares walked into the bathroom, and sat on the edge of the tub.

"Please don't tell me that you're the crazy, evil ex-girlfriend that's trying to tear my wedding apart." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Crazy, evil ex-girlfriend I may be, but- tearing apart your wedding? Don't flatter yourself." she said. Ares laughed.

"You take bubble baths?" he asked. Krys looked at him pointedly. "Without me?" Krys laughed.

"Well- considering I knew you were coming, I thought it'd be smart to cover parts that had the option of popping out. But- you've seen them all already."

"You'll never change, will you?" Krys looked at him, but didn't say anything. "I didn't mean it in a bad way." Krys still didn't say anything, she just started to stand up. As soon as Ares saw what she was doing, he held a towel out. Krys threw it at him, then stood up, fully clothed and dry, yet glossy. She was wearing a fitted white cotton spandex t-shirt that showed less than a centimeter of her midriff, with a light blue jeans skirt. The skirt barely hit her mid thigh. She stepped out of the tub, and her white Puma sneakers hit the floor. The tongue was high up, and her shoelaces were loose. Her hair was in a silky, glossy, and curly hairstyle. Her bobby pins held some of her hair back, as her bangs covered her left eye. Her lips were just as glossy as her hair, and she wore her usual jewelry. She was wearing her white gold name chain and her marauder chain, with her 'daddy's little girl' bracelet. All of her jewelry had at least one sapphire on it. She was wearing her usual stud earrings in four ear holes (two rows). Her cartilage bar was occupied with a white gold, swirling with sapphire. Krys grabbed Ares' hand, then dragged him out of the bathroom, and into her room.

"Lets go." she said. Ares chuckled.

"Where're we going?" he asked.

"Lets go dancing." Krys said. Ares laughed, but stopped when he saw no sign of a joke on her face.

"You can't dance."

"I know- but, I want to go. Please?" she pouted. Ares groaned.

"Why do you want to go dancing anyway?"

"I wanna meet a man who'll propose after a few months of being together." teased Krys. Ares playfully glared at her.

"I have no clothes." Krys smiled.

"Of course you do." she said, as she ran to her closet. She came back with some of his newer old clothes. It was a black spray painted t-shirt, with baggy blue jeans. Ares took them from her. "Get dressed." she said, as she snapped her fingers. Ares was dressed head to toe, in the shirt and pants that she gave him, a matching Yankee fitted, and black on black Uptowns. Krys looked at his arm, and saw the tattoos they got together. She sensed how uncomfortable he was and looked away from it.

"Krys- I haven't dressed like this since I met Emily." he said. "Its good to be back." Krys laughed, and grabbed his hand.

"Come on. Pick a car." she said, as she grabbed a bag that magically appeared on her desk. She let go of him, then ran down the stairs. Once they got outside, Ares looked at her.

"I'm surprised that you can run with skirt. It looks like if you do anymore fast moving, the skirt will be showing a lot more than-"

"Why are you looking?" Ares didn't say anything. "That's better." Ares just looked at her, but didn't say anything. "Which car?"

"The car that you got for your seventeenth birthday." he said. Krys nodded, then skipped to the car. It was a black convertible that she'd never gotten used to driving. It had blue flames and her name on it. She opened the door for both of them, then sped off. They drove in silence. All of a sudden, Krys started to hum a song.

"Come on, Ares. You know the song… I just don't remember the words." Ares didn't say anything. "What's wrong with you? Are you okay?" Krys asked softly, her voice was full of concern. She looked at him, with a pout and furrowed eyebrows.

"You are…" he started frustrated. Krys looked at him, then looked back at the road. "You were nothing like this when we were dating." Krys looked at him again, then just continued to stare at him. "Eyes on the road."

"Fuck you." Krys said vehemently, as she looked back at the road. "Just so you know- I was always like thi-"

"No. As soon as we started going out- you changed completely. Don't get me wrong, I loved you more than ever, and you were still amazing- and everything about you was just- but, you weren't the same person I was friends with."

"I _wasn't_ the same person around you. Do you know how many things changed that night? Do you?"

"What changed, Krys? We _supposedly_ felt the same way about each other for years. What changed?" Krys pulled the car over, and looked at him.

"Okay- before seventh year… I was just me. There was no pressure being me… _little_, _adorable_ _me_. But then, we started going out- and don't get me wrong- I love you to death… but… I felt like I was being set to something that I couldn't live up to. And even then- I still wanted to be with you."

"What changed, Krys?"

"It was easy to be me, because I was doing whatever the hell I wanted to do. I know that I _say_ I do what I want, and I do- but, I'm still at the point where I'll do _anything_ that you ask of me. Or anything that'll ultimately make you happy. And its only you that I'll do that for- but- I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I didn't know what to do as a girlfriend… and now I'm back to doing whatever the hell I want. That is my reason for being more '_me_' now." she said viciously, as she sped off. They sat in silence, except when Krys had road rage. Finally, they pulled up to a building. Krys parked the car, then turned it off. She sat in her seat with her arms folded over her chest. "Regardless of if you wanted to hear it or not, its true. I'm not blaming you- and I'm sure as hell not saying that I wasn't happy. Because- I was happy, Ares. I was. And… I loved who I was with you. I mean… when we were alone, it was something different… I was a different person. And- I just- we should go. Come on." Ares got out of the car, and walked around to Krys' door. Krys stepped out, then started to walk. Ares followed after her, and they walked into the club.

"LAST RIDE!" yelled an abundance of Ares' male friends. Ares looked at Krys, who was already sitting and talking to Jason, Harry and Ron. Ares walked over to them, and gave the guys pounds. All of his male cousins, male friends- people from auror training and Levebons. Jason cleared his throat, and Krys got on stage. A bunch of wolf whistles went through the club. Krys stuck up both of her middle fingers. With the smiled that she wore, you wouldn't know that they just had a fight. That's how he knew that she was really good at hiding her feelings, by face. But the fact that he heard thunderclaps outside, he knew that she was still pissed. Krys gave the crowd a breathtaking smile and she shifted her weight nervously, before Harry gave her the middle finger, and showed her their chain from the crowd. Krys then laughed and started speaking.

"Okay… Kingie, this is your ever lovely bachelor party… so- I'm sure its not supposed to be lovely. But, that doesn't matter. What matters is that this is the only night that everyone was free, and its coincidentally two nights before your wedding. And you're about to get _married_." she paused and looked at the men. All of a sudden, they all clapped. "I know- its wonderful. And- I'm so happy for you, Kingie. Back to it… I didn't pay a club owner, and hand pick strippers for no reason. Introducing- the chicks that are gonna dance for you tonight. Be sure to vertically fold your money… its that paper stuff on the table. That's what the ladies want. Give it to them." Krys gave a cute curtsy, then walked off stage. She walked to one of the tables in the back corner, then pulled out a book, and put on her glasses. She looked at Ares interacting with Jason, Ron and Harry. Krys watched closely, as Jason shook his head and said something that the others agreed to. Jason's actions caused Ares to look at Krys, then bang his head on the table. Everyone but their group was watching the strippers. Ares looked up at the guys and said something. What he said caused them all to laugh. _'What the hell?'_ she thought.

'_You've grown. A year ago, you'd have just tapped into his thoughts instead of watching. Well- either you've grown, or you've gotten dumb.'_ thought Harry. Krys shrugged, then went back to reading her book. Moments later, a silhouette appeared, and blocked her reading light. Krys looked up and took off her glasses. She looked up at Antonio, Ares' amazingly sexy cousin.

"So… I finally got to met the girl that my cousin was loco about." he said, with a heavy accent. His English was bad, but he still sounded good. "**Do you speak Spanish**?" he asked _in Spanish_.

"**Yeah- we can speak Spanish if you want**." Krys replied. He nodded.

"**My name is**-"

"Antonio." Krys cut him off.

"**Yes, and you're the famous Krys.**" Krys laughed.

"**If you say so**." she replied.

"**Why are you sitting so far away from everyone**?" he asked as he sat down. Krys looked at him, then looked at the small distance between where they were seated.

"**Well right now- because you're moving unbelievably close to me, I'm no longer far away from everyone.**" He laughed, and Krys noticed that they were being watched. She looked at the four pairs of eyes, and raised her eyebrow. Harry, Ron and Jason returned the gesture as Ares wore an awkward expression. Krys turned away and put her nose back in the book.

"**So… do you want to sit with me and my friends**?" Antonio asked her. Krys looked up at him and shrugged. Antonio got up, and held his hand out for Krys. She looked at it, then reluctantly took it. He walked her over to a group of unfamiliar guys that she invited. One of them stared at her, as she sat down. Krys looked at him questioningly. He shook his head, winked, then puckered his lips. Krys laughed mockingly. She felt hands on her shoulders and looked up. It was Jason and Harry. Ron and Ares were muttering things behind them. Harry and Jason sat in front of her, and kicked their feet up on the table. Antonio sat down next to Krys. "**I'm surprised that we've never met before**." he said. Krys smiled meekly, then put on her glasses. She soon started to read her book again, as she sat with her leg crossed. She felt something on her knee, creeping higher to her thigh, then going higher and higher. She put her book down, and looked at Antonio's hand on her thigh. She laughed sweetly and smiled at him, as she caressed his jaw. She put her hand behind his neck, and leaned in an inch from his mouth.

"**Any part of you that touches me, you're **_**not**_** getting back.**" she purred in Spanish. Then she went back to reading her book. Ares and Ron had finally sat down. Jason, Ron and Ares were staring at her, and Harry was just chuckling. Antonio leaned into Krys' ear.

"**I know your little secret. The real reason you broke up with my cousin. And if you want it kept, you'll do what I want.**" he mockingly purred in her ear. Krys giggled, then ran her hand through his hair. "Ares- I knows why you loved her so much. She is really smart." Antonio said, as he took Krys' hand in his. Harry looked at Krys questioningly. Krys shook her head.

'_I got it._' she mouthed discreetly. Then she looked at Antonio and got up. She stood in front of him, with her hands out.

"You know what, baby? I think I wanna get out of here. You wanna come with me?" she asked him. She tried her hardest to be sexy, and it obviously worked. Antonio smiled, but pulled Krys down into his lap.

"We'll go when I wanna go." he said. Krys smiled, and nodded.

"Anything you want." she said, as she crossed her leg. They were all just looking at her. Krys turned away from the glares and got up. "You know what? We're going now." Antonio looked at her. "Now or never." He got up, and put his hands on her waist, sliding them up and down. Then he started to touch her ass. Krys gave a fake giggle, then feigned a squeal. All of a sudden, her clothes changed. Krys swiftly whipped around, and her fist connected with Antonio's jaw. Then she grabbed the back of his neck, and kneed him in the nose. She kneeled down to his ear, and forced him to look into her fiery eyes. "**I dare you to. Just know that the next time you come near me, I will kill you. Tell him if you want… but know that I will hunt you down, and make your life a living hell.**" Krys lifted him up, before he started to choke on the pool of blood, then dropped him. She continued to do this, before she stopped the blood, and forgot about him. Krys stood up, and they were all looking at her. Ares was looking down, and his shoulders were shaking from his silent laughter. Without looking at them again, she walked into the corner with her book. Once she got there, her clothes changed, and she was wearing her previous outfit again. Krys' leg shook the entire time she sat at the table. Ares slipped into the seat next to her, but Krys didn't even flinch. She just continued to stare in space, as the edges of her hair were red, yellow and orange. Ares put his hand on hers, and obviously, the flames died completely. Krys snatched her hand away, as a fiery tear trailed down her cheek and burned a hole through the table.

"Krys, are you o-?" Ares started to ask.

"Stop talking to me." she said seriously. Ares looked at her.

"Krys." he started dangerously. "What happened?" Krys didn't say anything. "Now. Tell me _now_!" Krys always knew that most of the time, Ares would go along with whatever she said. Then there were serious times. Times where he demanded answers of her and meant it. Times where he was serious, and knowing that he was serious, she would give the answer automatically. This time, she wasn't giving in.

"**I don't speak English.**" Ares nodded.

"**Fine then. Tell me what happened. Slowly.**" he replied in Spanish. She almost caved, because of how good he actually sounded speaking Spanish, but she didn't.

"Please, go away." she said softly. "You didn't want to talk to me twenty minutes ago… don't talk to me now."

"Krys… I'm sorry. I-"

"_Sorry_ is getting really tired, Ares. Whether it be sorry, when you let your fiancé talk about me. Or if its sorry a-"

"I never exactly heard a sorry from you about dumping me brutally, and _without_ cause! Or a sorry about you dating my boss!"

"Just like I'm not hearing a sorry from you. You know- about you flaunting your big nosed bitch of a fiancé around like she's some fucking prize! And I don't have to apologize for going out with Eric."

"Yeah- just like-"

"Like what, Ares? Me giving your cousin a '_lap dance_' in front of you. Or… him grabbing on my ass and you know- rubbing his hand up and down my thigh. _You know_… _you saw it_. You _watched_ and you said _nothing_! So please- if you wish for me to justify my actions- here's what I can give you." Krys said holding her middle finger up, as she got up and walked out of the club. It was pouring rain. She looked up and the acid rain mixed with her tears. 'I'm so weak… stop crying over him.' A hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned around and Ares was right there. He hugged her, and whispered things in her hair. When he pulled back, he kissed her cheek and moved her wet hair from her forehead. He slung his arm on her shoulder, and they stood in the alleyway. The rain was still coming down.

"Krys… I need to know." Ares said.

"What?"

"Why. Why we broke up." Krys smiled at him. The smile was different, it was a cheesy toothy smile. "I've never seen you smile like that."

"I can."

"Stop cha-"

"Ares… just enjoy tonight. Don't complicate it. I don't think this friendship can handle all of these bumps. I mean- look at our stats. Like a thousand snogs… we had sex like… four hundred times in _one_ summer… we've broken up twice… a few tattoos… I mean… its all good. Enjoy tonight."

"So you really don't like Emily." Ares said. Krys laughed, and leaned back against the wall. Ares stood very close to her.

"Its not that I don't like her." Krys said. Ares looked at her with his eyebrow raised.

"Then what is it?" he asked.

"Oh- wow. I didn't expect you to ask that." Krys said jokingly. Ares laughed, but the rain continued to pour. Krys' bangs were sticking to her forehead. Ares moved her bangs, and kissed her forehead. He pushed Krys' head back so that she would look up at him. He kissed down her forehead in a straight line down the middle. He kissed down her nose, then above her lip. Finally he licked his lips and slowly leaned in to kiss Krys' already parted lips. Ares gently placed his lips on Krys', before their lips started to move in sync. Ares dared to move closer, and pulled Krys to him. Then he ran his tongue across her lip, signaling her to open her mouth wider. Krys opened her mouth, and the tips of their tongues touched before they danced in harmony. Ares pulled his tongue back slightly, causing Krys' tongue to go through his lips. Finally, when she pulled her tongue back, he nipped at her top lip. Ares slowed the kiss down, by a bunch of light pecks. When they completely parted, Krys leaned back onto the wall. She looked thoughtful for a minute, before the floor got surprisingly clean, and she slid down the wall. She started to bang her head on the brick wall behind her, as she continued to say "I'm going to hell… I am going to hell." After hearing her say this, Ares squatted down to her and took her hands.

"No- you're not. I'm going to hell. It was me." he said. Krys looked at him, and nodded.

"Shock- you know, of knowing that you'll never kiss another woman other than Emily?" she said. Ares looked at her, then suddenly nodded.

"Sorr-"

"Don't act like we didn't just have a conversation about that." Ares laughed. "Plus… I was picturing Mark Wahlberg anyway."

"Marky Mark." Krys nodded. Her mind was all fuzzy and she couldn't think straight. Ares just kissed her, and was now telling her that it didn't mean anything. She looked at him, then turned to walk out of the alleyway. Antonio was walking towards them, with his wand. Before Krys could even take another step, she heard, "Krys, watch out!" Then Ares tackled her, as a blue light with yellow swirls expelled from Antonio's want. All thoughts started to flood back into Krys' mind, as she got Ares off of her. As soon as Krys got up, Antonio was struck by lightening. Krys turned back to Ares, who was also unconscious on the floor, with some of the flesh of his leg eating away.

Reviews people. They modivate. Can I have at least twelve for this chapter? That's what I want. I want twelve reviews, and I'll update by Wednesday.


	24. Recovery

Krys was in a state of shock for a millisecond, before she rushed over to Ares. As soon as she got to him, Harry, Jason and Ron walked into the alleyway.

"Padfoot, what do you need me to do?" Harry asked. Krys inspected his leg, then looked at him, while shaking her head.

"Don't do anything." she said dangerously. Harry looked at her.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Krys' face went even more serious.

"Prongs, if you touch him- I will kill you. Slowly and painfully."

"You're sure." Harry said. Krys waved Jason over.

"I need you to trust me, okay?" she said. Jason nodded. Krys snapped her finger and Jason turned into a phoenix. Krys put him near Ares' leg, as she stopped the spell from spreading. The phoenix started to cry over Ares' leg. Krys waved Ron over too. "You too." Ron nodded, as she snapped. Ron also turned into a phoenix. He flew over to the leg and started to cry over it also. Krys looked at Ares' leg and groaned. She looked thoughtful, before a single fiery tear escaped her eye and fell onto Ares' leg. His leg was starting to look normal again, but she knew that it wouldn't be healed correctly, unless she took him to a hospital. "Prongs, can you change them back- then get his psycho cousin the hell away from here? I love you- sorry I was crazy." she said hurriedly. Harry nodded, as Krys touched Ares' body and disapparated.

Krys and Ares landed in St. Merlin's Hospital of Magical Maladies. Krys levitated Ares onto a free stretcher. "Gem!" she yelled, as she looked around. "Gemini!" Gem was someone that Krys never thought she'd speak to. The two girls were in Levebons together, and had only heard of each other. Gem was a Dolphintail and Krys' only remote competition when it came to getting the highest grades. The two girls never actually met one another, but were said to be the two smartest girls in the school. She was pretty and Dominican, giving she and Krys something in common. They later started talking and became friends in Nemonora. Out of all the Healer schools in the world, Gem and her best friend, Nikki, both ended up in Nemonora with Krys and Hermione. The four were said to be the most promising in the school, again. Even in Nemonora, it was known that one of them would be elected speaker of the advanced Healer class. None of them were surprised when Krys was chosen. None of them were surprised that Hermione ended up speaking. "Gemini!!"

"Excuse me, miss, but- there are many patients and Madam Estevez cannot be disturbed." said the receptionist.

"I didn't ask you that." Krys said. "_Where_ _is_ _Gemini_?"

"I don't think you've heard me-"

"No, no, no- I heard you. But I'm asking where Gem is." Krys said gravely.

"What's going on here?" asked a tired voice. Krys recognized the voice and immediately turned around.

"Nikki- I need help." she said. Nikki's eyes widened and she hugged Krys.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I need to talk to Gem."

"About what? I'm second in command."

"I need to have _him_"- she pointed at Ares- "put up in a private room and I need to select his healer… someone out of the hospital."

"Ares Delgado. Um… we do need to talk to Gem about that." Nikki said, as took Krys' hand. She led her to an office along the hallway. Nikki knocked on the door. Gemini Estevez opened the door briskly, then smiled.

"Krys!" she said, before they hugged. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a favor." Krys said simply. "I need to bring Hermione in for me to dictate a procedure to her."

"What procedure?" asked Gem.

"Procedure for the Parasitic Red Baron." Gemini and Nicole looked at her.

"Krys- that was one of the most dangerous procedures that they taught us in Nemonora. You're the only one who perfected it- why would you want someone else to do it?"

"I can't do it on this person. It's a conflict of interest."

"Who is it?"

"That doesn't matter right now- can I get Hermione to do the procedure for me?"

"Why not one of the other healers here? We have more advanced healers here than Hermione, you, Nic- all of us."

"Because Hermione is the only one that I really trust with this." Krys said. "And she was the only one who got close to perfecting it as well."

"Um… there's a cost, Krys. The hospital isn't doing so well- I can't pay her to do it since she's not on my payroll, and I can't pay for the materi-" started Gem.

"Gem- I'll pay. The money is no issue- I just need a place and the materials… whatever it costs- I'll pay. I just need this done." Krys said, as she pulled out her cell phone. "Can I get it done?"

"Um… as long as Hermione is willing and the family approves, I don't see why not." said Gem. Krys nodded, and started dialing.

"Um- Bon-bon, I need you, A.J, Gin, and… Emily to come down to Gem's hospital and… I need A.J to get Ms. Delgado here, because Ares is in the hospital… Okay- I'll see you in a few." she said, before she hung up the phone. "They're coming."

"Ares Delgado?" Krys nodded. "Quidditch captain, Ares Delgado? Sexiest guy in the school, Ares Delgado? Jason Eirson's best friend, Ares Delgado? Okay." Gem said nervously. "Two years later and I'm still nervous around him. Oh my God, I was in love with him until… no. Um- lets go put him in a room." They all walked along the hallway to Ares' stretcher. The skin on his leg was transparent and thin. Krys closed her eyes, and exhaled.

"Where are we going?" Krys asked.

"Um… there's a room four doors down. Nic take her, please- I have to get the parts for the procedure." Gem said, as she ran the opposite way. Krys and Nicole walked along the hall to a room. Krys set Ares' body on the bed, and looked at him.

"Is it inappropriate for me to ask if he's single?" Nikki asked.

"I just- I need him to be okay, okay?" Krys said. Nikki nodded.

"Okay. I'm gonna talk to Gem." Nikki said, before she walked out into the hallway, leaving Krys alone in the room with Ares. Krys started to tear the rest of his pant leg, to examine the damage. The skin on Ares' leg was transparent, but what was there looked badly burned and eaten away.

"Um… Kingie, you need to be okay, okay? I need you to be okay. And… if you make it through this… I won't bother you about anything anymore. If you…- no, you'd better make it through this." Krys said. She then started to pace in the room, before she blinked twice over his leg, expelling two tears. Some of the burns and rips started to look better. That's when the door opened, and Hermione walked in.

"Nic said you needed to talk to me." Hermione said. She looked at Ares, and her eyes widened. "What the hell happened to him?"

"Bon-bon, I have a favor to ask." Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"What is it?" she asked. Krys took a deep breath.

"He was hit with the Parasitic Red Baron." she said. Hermione's eyes widened. "And… I don't want to put you in a difficult position. If you say no- I won't be angry or anything. I really- I really won't. I'm nervous too. I-"

"You want me to do the procedure." Hermione said. Krys nodded frantically. "Why aren't you doing it?" Krys shook her head frantically.

"I couldn't even keep my hand straight when I was levitating him… I- conflict of interest. I'll just dictate it- um, do you mind that?" Hermione shook her head. "I just- I need- water." Krys said. "Okay- um…" Krys started to pace and play with her hands. "So- you sent A.J to Ms. Delgado's already?" Hermione nodded. "Um… you know- I'm gonna- gonna see if, um… I- Nic. I'm gonna go pay Gem for the space and supplies." Krys walked out of the room without saying anything else. Ms. Delgado, A.J, Harry, Jason, Emily, Kay, and Ron were talking to the receptionist. All of them looked angry. "Um." Krys sounded. They all looked her way, and she nodded. They all rushed towards her.

"Is he okay?" Ms. Delgado asked, as she hugged Krys. Krys looked at her.

"Um… we need you to sign off on surgery." she said.

"What- what happened?" Ms. Delgado asked with tears brimming her eyes.

"Um… he-h-h-he n-ne-needs the procedure for the- for the Parasitic Red Baron. I- I already talked to Gem about bringing someone from out of the hospital to do it."

"Who?"

"Hermione-"

"She's too young." said Emily. "I don't trust her with that."

"She's right. Hermione _is_ too young, baby. Its not that I don't trust her, its just that she's fresh out of school." Ms. Delgado said. Krys nodded.

"Ms. Delgado, I understand, and it isn't my decision, but- I wouldn't even…" Krys' breaths started to get more ragged. "I wouldn't- I- I-… I wouldn't _think_ about…" Krys closed her eyes and started to breathe more deeply. "About rec-recommending Hermione… if I didn't believe that she could do it." Krys bit her lip, then tried to breathe slowly, and deeply.

"Kryssie sweetie, are you okay?" Krys nodded, and continued to breathe deeply, before she took one of her panic pills. "The inhaler, Krys. Your inhaler." Krys nodded, then caught it as Harry tossed it to her. Two pumps and she inhaled more calmly. She held her head in her hands for a few seconds, then continued to talk.

"And- I'm supposed to dictate it to her. But- there are a lot more experienced healers here, and I'm sure I could- I just- I ha-I- she- I- we- I- she- he-…" Krys stuttered, and tried to calm her breathing down. Krys held her head and continued to breathe deeply. Ms. Delgado held her hand up, and hugged Krys.

"I understand- use Hermione." she said. Krys pulled back and nodded.

"I- o- al- okay- I- I…" she started to breathe deeply. She nodded, then walked off. Krys walked down to Gem's office and knocked. Gem answered the door with an entire cart.

"Oh, Krys. This is all of the stuff for the procedure… and here's the uniform." Gem said, as she set two uniforms on top of the cart. Krys took a deep breath.

"How much should it all cost?" she asked.

"Krys-" 

"Gem, how much?"

"We'll cover it somehow."

"Gemini, I have the money. You're running a business here. How much should it all cost?"

"About a thousand galleons." Gem said. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said, before she took the cart and started back to Ares' room. They all stood up as she approached them with the cart. Hermione was waiting with the rest of them. Krys handed her the uniform.

"Back to Healer training." Hermione mumbled. Krys nodded frantically. "So… when are we doing this?"

"Um… I'm gonna change now. Then- you have to examine how bad the case is and if it spread."

"I already did it…" Hermione trailed off, as she looked at all of the others watching the two eagerly. "It didn't get a chance to spread other than his leg. And the flesh is already starting to grow back, so we have to work a different way. I don't understand. Its as if it was stopped as soon as it hit. And… there's a bigger possibility that he'll be able to walk again, as opposed to if his flesh hadn't started to grow back, and we'd have had to stop the flesh from eating away. So-" Ms. Delgado, A.J, Jason, Harry, Ron and Ginny were all staring at Krys.

"That means that he can recover very quickly." said Emily. "Like we can still get married the day after tomorrow." They all looked at Emily.

"Yeah. That's what it means." Krys said. "Listen- I have to go change… Hermione, you remember how to prep for the surgery, right?" Hermione nodded.

"Yeah- I have to expose the flesh again." Hermione said. Ms. Delgado gasped.

"Oh my poor baby." she cried. "Is it painful?"

"Um- Ms. Delga- _Tia_, all we have to do is cut off the skin for where the spell hit. And the skin is really thin anyway so, it should be cake. Its actually a lot better than if there wasn't flesh to expose." Krys said. "I won't lie, its one of the most difficult and risky procedures… but… since his flesh is already back, there's a lower risk… and since the bug didn't get to eat away at more flesh… he'll most likely live."

"He could've died?" Ms. Delgado asked.

"Yes… but now, he'll most likely live and… I won't… I would never let anything bad happen to him." Ms. Delgado nodded.

"Take care of my little boy." she said. Krys nodded, then walked off to change. She put on the healers uniform, and groaned.

"This was definitely created by a man." she said, before she walked to Ares' room. Hermione already started to scrape the skin. Krys walked in, and put on gloves. She looked at his leg, and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Krys mode; off, Healer mode; on. "You gave him the anesthetic, right?" Hermione nodded.

"He was on the verge of waking up. I had to put him back under, _then_ gave him the anesthesia." she said. Krys nodded. "What really happened?" Krys looked down. Krys mode; back on.

"He pushed me out the way when he saw Antonio aiming the wand. After he kissed me." she said. Hermione looked at her, and Krys shrugged. "You won't tell anyone will you?" Hermione shook her head.

"You didn't tell anyone about me and well- you know."

"Yeah, _you_ did." Hermione laughed. "That's the reason that you were able to do the spell. You were happy."

"Yeah. I just want you to know- its not like we're _just_ having sex-"

"Hermione, of course I know that. You two are engaged… you live together."

"Oh yeah." Hermione said. "Okay." Healer mode; back on.

"Okay- take the scraper, and scrape, then dig out where the light hit his leg. Can you find the point of entry?" Hermione shook her head.

"It looks like it scraped more. Like he pushed out of the way, and it went around." Krys closed her eyes and looked thoughtful. After a few minutes she finally spoke.

"Nah- it scraped around, then went through. The entry point is the calve. It should look the worst. More raw." she said. Hermione nodded, then looked at his calf. She started to scrape the part where the spell went through. She started to dig, until she saw what looked like a tic. "So, do you see the parasitic bug?" Hermione nodded. "Take the needle filled with the cleaner." Hermione picked up a needle filled with a green potion. "Stab the parasite with it, and inject half of the potion. Only half in the center of the bug."

"What happens if I put in more than half?" asked Hermione.

"More than half in the center, we might damage his leg. Less than half in the center, it'll come back, then damage his leg." Krys said. Hermione nodded, then injected half in the center of the bug. "Half of the half- a fourth in the left of the bug." Hermione did it. "Now the rest on the right." Hermione did it. "Now try to dig out the bug."

"What was the point in using the cleaner if we'll remove it?"

"This is in case it won't budge. If we can't remove it, then at least its inactive. The cleaner paralyzes it. That's why more than half will damage the host. Are you moving it from the spot?"

"Yeah- I got it out." Hermione said.

"Kill it."

"Okay. Vicious much?"

"Kill it." Hermione laughed, then killed the tic. "Now we have to dig deeper to see if any more tics are there."

"Krys- how many tics can there possibly be?"

"They should only be in a direct hit spot, since it's the point of entry so… lets hope they didn't go very far. We want them to only be in the direct line. So… just dig straight."

"Couldn't _you_ just touch his leg and know if a tic was there?"

"I could but- I'm too nervous. And considering it took me five minutes to recap my _own_ memory, it can take even longer to feel what's there. I can't concentrate, so we need to do this. Touch around the bone." Krys said. Hermione nodded and continued to dig. She didn't find anymore tics. "Stick your index finger around where you dug in the leg." Hermione did. "Twirl it and touch the bone."

"What am I feeling for?"

"Do you feel any more holes around the leg, or in the bone? You have to if feel any tics possibly moved to a different place."

"Um… you should check." Hermione said. Krys nodded, and felt around Ares' calve.

"No more." she said. "Now…the second needle with the green potion." Hermione found the needle. "The needle should be sharp enough to stab _through_ the bone. Use _all_ of the potion. Then yank it out. Don't linger. Yank it out with everything that you have." Hermione injected it all, then pulled it out in a flash. "Good. We're almost done."

"Okay- what now?"

"Pink potion." Krys said, as she handed Hermione the vial. "Pour it through the point of entry. Pour the entire thing through the hole." Hermione did it carefully, so that it took her five minutes. "Halfway through. Feel around the scrape parts." Hermione felt around the areas with the most redness on what used to be his muscular and tan legs.

"Aside from this, he has very nice legs." she said jokingly. Krys smiled, then chuckled a bit.

"Just scrape along the spots that the spell scraped." Hermione started to scrape the parts. "Dig about a fifth of a centimeter deeper. Just scrape along." Hermione continued to scrape.

"Done." she said.

"How long is it?"

"It arcs about 180 degrees of the calve. And his calve is about 11 inches. 1805.5 inches."

"Then, make an incision for every centimeter. The whole calve. Using the cleaner." said Krys.

"How much?"

"Just a little. Instincts. Just a little." Hermione nodded, and started to make little incisions and injections. She was very precise. Fifty minutes later, she was done with that one task. "Okay. The worst is over."

"What next?" Hermione asked.

"The vial with the clear liquid. The phoenix tears." Krys said. Hermione picked up the vial. It didn't even fill a sixth of the vial. Krys picked up a test tube, and blinked over it. A few of her own tears fell into the tube. Krys looked at it and put it in the vial.

"What did you just do? You can't mix human tears with phoenix tears. It takes away the quality of how well it'll work."

"No- well, not in this case. Because I-… it works."

"Oh- why does love control almost everything in this world?"

"Who said anything about love?"

"You were going to. Plus- we all know that you love him."

"It's the closest thing that muggles have to magic." Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Did I neglect to mention that it'd sound corny?"

"You did." Krys smiled.

"Use cotton balls and dab the phoenix tears onto spell exposed flesh." Krys said. Hermione nodded, then carefully started to dab his leg. When she was done, she looked at Krys for more instruction.

"What now?"

"Pour the rest all over his leg. Don't miss one spot. Actually- no. Inject it."

"Krys, isn't that a risk?"

"Yes. The tube…" Krys picked up a tin plastic tube, and rubbed it. Little holes sprouted all over it. Krys handed the tube to Hermione. "Put it in through the back of the knee and leave more than an inch sprouting out the top." Hermione carefully ran the tube through his leg. Hermione filled the needle with the tears. Then she stuck the needle in through the top of the tube. She injected the entire thing, then pulled it out. She filled the needle again, then injected the whole thing. "That's it." Hermione stopped, and Krys took the vial of the tears. She poured it over Ares' leg evenly.

"What now?"

"Wrap up the leg. Keep it breathable. We bandage him, and hope for the best." she said, as she tossed the bandages to Hermione. When they were done, Krys washed her hands for about three minutes, then walked out into the hallway. A.J was sleeping on Jason's shoulder. Emily was sitting next to Ms. Delgado, whose leg was shaking. Kay was lying on Ron's shoulder. Ginny was sleeping on Harry's shoulder. And Ron, Jason, and Harry were wide awake, checking their watches. _Kay was sleeping on Ron's shoulder_? As soon as Krys and Hermione walked out, they all stared at them. When Hermione saw Kay and Ron, she tried to turn back to the room, but Krys caught her and turned her around. "Hermione, you tell." Hermione nodded, and avoided Kay, who had her dormant arm in an uncomfortable Ron's lap. Ron looked at her, and mouthed '_what the hell is this?_' Hermione then smiled.

"Um, the surgery should've been a success. We won't know how he's feeling until the sleeping drought wares off. But… he should honestly b able to walk by tomorrow evening, at the latest." she said.

"When can I see him?" asked Emily. She was slurring her words and had a rash on her neck. A rash that could've been a hickey or a common rash that women get when they climax. Either way, it was bad.

"Well- as long as you don't touch his leg, or try to wake him up, you can go see him right now." Emily nodded and got up eagerly. She ran in the room.

"Lets take a little walk." said Ms. Delgado, as she slung her arm around Krys' shoulder.

"How long was that?" asked Krys.

"That was about three hours." said Ms. Delgado.

"The longest three hours of my life." Ms. Delgado nodded. "The drought should ware off in a few hours. I have to go."

"Where are you going?"

"I have no idea."

"Well- you're not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what happened."

"We were at the bachelor party, and…"

"What happened?"

"He pushed me out of the way. I mean honestly, what's with him being all chivalrous and gallant? He always was, but- he shouldn't be. Especially after the way I treated him."

"Krys… what you did was completely selfless."

"But he still doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't know why. I just- I have to go." Krys said, before she turned Ms. Delgado around. "I'll walk you back." Ms. Delgado nodded, and they started to walk back.

"Honey, even if it doesn't happen… I'll always love you like a daughter." she said. Krys smiled.

"Thank you. And I'll always love you like a mother." she said. Ms. Delgado smiled and sat down on a bench, before she patted the spot next to her.

"Park it, mi hija." Krys smiled and sat down.

"What happened?"

"I have a little something to tell you. Me and Molly were talking about it the other day, and we decided that I should tell you." Ms. Delgado said. Krys nodded.

"What happened?"

"I knew your mother. Not well… but enough." Krys nodded and watched her intently. "Going into hiding… is a lot like going into the witness protection program, especially when you're leaving the continent. It was my job to set her up with a home and to get her everything that she needed to take care of you. Albus assigned me the job, himself. When I heard that she had you, I took Ares with me, when it was time to show her the place, and tell her everything she needed to know. It was Raphael's job to take care of her. October 29th, he got called on an assignment and left to Russia. When I first met you… I was amazed, and a bit afraid. I'd never heard one year old speaking so clearly. You were already having full conversations with people and walking. I mean- considering you were premature, your development should've been delayed,- enough of that. So- I was the one who set everything up for your mother, and because Albus assigned me the job, I wasn't included in the secret of the Fidelis charm. Your mother was amazing, and… from what I knew of her, she was amazingly brilliant." Krys smiled. "You remember the constellation necklaces that Ares gave you?"

"Yeah." Krys said.

"They were your mothers. Um…" Ms. Delgado hesitated.

"Tell me." Krys said. "You can tell me, its okay."

"Well… two of the necklaces, I kept… she told me not to give them to you, until you were completely mature and responsible. So- I waited. And I think that I should give you the next two."

"What were the necklaces for? When I wear one, I feel stronger. When I wear all three of them together, I feel invincible. What- are the other two the ones that make me a deity."

"I think that… I think they're what saved you."

"What do you mean?" Krys asked.

"We'll talk later." Ms. Delgado said, as she got up. Krys laughed.

"You're gonna hook me and keep me hanging?"

"Yup."

"Its okay. I think I'm too tired to have to hear anything that'll depress me." Krys said, before she and Ms. Delgado continued to walk.

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When Ares opened his eyes, Jason was sleeping in a chair, and so was Emily. Ares looked up to see Hermione fluffing his pillow and elevating his leg. He felt around his nightstand. A little box with a ribbon and a card was on it. He took the card and read it.

_Got you a little something. Hope you like it. Take care of you._

Krys

Ares smiled, then opened the box. Inside was an Incredibles toothbrush, a very mini bottle of Listerine, and a small packet of toothpaste. The toothbrush had Mr. Incredible on it. Ares smiled, then started to brush his teeth. Hermione laughed, when she saw the box.

"She told me to give that to you." she said. Ares put his index finger up, then started to gargle with the Listerine. Hermione handed him two cups. One with water, and one that was empty. He spit out the Listerine, then started to rinse his mouth out with water.

"What happened?" he asked, as he set the two cups on the nightstand.

"Do you remember anything?" asked Hermione. Ares nodded.

"My bachelor party. Krys and I were hanging out and Antonio… I pushed her out of the way." he said. Hermione nodded.

"Well- you got hit with the Parasitic Red Baron." she said. Ares looked at her.

"How bad?" he asked.

"One parasite. And- Krys returned the favor. She stopped it from spreading."

"Yeah- but that can't be do-" started Ares. Hermione cut him off.

"Remember who she is."

"Doesn't matter." Ares said, as he tried to push himself up. "She'd have had to be at the top of her game."

"Meaning- she would've had to be pissed. Remember who we're talking about."

"But she didn't even see the attack coming. How could her energy level soar like that?"

"Well- remember how her energy level soars when you piss her off. Or when you make her really happy. It's the same thing. Back in training, Krys could feel if you got hurt, and she'd pull a Jean Grey. Plus- it was already starting to heal… so she could've done some quick thinking."

"It can't heal by its-"

"You're right." Hermione said. "What the hell did she do? If Harry couldn't save her with the Black Bone Shadowing. How did Krys help you?"

"She turned us into Phoenixes." said a groggy Jason. "Me and Ron. Then she started to blink over your leg."

"But human tears compromise Phoenix tears. Something about humans being impure." said A.J, who Ares just realized was on the couch. They were all speaking in hushed tones, for fear of waking Emily and Ms. Delgado, who was next to A.J.

"That doesn't make any sense." said Ares. "She either had a huge surge of energy… or- oh, Harry could've helped her." Jason shook his head.

"She wouldn't let him. She literally threatened him. She told him that if he touched you- she'd kill him." he said. They all looked at him.

"But- the Parasitic Red Baron was made to destroy and be spread. It was created and approved to catch criminals. Its Harsh Magic. It was made to torture." said Hermione. "Its not supposed to be able to be stopped. That's why its such a risk to operate. Something isn't adding up." That's when Harry walked in. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Everyone shushed him. "Sorry." he said in a whisper.

"Harry- why was Krys able to stop the spreading?" asked Hermione. "Its like how you couldn't save her with the Black Bone Shadowing."

"It was a surge of energy." Harry said gravely. Hermione looked at him.

"But if it was a surge of energy, then it would've canceled out… she's just that powerful when her energy soars." said Ares. Harry shook his head.

"It was only a surge of power. I could feel that something was wrong, and that her energy level was higher than usual. That's why I brought Jason and Ron out to help." he said. They all nodded, but A.J's eyes stayed on him the longest.

"I have to go, now that you're awake." she said, as she got up. She pulled a toothbrush out of her book bag, and started to brush her teeth. When she was done, she kissed Ares on the cheek, then kissed Jason on the cheek. "I have my audition."

"Oh- really?" Ares asked. "They don't want you." A.J gave him the finger, then looked at Jason.

"That's your friend." she said.

"I don't want to stay with him. I'm coming with you." Jason said. A.J shook her head.

"No, you're not. You just fell asleep ten minutes ago. I love you all. Goodbye." she said, as she ran out the door. She came back a few seconds later, and kissed Jason. They kissed for about a minute, before A.J pulled back. "You taste like coffee." She kissed him again. "And Fruit Loops." She ran out of the room, then came back a minute later. "Do you really want to come?" Jason shook his head, and she laughed, then kissed him again. "Alright, bye." She ran out the door.

"That's _your_ girlfriend." said Ares.

"_Your_ sister." Jason retorted.

"You chose her."

"You're stuck with her, man."

"Are you saying you're gonna dump my baby sister?"

"I would never. I actually wanted to talk to you about that." Jason said, looking around at Hermione, then Ms. Delgado's sleeping figure.

"Alright, I'm leaving. Its not my forte anyway. And I don't wanna be here if you don't want me." Hermione said, as she traipsed out the door. Jason looked at Ares, and pulled something out his pocket. A small black velvet box. Ares looked at him like he was crazy.

"You want to propose?" Jason nodded. "To _A.J_?" he asked. Jason nodded again. "The girl who used to take my mothers wand, and make insects the sizes of cars."

"Yeah. She was talented, wasn't she?" Jason mused. Ares looked at him. "I didn't want to ask her, without your blessing." Ares didn't say anything. "What- are you saying that you don't approve?"

"I'm not _saying_ anything." Ares said. Jason looked at him.

"I'm gonna do it, regardless of if you approve or not, so you can say whatever the fuck you want." he said. Ares looked at him.

"And if something goes wrong with the marriage, what happens to us?" he asked.

"Have you been waiting for us to break up for three years?" asked Jason.

"What happens when she starts to hate you?"

"The same thing we did when she went through the stage where she couldn't talk to me. I ignore her, she ignores me." Ares looked at him.

"You make my baby sister cry once, and I will-"

"You'll hurt me." Jason said, nodding. Ares shook his head.

"No. I'll get _Krys_ to hurt you." he said. Jason looked at him pointedly.

"That's cruel." he said. "Yo Harry, what do you think?" Harry looked up groggily.

"Oh- I missed all of that." he said. Ares and Jason laughed. That was finally enough to wake Emily up.

"Oh- honey! You're awake." she said, throwing herself on his body. Ares winced in pain, as she landed on his body. "I missed you last night." she whispered seductively. Ares gave a pained grin. One, at the morning breath. Two, at the pain in his leg.

"Me too." he said. Ares looked at Harry and Jason who were both mock gagging.

"Okay- are you alright?" Ares nodded.

"I'm good."

"Do you feel fit for the wedding night?"

"I do." Emily squealed.

"Do you have your vows written?" she asked.

"Um… yeah."

"Okay!" she said, jumping up. "Well- I'm going to Paris today. I have to taste the wedding cake. Crystalainee told me that Simon wanted to give me samples. I have to go see it." Ares nodded, and Emily kissed him. Jason and Harry actually gagged out loud this time, but they were interrupted by a laugh. They all looked at Ms. Delgado on the couch. She was laughing. "Good morning, Ms. Delgado."

"Good Morning, Emily." Ms. Delgado replied.

"Um- I have to go. I'll see you all later." Emily said, before she walked out of the room.

"That wasn't very nice, boys."

"Tell your son something, please, mom." Jason said. "I mean- honestly… I don't get how you can go from Krys, to _that_." Jason pointed towards the door. Ms. Delgado laughed again.

"She didn't come back yet? She left after she finished the procedure." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Krys did the procedure?" he asked. They all nodded, then shook their heads.

"No- she dictated." said Jason.

"Um… why did she leave? Did she say anything before she left?" Ares asked. They all shook their heads. "Oh…"

"Honey- I have a meeting." said Ms. Delgado as she got up. "I'm sorry I can't stay, mi hijo. Can't keep Switzerland waiting. I love you."

"Bye mommy." said Ares, as his mom kissed his cheek.

"Love you too, J.J." said Ms. Delgado , as she kissed Jason's cheek. She then looked at Harry. "Yeah- I love you too." She kissed Harry's cheek. "Gotta go." Then she left. Jason waved his wand around the room.

"When were you going to tell us that you kissed Krys?" asked Jason. Ares' head whipped in his direction.

"Who told you that?" he asked automatically.

"So you don't deny it." Harry said. Ares looked at him.

"Medic!" he yelled. Hermione walked in the room.

"So, you kiss her. Tell her it was a mistake. Then you save her life." she said. Ares groaned.

"I'm hurt." he said. "Why are you guys bothering me?"

"Because, everyone who has any sense knows that you want her." Jason said. Ares looked at him.

"Did I mention how brutally she dumped me?" he asked. "One day- out of the blue… I get back to her house with de-pollinated Stargazer, Calla, Laguna and Casa-fucking-blanca lilies! I go to the room and give her the fucking flowers, and tell her that I love her. I had the fucking ring in my pocket! Her response was 'I don't think we should be together anymore. I no longer love you.' I was dumb enough to tell her that she was joking- oh, she showed me how serious she was. She told me that everything that she ever said was just in hope that she'd eventually love me. I spent a year singing old Temptation, and Backstreet Boy songs for her! You think I wanna go through that again?! Guess what? I don't!" They all looked at him and nodded. Harry looked at Ares.

"I have to go to work." he said. "I'll see you guys later."

"See you." Ares said quietly.

"I haven't slept since six am yesterday. I'm gonna do that now that you're alive and well." said Hermione, before she disapparated.

"Where is she?" Jason looked at Ares.

"So you _do_ want to see her." he said. Ares looked at him. "_Okay_- she's at her house."

"So… she's the only one who didn't stay."

"Yeah."

"Forget about it. I don't want her here anyway." Ares said, before he laid back.

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Krys lie in bed tracing the outline of the Andromeda constellation, when Jason popped out of thin air. She looked at him and stopped tracing.

"What?" she asked. Jason rolled his eyes.

"Hi to you too." Krys gave a half hearted wave. "He wants to see you." said Jason. Krys shrugged. "He's hurt and he wants to see you. Some doctor examined him, and said that he can't walk." Krys looked at Jason and shook her head.

"No- he should be able to walk by today. Tell the doctor to suck me off and shut the fuck up. As a matter of fact"- Krys got up- "I'll tell him myself." Krys disapparated, and landed in front of Ares' room. She raised her hand to knock.

"Come in!" yelled the voice on the other side. Krys opened the door. Ares was lying back, with his leg elevated. The room was empty. Krys walked in hastily, and checked his chart. She ran her finger down the paper, and stopped at recovery. She tied her hair up and looked at the clock, then back at the paper. She put gloves on, then started to take off the bandages. "What are you doing here?" Ares asked. Krys looked at his face.

"Do you not want me here?" she asked nervously, with a _nervous_ chuckle.

"Well- you wanted to leave so badly this morning. I just figured you didn't want to be here." he snapped. Krys bit her lip to keep from crying, then continued to take off the bandaging. She ran her fingers over the new skin. She lifted his leg up, and checked for redness. She found a small red bump and peered at it.

"Close your eyes and bite your lip." Krys said, as she picked up a scraper. She quickly dug the egg out of his flesh. She did it in a flash.

"Wh- aargh!" screamed Ares. "Jesus Christ, Krys! What the fuck was that?!"

"The tic left an egg behind. They'd have eaten away your whole leg and we wouldn't've known why, because magical tics don't leave traces behind." Krys started to look around his leg some more. She blinked two tears over the exposed flesh. It started to heal immediately.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Krys asked deadpan.

"Yelling." Krys shrugged.

"Its true. I finished the procedure and couldn't wait to get the hell out of here. The longest three hours of my life… I held your life in my hands. If I'd have said one wrong step- I controlled your destiny. Thank you for saving my life. Goodbye." she said, before she walked to the door.

"Don't go." Ares said. His voice cracked. Krys opened the door and walked out. She sat in the waiting room for a minute, before she paced in front of Ares' door. Finally, she barged back in.

"First of all, I didn't leave because I didn't want to see you- I left because I had no idea what to say to you or your mom. Everyone was asking me questions. _'What happened?' 'How did it happen?' 'What were you guys doing?' _ I wasn't ready to tell everyone that I stuck my tongue down your throat and felt you up a day before your wedding. I had no idea what to say to you- because its all my fault that you're stuck in a bed, waiting for your destiny. Its seriously a heads or tails thing, right now. Heads, you walk again. Tails you don't. Heads, you go back to your career. Tails, your dream is ruined and dead. And I was so certain that the procedure went well, but- now that I've seen that frigging egg- I'm scared for you." she ranted. She was pacing in front of his bed, and her hands were waving around crazily. Ares watched her in amusement.

"Krys, I trust you. I mean- it is true that if I never walk again it'd be your fault, but- that's okay. You'll just have to help Emily take care of me, and feel guilty for the rest of your life." he teased, as he smiled brightly. The sun started to shine in his face, and he squinted, then looked around for where the light was coming from. His eyes connected with the locket bracelet that he'd gotten her. Krys followed his gaze, and bit her lip. The white gold 3D heart bracelet was something that he'd given her for no apparent reason. The weirdest part was the he'd given it to her, while serving her breakfast cake and ice cream in bed. Just remembering that moment made Krys bite her lip and inspect his leg again.

"Can you move your leg?" she asked. Ares nodded. "Do it." Ares started to bend his knee. "Tighten the calve." Ares tried, but Krys could tell that he was in pain. She walked over to him. "Where does it hurt?"

"It doesn't." said Ares. Krys nodded, then poked his calve. "Fuck!" Krys nodded, then tied her hair up. She walked to the sink and washed her hands, then put on gloves. She walked to a drawer and pulled out a needle filled with orange liquid.

"Tighten the calve." she said. Ares nodded, then tried to tighten his calve. As soon as he did this, Krys stuck the needle into the spot that was paining him. The pain was searing until all of the potion was emptied from the needle. Then all of the pain subsided. "All done." Krys looked at him for a minute, and smiled at him. He smiled back. "Are you okay?" He nodded. Krys' look hardened, then she backslapped him hard across the face.

"What the fuck was that?!" yelled Ares. Krys' eyes were shut tight and she was wearing an angry expression, as the tears escaped her closed eyes.

"Don't do that." she said in a hard and grave voice. "I can take care of myself. I have people who can take care of me… I have Prongsie to take care of me. Do not _ever_- ever in your goddamn life- scare me like that!" Ares smiled, as he fingered the big red hand print on his cheek.

"You may have Harry to take care of you, but- I have _you_ to take care of me. And… the way that you know Harry will take care of you, is the same way that I _know_ you'll take care of me." Krys nodded with her eyes closed. "What are you wearing?" he asked, as he looked at her Star Wars pajamas. They had Yoda on them, with little Lightsabers. She was also wearing her fuzzy slippers with Yoda's head on them. Krys looked down and smiled. Ares wiped a single tear from her eye, and Krys flinched. He looked up at her with concern, and she smiled slightly.

"I love these pajamas." she said, looking away.

"Are you staying?" Krys looked at him.

"Is your fiancé here?" she asked. Ares shook his head. "Sure." He laughed.

"Okay- so, what have you been doing for the past few hours?" Krys shook her head.

"Stop." she said.

"Stop what?"

"I'm here because I want to be. Not because I feel sorry for you- and not because Jason called me. Yeah- he called me, but- I'm staying because I want to be here. You don't have to entertain me for me to stay. I already want to be here." They stayed silent for a while. It was a peaceful silence. A silence where neither of them had to speak, because they could just be. Finally, after about an hour of silent shared looks and shared smiles, Ares spoke.

"So… is that the bracelet that I gave you?" he asked. Krys looked at it and nodded.

"Do you want it back?"

"No. It was a gift."

"Yeah."

"Plus- I still wear the watch that you got me."

"I know."

"It works with all of my _preppy ass_ outfits." Krys laughed.

"Does Emily hate it?"

"Why would she?" Krys looked at him.

"You have no idea what the watch does, do you?" she asked. Ares shook his head. Krys laughed, then got up. She walked over to the drawer, and took the watch out. She turned it over to where the engraving was and smiled. "Run your fingers over it." Ares nodded and did it. Krys turned the watch over, and it showed clips of everything she and Ares had ever done together. "I altered it. My very own invention called 'the _love_ pensieve'." Ares wasn't listening to her. He was too busy looking at all of the clips. He laughed at some of them. Then there was one where he paused. He showed it to Krys and she laughed. She looked at him, and he was looking back at her. She smiled, then walked away from his bed. Ares patted the spot next to him in his bed. Krys shook her head. "I'm afraid that I'll hurt you."

"Come on."

"No. I don't want to touch anything." Krys said firmly, as she sat down. Ares shrugged. "So… are you fit to get married? Fit for the wedding night?"

"I'm good."

"That's wonderful. Because they say that this particular spell can make it so that you… ya know." Ares looked at her. "Captain won't salute." Ares' eyes widened.

"Krys, are you fucking with me?" Krys nodded and Ares playfully glared at her, then laughed.

"Everything's in order for the wedding? You don't need anything, do you?" Ares looked at her and nodded. "What happened?"

"Krys, I need you." Ares said seriously.

"What?"

"I know this sounds crazy… but, I need you to help me write my vows." Krys looked at him for a minute.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked. Ares shook his head. Krys shook her head. "I can't do that." He put his hands together and gave her the puppy eyes. "That hasn't worked on me since the last time we did it." Ares' puppy eyes widened, then he laughed. Finally, he gave her the puppy eyes again. "Ares… I'll do a lot of things for you. Really, I will… but- this is…" Krys trailed off. Ares nodded quietly. They stayed silent for a minute, before she nodded. "Okay… I'll help you." she said softly. Ares looked up at her eagerly.

"Really?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Of course. I don't want you to say something stupid."

"Thank you. I have no idea what to write." he said. Krys smiled at him, then waved her hand. A pen and notebook were set in her lap.

"Okay, Loverboy… you need to think of all the things that she does. Everything about her that drives you crazy." she said, as she tossed the book to him. Ares caught it with one hand, then caught the pen. "Just- the most ordinary things that you can think of. Ordinary things that drive you to the point where you can't help but love her. And the weird little quirky things that make her Emily. Whether it be the way she laughs, the way she smiles, the things that she says, her possessions… everything that would be looked over by anyone else. Everyone else _but_ _you_." Ares nodded, and started to write. Krys tried to blow her hair out of her eyes, as chewed on a piece of lanyard craft that placed itself in her lap. After a minute, Ares groaned. Krys looked up.

"You would think it'd be easy. This is hard as hell." said Ares. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"What do you have so far?" she asked.

"I started to draw." he said. Krys nodded.

"Maybe that'll help you. Let me see." she said. Ares shook his head frantically. "Okay… sorry." Then she thought for a moment. "This is gonna sound dumb as hell, but- do you and Emily have a song?" Ares looked at her. "I said it would sound dumb." He shook his head.

"No, it was so genius." he said, as he started to write again. Krys stopped chewing her lanyard, then started to make paper planes. She made a tiny plane, and threw it at Ares. He looked at her, then threw it back. Krys threw a paper ball at him. "You're gonna use your short little dwarf legs as an advantage, aren't you?" Krys' eyes widened, and she laughed.

"That was mean." she said. Ares laughed, then threw a paper ball at her. She sat back down and started to make paper boats. She tossed it to Ares. He looked at her and rolled his eyes. Krys laughed.

"You're very immature." Ares said.

"I don't care." Krys said childishly. Ares laughed, then threw another paper ball at her. He kept the boat safe on his nightstand. "Hey- I can't stay here anymore. You know I'm afraid of hospitals." Ares shook his head.

"Don't leave me here." he said in a childish voice. Krys laughed.

"It has nothing to do with me that you're here." she said. Ares looked at her pointedly. "Okay- now you're making me feel guilty. All we have to do is get a healer to give you a clean bill of health."

"Aren't you a healer?" said Ares. Krys nodded after a minute of looking thoughtful. Ares laughed. "You're so dumb." he joked.

"I'm not dumb." Krys said childishly. Ares nodded.

"I know. You knew things when you were three, that I still don't know." Krys smiled.

"Okay." she said, as she got up and checked his chart. "Can you walk?" Ares got up and started to walk around the room. "Well- I can finally give you a clean bill of health."

"You ready to go?" Ares asked.

"Where are we going?"

"Tallahassee." Krys nodded.

"Okay. Just lets go to my place first. Looks like we're taking a road trip." Krys looked at him, and he hopped up. "Are you sure you can walk. I can always get you some crutches."

"Um… can I get some crutches?" Ares asked. Krys smiled, and snapped. A set of crutches positioned themselves under his arm. Krys grabbed his arm, and they disapparated. They landed in Krys' bedroom. Krys looked at him, as she walked to her drawer.

"Sit. Make yourself comfortable." she said. Krys snapped, and both she and Ares were dressed. She took his hand, and disapparated.

"Where are we?"

"Um… we're in the magical neighborhood of Tallahassee. He's buried in the magical church."

"They have magical churches." Ares said skeptically. Krys nodded.

"Yeah they do. See- Merlin… is one of the icons." she said. "They do everything in the eyes of Merlin and everything." Krys walked with him. She took his hand, and apparated to the front of the church. "You wanna go inside?"

"No- I'm too bad of a sinner, and in a magical church, there's no guarantee that lightening won't strike up on the spot." Krys shook her head, and laughed.

"No, you're a good guy." she said, as they started to walk. After about ten minutes of walking, she stopped and looked at him. "Yo, this plot is all the way in Carajo Land." Ares laughed. Finally, Krys stopped in front of a plot that said

'Raphael Wilton Delgado

Loving father and husband

July 2nd 1962- July 3rd 1997' Neither one of them said anything. They just stared at the plot, and breathed. Finally, Krys snapped her fingers and a single white rose appeared in her hand. She handed it to Ares. He looked at her, and smiled slightly, before he placed the rose on the grave.

"Krys, where was your mom born?" Krys looked at him.

"Las Piedras, Puerto Rico."

"Tell me more. More about her. What you know."

"She lived there until she was five, which is how she learned Spanish. Her mom was born in El Seibo, Dominican Republic. And her dad was born in Sheffield, England… and that's where they lived until she went to Hogwarts. I just assumed that because she- I assumed that she was born in England. She wasn't. Sorry- I'm talking too much." Ares shook his head.

"No. No- I _want_ to hear it." Krys shook her head, and looked at him.

"Why aren't you and Emily getting married in a church? Why aren't you getting married in the church where your parents were married? Why aren't you getting married in Puerto Rico, at least? Something that you want."

"Who said I want to be married there?" Ares asked. Krys smiled.

"You didn't have to." she said.

"She didn't want to get married there. I brought up the idea, and she said that she didn't want to." Krys nodded, and looked at the grave again.

"Wow- did you ever think that we'd end up like this? You're marrying a big nosed toucan, and I'm sleeping with your boss." Ares looked at her. "So… it's a bit weird, huh? The only one that's really his child is Robyn." Ares nodded.

"How long have you known?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"What makes you think that I knew?" Ares laughed slightly.

"You may be good at lying and hiding things, but- I threw two and two together."

"What was there to throw together?"

"The day that you took me to visit your parents grave plot, and you paused when you got to her name."

"Wow." Krys said.

"You know- when I was younger… all I really remember… I don't remember anything about him." Krys looked at him, and smiled sadly. "And, I can only imagine how A.J and Robbie feel. A.J was two when he left… and had no idea what it meant when he left… and Robbie was three when he died. But- I- I- I don't know how to feel. And its not like he just died, but- I still don't know how to feel. I have no one to teach me to tie a bowtie." Krys smiled, and a bowtie appeared in her hand. She pushed it towards Ares, who laughed.

"I'm not nearly as good as the real thing. But… can an ex-girlfriend teach the groom-to-be how to tie a bowtie?" asked Krys. Ares looked at her and nodded. Krys started to tie the tie around his neck.

"Aren't you supposed to be teaching me?"

"I will… its just- I need to remember how." Ares laughed.

"So- you didn't know how to tie a regular tie, but you know how to tie a bowtie."

"Okay…" she started to explain to him how to do it. Ares nodded, then started to tie it himself. "Oh- how did you do it better than me?"

"I guess I'm just skilled." said Ares. Krys laughed. "Can we leave now?"

"Its up to you." said Krys. Ares nodded, and dragged her away from the plot, holding the crutches in his other hand.

"So… about last night." he started. Krys looked at him.

"What about it?"

"They told me about you planning the whole Bachelor party."

"They weren't supposed to." Krys said.

"Well- they did. And… thank you. And… I'm sorry about the argument." Krys looked at him. "Both of them."

"Don't be. Um… I still have to take you and Emily to the beach house, so that you can tell the people where to put everything." Krys said, as she grabbed Ares' arm, and landed in front of Emily's house. Krys nudged Ares, and he rang the doorbell. Emily answered the door, and kissed his cheek.

"What're _you_ doing here?" she asked Krys.

"Um- Krys came here to show us the beach house." said Ares. Emily smiled and nodded.

"Kay- come on." she yelled. Kay ran out of the house.

"What?" she asked.

"Ares is taking us to the house." Kay nodded.

"Well- where is it?" she asked.

"Um… its in North Carolina." said Krys. She jotted down the address and handed it to Emily. Emily snatched it from her, and tapped it twice with her wand.

"Can we go now?" she asked. Krys nodded, then took an M&M Mini container out of her pocket.

"Portus." she said, as she blew on it.

"You were holding out on me in the graveyard?" Ares asked. Emily looked at him, then at Krys.

"Hold the portkey everyone." Krys said, as she put it down on the floor. Krys bent down, and touched the lid. The rest touched it and they soon landed on the hard marble floors of Krys' beach house. "Ouch, ouch- my booty." Krys whined, as she held her behind. She looked back at it, and started to rub it.

"But- what about the muggles?" asked Emily. "Won't they see us?"

"Well- no one is over this side of the beach anyway. But- the image that I helped you send on the invitation, is the kitchen, which is right before the beach. The kitchen doors open up to the beach, so they'll be able to go straight out. And the tent… no one is near us.. So- you can set it up wherever."

"Um… darling, can I see you in the other room for a moment?" Emily asked Ares. Ares nodded, then walked with her to the other room.

"What happened, Emily?" he asked.

"I do not want you seeing her anymore." Ares looked at Emily weirdly.

"What the hell are you talking about? She's my best friend."

"Ares, I _do not_ want her coming to my wedd-"

"_Your_ wedding? What ever happened to _our_ wedding?"

"I _do not_ want her near you. And I do not want you hanging out with her _anymore_. Once this wedding is done, I don't want you seeing her anymore. Its me or its her." Emily said.

"Okay- so what you're saying is that, you don't want her to come to the wedding that _she_ helped _pay_ for. No- the wedding that she did pay for. She paid for everything. The wedding that's in _her_ house. The wedding, where you'll be wearing the dress that _she_ bought for you. This is _her_ house. You don't want her coming to her house for the wedding that she helped happen. No- what you're saying is; you don't want to see her, until you need something else that her money and connections can get you." Ares didn't wait for a reply, he just walked out of the house, and onto the beach. He walked around the corner of the house, where Krys was standing.

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Kay sat down, and stared at Krys.

"You know what they're talking about, right?" she asked. Krys looked at her and shrugged.

"I don't really care." Krys said.

"Well- they're talking about a wonderful plot to toss you out of his life, and onto your ass." Kay said, with an evil little smirk.

"Just like with your little crush on Ron- even though he already dumped your ass." Kay glared at her. "Oh- is that a sensitive subject?"

"We all know about your little crush on him, and Em _is_ going to win. She already has him, muffin… and you two didn't even have a nice little screw. Do you really think that you can compete with Emily? Emily, his fiancé, Emily. Emily, the girl that he's going to marry, Emily. Emily, the girl he loves, Emily. You need to get over yourself and deal with the fact that he doesn't want you."

"No, Kay-Kay. _You_ need to get over _yourself_. You and your little friend have no idea who you're messing with, and what I would do to you if you weren't dating my best friend. And you can run back to Ron or Ares and tell them. Oh- oh I forgot. Only Emily is dating a friend of mine. And Ron doesn't care if you go tell him. This _is_ a threat. I will kill you the next time that you mess with me, and I _won't_ think twice about it." Krys said, as she walked out to the beach. She walked to the corner of the house. She looked at the water, and it started to whirlpool. Krys groaned, and turned around. Ares was standing there, looking at her. "Hey."

"Hey." Ares said, as he walked up to her.

"Listen, I-… um- I can't make it to your wedding tomorrow." Ares looked at her weirdly.

"Why not? What happened?"

"Um- Eric has this thing planned. Its brunch with his family. He's been planning it since before he met me, and he wants me to meet some family. This is the only time that they could all be there."

"Krys, this is my wedding. I- I need you there. I mean- you're my best friend."

"I'm sorry… its- its about my relationship with Eric. I'll be here for the reception, I think. I might no-"

"I was just here thinking that I should cancel my wedding, because Emily doesn't want me to see you anymore. But- it turns out, rather than her being the selfish one, she was the one who saw how selfish _you_ really are. I can't believe I thought you changed."

"I needed to change?" Krys asked.

"Yeah- maybe you could start to think about someone besides yourself." Krys nodded and laughed sardonically.

"You know- _all I do_ is think about you. What dress your fiancé needs. What fucking drinks she wants served at your wedding. The fact that she doesn't want me at your wedding, or in your life at all. You think I don't know about that? Not only did her shitty little friend tell me, but- I _am,_ _who_ _I_ _am_. I know _everything_. How much shit she talks about me. How much shit you _let_ her talk about me. What a fucking user she is. And how much she hates me. So- you know what, Ares? While I was thinking about how to let you go, because of how happy Emily seems to make you… I realized just how selfish I really am. I only want you to be happy, because… your happiness is what I ultimately want. The most important thing to me, is that you're happy." She looked at him, then back at the beach house. "I'm gone. Have a happy life. Congratulations, I just made your choice a whole lot easier. You don't need to talk to me. Just make sure you clean my house after your bullshit wedding is done." she said, before she disapparated. Ares was left standing there, with a black stormy sky, and whirling ocean water.


	25. All Truths Uncovered

"What are we going to do about Krys and Ares?" Hermione asked. The two were sitting in bed, doing the crossword puzzle together.

"We're not going to do anything, Hermione. Whether she tells him or not, its all her business." Ron said.

"Do you think Krys ever leaves anything alone when it comes to matters of us?" Hermione asked him.

"Hermione… this is all about Krys' happiness. She's smart enough to realize that the time for action is now." Hermione laughed.

"You've never spoken to Krys when she's being stupidly selfless, have you?"

"No, why?"

"She's not going to say anything consciously. The girl is so crazy, that she'll do it while she's sleeping and no one can hear her. Or when she's getting dresses in the morning, and no one's there but her. When she's drunk- one of them. She's just that stubborn, so- she'll have to do it unconsciously, just to settle herself."

"You know her well, don't you?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed.

"That's why I can handle you. I specialized in difficult people for two years." she teased. Ron laughed, and kissed her cheek.

"I'm not difficult." he said. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, you are." she said. "I mean… I think that's why you and Harry originally got along so well. I think that's why we all get along so well. Harry searched for people who reminded him of Krys, and same with her. Your mum says that even as babies, Harry and Krys have always been the way they are. Harry was brave, and Krys was ruthless and vicious. Ares and Jason are like Harry. They all have that mix." Ron laughed.

"I think you're right." he said. Hermione nodded.

"I like being right." she said. Ron laughed and kissed her neck. "No… not until the crossword puzzle is done."

"What? Would it be my treat?" Ron asked, a flirtatious emphasis edging his voice. Hermione looked at him.

"Lets think of it as a mutual gift that continues to give." she said. Ron laughed, and they both heard banging on the door. Hermione got up and opened the door. In the hallway, Krys was pacing. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Hermione.

"Hey, Bon-bon." she said. "I came to get some clothes, because… I'm going out tonight."

"Where have you been? Ares called about four hours ago and said you were pissed at him." Ron yelled from the background.

"I've been hanging out in my car for about four- five hours… we had an argument and I'm pissed, yeah." Krys said, as she stepped back. "Can I come in?" Hermione and Ron looked at her weirdly.

"Krys, you live here." Hermione said. Krys shook her head.

"Not anymore." she said. "I'm not going to Nemonora either. I already sent a declining letter. I'm not going back. I'm staying here. If Ares wants to marry a bitch, I'm not going to let him and his bitch run me away. And that's what I was doing. I'm not running anymore. The running is over. But… I am going to write a book."

"Cookie… are you okay?" Hermione asked. Krys laughed and nodded.

"Oh- I came here for clothes." she said, as she walked in. She waved to Ron, then ran to her room. As soon as she left the room, Ron looked at Hermione.

"She's bonkers." he said. Hermione shook her head.

"She's just really impulsive when she doesn't know what to do." she said. "And then she babbles and rambles. She's just confused." Ron nodded.

"Okay. Whatever you say." he said. "Look- I…" Ron's sentence was cut short and trailed off, because an owl chose that moment to fly through the window. Ron looked at it. Hermione made a grabbing motion with her hand, and the owl flew to her and dropped off a letter. An owl treat appeared in Hermione's hand, and the owl ate it, before flying away. Hermione walked to Ron, holding the letter out. He took it slowly, then opened it. The look on his face was priceless. "I got the job." Hermione held down a squeal.

"Congratulations." they heard from the archway. Krys walked through and looked at him. She gave him thumbs up, then turned to Hermione. "I'm going out with Josephs." she said.

"Where?" Hermione and Ron asked simultaneously.

"Some damn club." Krys said. "Its supposed to be sexy as hell… with flashing lights and everything. Black lights." Hermione looked at the clothes that she chose, then stared pointedly at Krys. "What?"

"Your tattoo." Hermione said. "The shield is highlighted with club tattoo, and it has his name on it now. Its gonna glow like hell and Eric will see Ares' name on your hip." Krys groaned.

"Oy vey." she said. "I… what the hell is wrong with me? I got the tattoo after I knew he bought the ring for Emily… am I crazy?" Hermione and Ron nodded. Krys laughed, and sat down next to Ron. She sat for ten seconds, before she hopped up. "And last night, she had a rash on her neck. I'm not an idiot. It was either a hickey or the sexual climactic thingy that they taught us about in healer training. Either way, she was having sex… without him. Do I even care? I'm not supposed to… I don't care."

"Krys… make a promise to yourself." Hermione said. Krys nodded. "If Ares does something simply irresistible the next time that you speak to him, you have to talk to him. And not about breast implants… you have to talk to him about you two, and how you feel about him."

"Hermione, its an unfair deal… he always does something that makes people want to jump his bones." Krys said.

"Well… then that's your problem."

"Hermione… he's over me."

"Krys… how do you know that?"

"Um- he has a fiancé." Krys said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it actually was. "He has someone else. He ha-"

"Krys, shut up." Hermione said. Krys looked stricken. "Think about it. The man still hasn't removed the tattoo on his arm. He's a wizard. He hasn't removed it for the same reasons that you haven't removed yours. You still hope that the symbolism of the tattoo is real. God- for someone so smart… you're very, very, very, very dumb."

"Okay… Bon-bon, I don't want to seem weak, but ouch to the infinities." Krys said in mock depression. Hermione and Ron laughed. "Hermione, I don't believe that. If he loved me… things would be close to the same." Hermione and Ron looked at each other. "Listen- I have to go… its time for my date, and I have to meet him at the club. I'll see you later." Then she disapparated. Ron looked at Hermione and laughed.

"I don't see any difference in their relationship, do you?" he asked. Hermione shook her head.

"No. Except now, he isn't- no… he's still respecting her wishes and leaving her alone. Its like… he's taking their breakup as his moral code… '_don't go back to Krys_'. And the fact that Emily is still cheating on him- he doesn't even care. I swear he's doing all of this to get back at Krys. And if she's not willing to tell him at least a portion of the truth, maybe they shouldn't be together. If she's not willing to put herself on the line to get him, why should he do it for her?" Hermione mused.

"Maybe that's how Ares sees it, seeing how she dumped him." Ron said. Hermione nodded.

"I actually don't blame him." said Hermione.

"Neither does Krys. That's why she's doing all of this for the wedding." Ron said. "She doesn't expect him to forgive her, and she doesn't believe that she deserves to be forgiven." Hermione looked at him. "That's what she told me last week."

"She really doesn't want him to choose her?"

"No… she _wants_ him to choose her. She just wants to erase everything that she did wrong." Hermione looked at him.

"She didn't do anything wrong." she said. Ron nodded.

"I know. But she doesn't believe that." he said. "She thinks that he'll hate her, if she tells him the truth."

"Why?"

"Because, she thinks all the bad happened, from what she did wrong." Ron said. "I told her that she didn't do anything wrong, but she thinks that everyone is telling her this so that she won't go into depression again." Hermione nodded.

"I- I can't talk about this anymore." she said. "She… Krys- she's always okay. She'll be okay… and everything is going to be okay."

"You can't wait for the wedding tomorrow, can you?"

"Hell no. It'll be like a drama fest." Hermione said. Ron looked at her and laughed.

"You're crazy." Hermione smiled, and sat next to him.

"Which is why we match. Crazy people belong together." she said, as she curled up with him. "Okay… lets talk about us."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"The fact that we've been together for about a week, and we're engaged. What is your mum going to say?" Ron laughed.

"Does it matter?" he asked. "We'll tell the guys tomorrow, before Ares' wedding, then I can propose to you again, at the reception." he said. "It seems better than an announcement." Hermione nodded.

"Cool." she said. "Hey- I'm gonna ask you a dumb question."

"I doubt that you can."

"Do you think your mum will like me?" Hermione asked. Ron looked at her.

"I'll never doubt you again." Ron teased. Hermione laughed.

"I mean… will she think we're good together? Will they be pleased that we're engaged, or will they hate it?"

"Are you having dou-"

"No."

"Well… it doesn't matter what they think." Hermione looked at him.

"Everyone says it, but no one believes it. You care what they think, whether you want them to like it or hate it, you care. Everyone does."

"No… I don't. If they love you, fine… I already expected it. If they don't, it doesn't matter because, I love you." Ron said. "And my mum loves. Same with my father. He loves your knowledge of muggles, and the fact that you've taught me a lot about them. I mean- between you and Krys, the only thing I don't know now is how to drive, which… I don't want to know."

"Why not?"

"Because, my favorite source of transportation is still brooms. Cars are creepy."

"They're comfortable."

"You have to stop and watch how fast you go. You get into easy accidents."

"You can fall out of the sky on a broom." Ron was quiet for a moment.

"True… but cars- you can get into an easy accident."

"You already said that." Hermione teased. Ron laughed.

"So what. Its true. And… they pollute." he said.

"Brooms… they kill trees." Hermione said. Ron shook his head in mock shame.

"Weak argument." he teased.

"Its because I'm tired." Hermione whined. Ron patted his chest.

"Its your spot." he said. Hermione laughed.

"Yes… true." she said.

"What?" Ron asked. He knew that something was wrong by the look that she had once she lied down.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked. "Something is wrong with you. I know you." Hermione laughed and looked at him.

"How many girls have you slept with?"

"Huh?" Hermione laughed.

"I don't really want to know. I just want to know." she said. "You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do. But I don't want to tell you, because you'll be mad at me."

"Have you really had sex with that many people. Because if so, I don't know what I'll do." Hermione joked. "Ron, what you did was in the past. I just want to know. There won't be any consequences." Ron looked at her.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked. Hermione looked at him, and determined from his fact that she didn't want to know.

"No." Hermione said. She looked at him again. "Hell no… I really don't want to know anymore. From the look on your face, it's a gigantic number, and… with a bunch of girls that I know and don't like." Ron laughed.

"Krys told me something. And I'm going to try and get this right." he said. Hermione nodded. "Its not really who you sleep with that matters. Its who you wake up with that counts." Hermione laughed.

"That's just a way to justify that you were a whore." she said. Ron pouted.

"The point is that I want to wake up with you, and I never woke up with any of those girls." he said.

"I thought that Harry would be the slut when I met him." Hermione said.

"The consequence is that you're going to bring this up all the time, right?"

"No. You don't want it to be brought up, so I won't. But I should say that-"

"Muggle contraceptive and disease prevention. The condom." Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"They making a magical one, you know. Its pretty much 100." she said. Ron looked at her.

"Do you- how many kids do you want?" he asked. Hermione smiled.

"I don't know. What about you?"

"Somewhere in the perfect zone. I think two or three, so that they all have a title. If you have two, you have the oldest and the youngest. If you have three, you have the oldest, youngest, and the middle child. One of the perfect zones." Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"Then again, with our combined genes… we could have super children." she said. Ron looked at her.

"Are you making fun of me?" he asked.

"No. Its just that- you've been thinking about it for a while, haven't you?"

"Children with Hermione Granger? Of course I have."

"Oh Won-Won… you're so sweet." Hermione said, before she kissed his cheek. Ron grinned, and showed her the crossword puzzle.

"Treat." he said. Hermione laughed, and pulled off his shirt. "I'm delicate." Hermione laughed, and let him help her out of her own clothes. She looked at him. He was grinning under her.

"I love you so much, Ronald Bilius Weasley."

"I love you to the moon, Hermione Jane Granger." he responded.

"Do you want to wait to get married? Maybe we should elope." Hermione said.

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BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Then glass shattered. Ares ran downstairs to Krys' front door. The glass was broken, and a bloody hand was through the glass, holding a rock, and trying to open the door. Ares ran to the door, and discovered that it was Krys' hand. He opened the door, and Krys crawled into the house, using one hand as her base and falling all over her second. She was wearing a denim _mini_ miniskirt, and a tight white button down that wasn't buttoned completely at the top or the bottom. It was only buttoned twice in the middle, and her black bra was showing. On her feet were white on black low Uptowns that weren't tied all the way. Her hair was in a sexy curly disheveled style, and she crawled into the house weakly. She stood up, and looked at Ares. Ares looked at her hand, and dragged her to the kitchen, without saying anything. He lifted her by her waist, and placed her on the counter. He took her hand in his, and tapped it twice with his wand. Her hand healed, and he placed it in her lap.

"What happened to you, Krys?" He gestured to her clothes. "This isn't you." Krys gave a small moan, and looked up at the ceiling. Ares carried her to their room, and placed her on the bed. Before he could do anything else, Krys pulled him down, and kissed him. First, she nipped at his bottom lip. Ares groaned, in the back of his throat and lied down on top of her. Krys slid her tongue through his slightly parted lips, and teased his tongue with hers. Even though he could taste the alcohol on her, it seemed to taste sweeter, just having come from her mouth. Ares pulled back, and looked at her. Her face looked angelic. She was smiling, and her dimples were outright showing. She seemed to be glowing. He leaned down, and kissed her again. He trailed kisses down to her neck. "I love you, Bunny." he murmured into the crook of her neck.

"I love you too." Krys breathed. He let Krys kiss down his chest, after she ripped his shirt open. He even took off her shirt, and left two very noticeable hickeys on her neck, and bite marks on her stomach and lower hip. He unbuttoned her skirt, kissed above her navel, and bit her shield tattoo, that now had his name under it in Greek letters. Krys got on top of him, and started to kiss his neck, while unzipping his pants, and working her hips. But, as soon as she started to take off them off, Ares stopped her.

"Krys- stop." Ares said. Krys looked at him questioningly.

"You don't want to?" she asked in a sweet voice. She looked at him with lusty doe-eyes, and her full lips pouting.

"Forget it." Ares said, before he cradled her face and kissed her again. Krys started to take his pants off again. "Ah- stop, Krys, stop."

"What happened?" Krys asked, as she stared at him lovingly. Longingly.

"I- I'm not a cheater… I- I love…_what the hell is her name_?" he muttered to himself. Krys leaned in and kissed him again. This one kiss caused all the blood in Ares' body to move to his second brain. Krys giggled slightly, as she felt him come alive under her skirt. She started to massage his shoulders.

"Come on, baby." she said, as she kissed his shoulders. "I want to." She started to pull his pants off. "Don't you want to?" Ares cradled her face, nodded, and started to kiss her again, causing Krys to forget all about his pants and leave them alone. She moaned, and nibbled his bottom lip. When he pulled back, she smiled and pushed him gently on his back, before straddling him. She leaned down and kissed his bottom lip, then all the way down his chin. She pulled back and smiled at him. Ares smiled back and touched her cheek. "I wa- I wish- I wish that I could've been doing this with you, for the past two years. I love you, Loverboy." Krys pulled his torso up, and kissed him again. This kiss was long, deep and soft. Suddenly, Ares pulled back, slightly. Instead of pulling back completely, he slowed the kiss down. Krys leaned in and kissed him again, and started to pull his pants off. This time, Ares pulled back completely.

"Bunny- Baby- Krys, stop."

"Why?" Krys asked. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her full lips were pouting.

"_Emily-… _I_ love _Emily now… and you're drunk. I'm sorry." Krys nodded slowly, and got off of him, with tinted cheeks. He could tell that he embarrassed her, but had no idea what to do about it. Ares did everything that he could to compose himself and get his hormones under control. "Tia Laurena, Tia Laurena, Tia Laurena." he whispered to himself, succeeding in getting the blood back to other places, before he started to leave the room.

"Ares." Krys called softly. Ares stopped and looked back at her. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. Just- don't think that you can't be comfortable… you- you don't have to leave. I won't try anything, I promise. Just sleeping." she said in an innocent voice, and doing the sign for sleep. She kicked off her shoes, and lied under the cover. Ares nodded, and walked over to the bed. As rational as she sounded, he knew that she was still drunk to the point before she should be throwing it up. He doubted that she had more than one beer or shot, but she didn't have a high alcohol tolerance. He lied down next to her. The silence was heavy, and all that could be heard were the heavy raindrops on the ceiling and their breathing. "I love you, Ares." Krys said, after a while.

"I love you too, Krys. You're my best friend."

"No…" Krys took a deep breath, and turned to face him. She shook her head slightly. "No… I'm still inlovewith you, Ares. I've never been in love with anyone else. I _never_ wanted to be with anyone else. I never _want_ to be with anyone else. I've always loved you… and when I think about it… you were the one that I wanted to be with when we were eleven. I liked Jason, but I was always in love with you. You were the one that I always wanted to be around. You're the one that I wanted to know about. The one that I couldn't stop looking at or to. The one that I could always talk to. And you're the one that I want to be with now. I don't want you to be with Emily. I want you to be with me. And… I want to have a family with you… and I want tomorrow to be our wedding. I ju-"

"Krys, what do you want me to say to that? How do you expect me to respond?" Ares asked. "Tomorrow probably would've been our wedding, Krys. I'm getting married in a few hours. What am I supposed to do _now_?" Krys looked at him with intense eyes and an intense expression.

"I'm sorry about the breakup. Just- do whatever your heart tells you to do." she said, as she started to lace her hand with his. She smiled at him softly, and he smiled back for a moment. He put his hand on her hip, and brushed his thumb over the tattoo. He kissed her softly, and put his hands on her hips. Krys moved closer to him and he pulled back slightly, causing Krys' tongue to search for his. He felt himself getting lost again. Then he pulled away roughly, and jumped out of the bed as if he'd been burned.

"Yeah, Krys. I'll do what my heart tells me, and not go to where it was stomped out before." Krys nodded, then stepped out of the bed. Ares looked at her bra, and the _love_ marks, then looked away. This seemed to be enough to take Krys out of her completely drunken state and placing her in a severe tipsy slot. And considering the three shots of Cuervo Gold that she had to flush from her system, she was doing alright.

"You're choosing Emily over me." she said.

"No. I'm choosing the person that didn't fuck me over, over the person that did!" Krys nodded. "You didn't start to want me again, until I came back with a fiancé! Its just like five years ago, with Ailen." Krys looked at him, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"She really had to lower your opinion of me, for you to believe that." she said softly. "Really… you think I didn't want you? You think I don't want you? That's what you believe?"

"Its not gonna work again, Krys! Not this time! You're the one who broke my heart-"

"Yeah, but you're still breaking mine! Oh my God, Ares! After everything that I've been talking to you about for these past two weeks- you get the impression that I didn't want you?!"

"Don't try and manipulate your wa-"

"_Manipulate_?"

"Yeah, like you manipulated me into coming back to you, just so you could screw me over again."

"Ares, man up and get over it!"

"You dumped me, Krys! I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you! _You_ dumped _me_!" Krys nodded. She looked at him and nodded. Then she sat on the bed, facing away from him.

"Ares, marry Emily. If you really love her, marry her. Marry her because… the thought of her and another man is enough to kill you. Marry her… because you _can't_ _stand_ being away from her. Marry her, because you want to grow old with her. And because she's the one you see, when you look at your life plan. Do it, because she's the one you want, and you can't stand the thought of her not being there. 'Cause, she's the one you want. Really, please- if _that's_ how you feel about her, then I _want_ you to. I really do- just, please don't marry her because you're mad at me. If she makes you happy, then I'll sit down and clap while you kiss, really, I will. I'll eat cake, and sit down… and I won't even think about objecting- if that's how you feel about her. Just say the word. Just tell me that you don't love me anymore, and… just say it. But please, don't do this to spite me. Don't do it to get back at me. Don't mess your life up like that." she whispered, before she dared to look back at him. Ares was still fuming.

"Krys, don't give me a self sacrificing sob story. Don't be self-deprecating, and don't make yourself the victim. Don't make me the bad guy, Krys! Seven goddamn years. And I only had you for one of them- then you dumped me again! After you dumped me, I would've come back to you- _easy_! But now its too late! Its too late! We're done! _I_ was the one who had my heart ripped out! _I_ was the one who was screwed over and fucked up! _I_ had to move on with my life, while it was clear that you were moving on with yours, way before we were through!"

"You think you had it worse, Ares?! Okay- okay, I broke up with you. That's right. Its true. No denying it. I've already apologized, what else do you want me to do?!"

"Krys, you didn't want me! That's it! That's it, its done! Over! There's nothing that you can say!!"

"Okay… I broke your heart. I'm admitting that. I _said_ that I didn't love you. Now, I'm here… and I'm literally offering you _everything_ that you wanted before!" She quieted down. "Ares… I don't want to tell you why. All I want to say is that I'm thinking about how heartbreaking it is that you don't want me anymore. And I'm realizing that people are always so pissed, and depressed by unrequited love- but that's not even the saddest thing in the world. Its not the saddest thing in the word, when you love someone who doesn't love you back. The saddest thing in the world is loving someone who _used_ to love you. Ares, I've been in love with you for the two years in school-"

"Krys, its _not going to work_. I moved on- it took me a year and a half, but I _finally_ moved on. You're not gonna suck me in again. _We're_ _over_. _You_ dumped _me_! _You dumped me_! _You broke my heart_! It was you- you can't be the one to complain! _You_ made this so hard!" Krys nodded. She had tears rolling down her face, and she nodded. "Krys, just be happy for me. Please, I don't-…" Ares trailed off. He quieted down, and looked at her. Krys wiped her eyes and nodded. She licked her lips, and looked at him.

"Ares… I wanted you to stay. I didn't break up with you, because I wanted you to beg me. But I wanted you to stay. I would've been happier if you stayed. I wouldn't've suffered emotional trauma, if you stayed. I had you, Ares. I could've kept you, but you would've hated me in the long run. So- I made a choice, and I sent you to school. I let you have your dream, and I didn't hesitate to send you away. I didn't even think about me for _one minute_. All I thought about was you." She started to grow angry, so her words turned into yelled frustrated growls. "The only person that I had in mind was you! The only person who got anything out of this arrangement was you! The only person who ends up happy is you! Jesus Christ, Ares, I sent you to auror training, and you still can't tell me why! Everyone else figured it out! You- our relationship keeps you smart?!" Krys picked up a heavy crystal lamp at the bedside, and threw it at him. The fact that the lamp was so heavy and Krys' subconscious made it so that the lamp hit before his feet, and shattered at the floor. "Emily loves you more than I do?!" She picked up her shoe and threw it at him. This time it hit his chest, then fell to the ground. Krys had tears running down her face, and rain was hitting the glass ceiling like a carwash. It seemed like it would flood, as Krys continued,

"Ares, if she's willing to sacrifice more than I have for-. No, no- no… I'd _bet my life_ that she wouldn't risk more of her life, for _your_ _life_- in a _hypothetical situation_- like I have, for you and your career!" Krys threw a pillow at him. "Your wedding!" She threw another pillow at him. "And your goddamn auror dream!" Krys threw a picture frame at him. The frame flew past him and hit the wall. "If I was willing to do what I did to my life, for your career… can you imagine what I would've done in a life and death situation for you?! There is no one in this world… save your mother, A.J, Jason and Jezzie that will ever do and live with the shit that I've done for you. I'm selfish?!" Krys picked up her other shoe and threw it at him. This time, it hit his shoulder. Ares didn't say anything. He just stood there, listening to her speech, hoping that she'd eventually tell him what the big reason was. "You know- I'll bet that when Emily gives you the ultimatum… you're going to forget everything about me. And you won't even want to remember that I was your friend, before I became this monstrous thing that I've become, for you. You know, I don't even care anymore… I keep saying that I'm gonna let you go… and I swear… I'm never gonna be able to do that. Its like you hold this colossal part of me and I'll never be able to get it back." She sat down and snapped her fingers. Both of her shoes, placed themselves on her feet, and her shirt was on also. She got up and looked at him. Her face was wet, and her eyes were red rimmed, with bags under them. "If you're so smart, Ares… put the pieces together. The key to solving a puzzle, is finding the end pieces first. If you want to know why I broke up with you- if you want to know the goddamn truth, you should really think long and hard about our summer together. Maybe then you'll figure out what everyone else figured out a year and ten months ago. But here, I'll give you a little clue. Tell me, _please, tell me_… how did we have sex _every single day_, with me being a female and all? Yeah- think long and hard about that, then think of why I sent you to school, in hopes that you'd finish before you looked back." Krys looked at him, then disapparated.

Krys landed in her kitchen, and wrote a long letter to them all. On top of the note, she put the plane tickets and hotel keys. She snapped her fingers, and two bags placed themselves at her side, before she carried them out of her house and waited in the rain. After about a minute, the Knight bus appeared, and a man about her age opened the door.

"Where to?" he asked.

"Nora Springley's Magical Medical Supply station." Krys said.

"You're a healer?" the man asked. Krys nodded. "Hey… you're that woman who-"

"Yeah." Krys said. She stuck her hand out. "Krystathaili Rodriguez-Black."

"Lucas Meadows." he said, as he kissed her hand. Krys nodded, paid the fee, then continued to a bed that she put an invasion charm on.

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At 9 am, Ron and Hermione apparated to Krys' house, and walked to her bedroom. The only ones there were Harry and Ginny.

"Hey guys." Hermione said. "Where's Cookie?" Harry shrugged.

"I don't know." he said.

"Lets go check A.J and Jason. She'll show up when its time." Ron said. They all shrugged, and disapparated to Jason and Harry's apartment. A.J was on the couch with a sour look on her face. She was wearing an ugly bridesmaid dress, that was pink chiffon and lavender taffeta. But- A.J's hair was a dark coffee brown, the color that Hermione recognized as A.J's original hair color.

"Oh- you look so pretty." Hermione said. A.J looked at her. "Oh- your hair. I'm so used to it being burgundy, or… whatever other damn color it used to be." A.J laughed.

"Yeah, well… I'm… I don't know. I figured I shouldn't screw this dress up more." she said. "Where's Krys?" Hermione shook her head.

"I don't know. We were wondering if you've seen her."

"No- not since the rehearsal dinner." A.J said. Jason walked out in black dress robes, with a white shirt and black tie.

"I know. I'm sexy." he said. They all laughed. But the girls had to admit, he was right. He was sexy.

"No, you're not. I only stay with you because…" A.J looked at him. "Yeah, okay- you're sexy. Get over it."

"Hey- where is this wedding anyway?" Jason asked.

"In North Carolina. You know, Krys' beach house." Hermione said.

"She has a beach house." Jason said.

"Yeah. Hey guess what? Ron and I are engaged." Hermione said, showing them all the ring. Ginny and A.J stared at the ring in shock, then they started jumping up and down.

"Aw man." A.J said.

"Thank you, Hermione. She's gonna bug me forever, because of you." Harry said, as he turned Ginny's head away from the ring. They all laughed as Ginny glared at Harry.

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As soon as the group got to the beach house, Hermione ran to look through the rooms. She avoided the room with a lot of women crowding. As soon as she saw a quiet room, she knew that it was either empty, or Ares inhabited it. Hermione ran to that room and struck gold. On the bed was Ares. He was in his black dress robes and Hermione recognized what Krys- and almost every other woman that she met, saw in him. The guy was gorgeous and sexy. Hermione strolled over to his bed, and Ares waved.

"Hey." he said. Hermione smiled.

"Hey." she said. The two sat in silence for a while.

"Um… is Krys here?" Ares asked in a hopeful tone. Hermione looked at him, because of his tone.

"Did something happen between you two last night?" she asked. Ares nodded. "Did she tell you?"

"No."

"Typical." Ares looked at her. "Well- what happened?"

"She told me that she loved me." Hermione looked at him.

"What did you say?" she asked. Ares didn't say anything. "_What did you say_?" This tone was more demanding.

"What the hell was I supposed to say?" Ares asked. Hermione gave him a look. "We got into an argument. She threw her crystal lamp at me. Then she started crying about something. It was all one big blur." His voice was full of shame.

"Ares- we can't find her." Hermione said seriously. Ares looked at her.

"What do you mean you can't find her?" he asked.

"I mean _we can't find here. No one knows where she is_. And now I'm pretty certain that it was your doing."

"Hermione, I can't deal with this… I'm getting married in about thirty minutes." Ares said, as he put on his bowtie. He looked at the bowtie in shame, then threw it away. Hermione looked at him, then sat down.

"Ares, I'm going to ask you a stupid question… but answer it, please." she said. Ares looked at her and nodded. Hermione took a deep breath and tapped her knee. "Have you forgiven her?"

"Of course I've forgiven her." Ares said.

"Okay- I believe you." Hermione said. "But if every time something goes wrong with you two, you bring up the breakup… you haven't forgiven her. If every time she does something that you don't like, and that's the first thing that you throw that in her face, you haven't forgiven her."

"I forgave. I didn't forget." Ares said. Hermione smiled.

"'I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note- torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.'" she quoted. Ares nodded and smiled slightly.

"Henry Ward Beecher. Krys taught me that quote." he said, as he looked at the bowtie.

"Ares, if you love Emily, then Krys is the first one who'll tell you to marry her. Has she not been the person supporting your relationship and marriage, even when everyone else has been calling you stupid?"

"Because, she felt guilty-"

"For what? Ares… this is Krys that we're talking about. What did she say when she broke up with you?"

"'_I don't love you. I don't want you. I don't need you. So get the hell out of my house._'"

"Okay… and when you said something."

"'_I just kept you around hoping that a spark would ignite._'"

"Now… have you ever seen Krys be phony? When she acts like she likes someone, she generally wants to like them."

"Hermione, she told me that she didn't love me."

"Who did the promise ring belong to?"

"My great-grandmother. Family tradition. The oldest Delgado boy gives it to _the one_."

"And was she wearing at when you broke up?"

"Yeah- she wore it. She always wore it." Hermione pulled something out of her bag.

"Is this the ring?" Ares nodded.

"Yeah." he said. "I didn't even bother to take it back."

"Okay… well- I got Bill to look at it. This ring has so may charms on it… its not even funny. But the one charm that caught my eye was the one that judges if a girl is the one or not. Its similar to the Heart Gem, precious stone… so it won't work if the wrong person wears it. If the ring didn't fall off, then she's the one. Krys is the only one for you."

"Hermione, it is twenty five minutes before my wedding. Emily's whole family is here. I've moved on… and so has Krys."

"Oh my God. What the hell happened to you?" Hermione asked. She looked at him, and handed him the ring. "Maybe you should put this ring on Emily's finger and see how well it fits. What happened to that guy who would swim the English Channel or climb the Berlin Wall just to hug her, or say bye before a long trip. Weren't you the guy who would do anything to make her happy?"

"Hermione…"

"Ares… if you marry Emily today and no one else talks to you… the one person who always will, is Krys. And we all know that… even after the arguments that you had yesterday… the next time you see her, she's not even going to mention it, because she doesn't want you to hater her. And… no matter how much you piss her off, she's the first one to tell me to shut up, when I start to badmouth you, for her. And she's the girl who loves your little sister, and regardless of your relationship with Krys, she and A.J will always be frie- family. Just like she's the one who made us RSVP to your wedding. She's the person who made me, A.J and Gin go to the bachelorette party, when we were invited and she wasn't. She's the one who made me go to the spa date, and get my hair done at Emily's. She's the one who acted like she didn't care, when Emily went back to treating her like crap, so that you wouldn't you find out. She told us that she did that, because she didn't like putting you in a difficult spot. She's the person who lied to you about a wedding fund from her father, so that you'd have money to pay for your wedding. She's the one who put an extra three thousand in there, because she knew that you'd try and make her accept the money for the dress. She's the one that called in favors for your wedding cake, even though Simon didn't want to do it. She's the one who didn't tell you that Emily made us permanently bald with a spell, because she didn't want to turn the others on her. She's the one who showed and gave Emily a pair of diamond earrings with a matching bracelet and necklace to complete her wedding dress. And she's the one that didn't ask for them back, when your fiancé tried to screw her over. She's the one who didn't say anything to you about it. Have you ever noticed that she always puts herself on the line when it comes to matters of you? If she's doing that now, when you're _not_ together, what do you think she was doing when you were? She broke up with you, because she thought it was best for you. Think about that." Hermione looked at him one last time, then walked away.

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Ares sat in his room four minutes before the wedding, and lied in the bed. The door knocked, and Kay walked in. She was wearing a lavender satin dress puffed up by crinoline. In her ears were purple sapphire studs. On her wrist, a matching bracelet. On her neck, a matching necklace. Ares knew that they were Krys' from first glance. He sat up and looked at her.

"What?" asked Ares.

"Emily told me to ask you about your decision. Are you going to cut that scrounging bitch from your life or what?" asked Kay.

"The scrounging bitch that purposely kept her jewelry cases unlocked, knowing that you'd need jewelry. Huh- looks like you're the scrounging bitch here, Kay." Ares looked at her, then left the room. He walked down to the alter on the beach, and stood in front of Jason. Jason, Harry, Ron, and some other men were his groomsmen. Jason was obviously the best man. As the women started to walk down the aisle, he heard Jason, Ron and Harry bickering. Ares looked behind them. "What the hell are you guys talking about?" he asked.

"Ice, you can't be ready to marry this girl, knowing what Krys told you last night." said Jason. Ares looked at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"You still don't know?" asked Harry. Ares sighed.

"Its hard as hell to understand what she was trying to say, having all of that happen. She tried to throw a crystal lamp at me." he said. "But- why did she dump me?" They all looked at their hands.

"Not my secret to tell." said Jason. Harry and Ron nodded.

"Wait? _Everybody_ knows?" They all nodded. "Everybody, everybody?" They all nodded.

"Ares mate, look at your mum." said Ron. Ares looked at Ms. Delgado. She was holding a book, and looking around every few seconds after she checked her watch.

"What did she say when you told her that you wanted to propose to Krys, when you were eighteen?" asked Jason.

"She cried, and offered to pay for the wedding." said Ares.

"And what happened when you proposed to Emily, a few weeks ago?"

"She cried, and told me that I was too young. Then she spent the whole day talking about how beautiful Krys looked."

"How many times did your mum mention Emily's name in the speech yesterday?" asked Harry. Ares shook his head. "That big risk… that was Padfoot. You need to talk to her." Ares looked at Emily, who was walking down the aisle. The dress didn't look good on her. She actually looked like a goose in the dress. His mind went to Krys. How she looked in the dress when she tried it on. How good the tiara looked on her. How good everything looked on her. How fun she would've made the day, just by making him laugh once. Suddenly, he thought of what she would say. '_Can't wait to get the dress of her, can you, Kingie_?' Ares instantly laughed.

"I don't care." he said, shaking his head and going hysterical.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I don't care why she broke up with me. I wanna be with Krys." They all grinned slightly. "Get Krys' jewelry and the dress." he said. Then he looked at the ring bearer, who was also holding the rocks. Ares picked his rock, and the ring up, then disapparated. He landed at Krys' house. He ran into the house, and looked around for her. The whole house was empty. "Krys! Krys! KRYS!!" he yelled. His voice echoed. Ares disapparated, and landed in Krys and Hermione's apartment. "Krys! Krys!!" Ares groaned, and lied back on her bed. He lied down on something hard, and pulled it out from under him. The first picture that he saw was Krys lifting her shirt slightly, and a small bulge in her stomach. Under it read 'five months'. "Holy shit." he murmured, as he looked through the rest of the album. Ares sat in Krys' room for a few hours, looking through the album over and over again. He found a sonogram, at five months. He looked at it, and ran his fingers over the label that said, 'it's a boy!'. He put the album down, and disapparated to the beach house. When he got there, no one was there. The beach looked deserted, except for a few chairs. Ares groaned, and apparated back to Krys' house. He stood in the kitchen, where they all were. Harry, Ginny, A.J, Jason, Ron and Hermione. Just, no Krys. "Where is she?" Ares asked. Harry held up a note on a piece of loose-leaf and the envelope with the tickets and keys.

"She just said that she needed some time to think. She didn't even say where she was going, and she's blocking me out. We still don't know where she is." he said. Ares sat down, and held his head in his hands.

"I have no idea what to think- you couldn't tell me that she was pregnant?!" he yelled. They all looked at him in shock. "Yeah… I- I went to their apartment and I found a photo album."

"Ice, it wasn't-" Jason started. Ares held his hand up.

"How could she keep this from me?" he mused.

"Okay, Ares." Hermione said, sitting next to him. "Imagine me as Krys." Ares looked at her.

"Okay." he said.

"Kingie, I'm pregnant." Hermione said.

"Lets get married." Ares said automatically.

"Bingo. That's why she didn't tell you."

"She didn't want to marry me." Ares said.

"No, that's not it. What would you have said after lets get married? What would you have suggested?"

"Well- obviously, I wouldn't've gone to auror training. I w-"

"You already hit the nail on the head." Hermione said.

"She wanted you to go to auror training. Two years ago, before she broke up with you… she had two visions." Harry said. "One was you at the alter with Emily. The next vision was you leaving her. She's just put a baby boy in his crib, and you walk in and tell her that you found someone else. In the end, she said that she'd rather be with you, and that's why she went back to you."

"So- what happened? Adoption?" Ares asked. They all looked at each other awkwardly. "Abortion?" They all stood silent, finally Jason spoke.

"Do you remember that time that we told you that we were going on a date with A.J and Gin? And Ron disappeared too. He said that he had to see his family?" he asked. Ares nodded. "Krys was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts… after she miscarried."

The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update. I have no school until Monday, I can write three full length chappies by then. Reviews motivate me, people.


	26. Please, No More

Ares took a deep breath, and looked down. He took a deep breath and tried to stay strong.

"So… um- when did you guys find out? When did this- um, when did this happen?" he asked.

"Um…the third month of auror training. You know- when you started to lose weight. Before you started to do extra work and became the captain of the fight team." Jason said. "Harry, A.J, Gin, your mom and I- we went to see her in her house. And… we all asked her what happened."

Flashback

"Okay- why do you think she dumped him?" Jason asked Harry.

"I don't even know." Harry said. "She's probably just scared that things were getting too serious. I haven't seen her since our birthday, she's been avoiding me." Harry put his index finger on Jason's shoulder and apparated to the inside of the girls dorm. Ginny greeted him with a big hug and a kiss. A.J walked towards Jason and smiled slightly.

"Hey." she said. "Miss me?"

"Nope." Jason lied, before he hugged and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." A.J responded. "So- what are we doing?"

"We have to find out why Krys dumped Ares." Jason said. "Because- he's depressed. He stopped eating, and he lost twelve pounds. Moody's been going tough on him. We told him about the breakup… he got meaner… if that's possible."

"Then he gave Ares a talk about girls like Krys." Harry said. "He said something about Krys being secretive for reasons beyond what most people know. He got nice for a minute… then he went crazy again."

"How could she do this to him anyway?" A.J asked. "Do you think she's with someone else?"

"If she is… we can beat his ass, and not tell Ares." Jason said. Harry, Ginny and A.J laughed. "But- mommy said that she wants to come too. She took off work."

"She never takes off work." A.J said.

"I guess that's how much she wants to know."

"**Oh God. Now I don't want to be there**." A.J said in Spanish.

When they got to Krys' house, they were all together, and Harry used his key. The house was empty and smelled of apple cinnamon and vanilla.

"That smell is familiar." A.J said, as they ran up the stairs to Krys' room. Without knocking, they walked in, but Krys wasn't there. Harry walked around the hallway corner, and they all followed him. When they got to the third floor, Harry opened a room door. Krys was lying in the middle of a bed with tissues all over the dresser. She was sniffling, and hugging a shirt. "Krys, what the hell?" Krys looked up and choked down a sob.

"Why are you here?" she asked, as she wiped her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Harry asked. None of their voices were soothing, but with tough concerned love as the edge in their voices.

"Why are you yelling at me?" Krys whined. "He's gone. He's gone and I miss him." She sobbed, then buried her face in the pillow.

"_You_ broke up with _him_. _You_ don't get to cry." Jason said. Krys looked at him, and flames automatically went to her hair. She sat up.

"Why are you here?" she asked. "The last time I checked, I lived here."

"Well… I thought everything was going fine with you two. Why did you break up with him?" Harry asked. Hermione finally made herself noticeable from the door.

"Yeah, you still haven't told me why." she said, as she walked in. Krys looked at all of them, then looked at her hands.

"Was it another guy?" Ginny asked softly. Krys chuckled with her eyes closed, while she shook her head.

"There's never been another guy. There is no other guy." she said, as she held her head.

"Then why, Padfoot?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, Krys, why?" they all asked in some shape or form. Krys stood up, and pulled her shirt up. None of them could say anything. They only noticed the difference, because of how flat, lean, femininely and attractively muscular her tummy normally was. There was a small bulge in Krys' stomach. When no one said anything, she pulled her shirt back down and lied back on the bed, with her back turned to the rest of them.

"Then why did you break up with him?" Mrs. Delgado asked. "He didn't say anything about not wan-"

"No." Krys sobbed. "He would never. He- he gave me a promise ring. And… I miss him. He was so sweet."

"Then why?" Jason asked.

"He's been talking about marriage for a while." Krys said. "If I told him, he wouldn't've gone to Moody's program. Moody already had a fit when I told him that I wasn't going."

"Have you been to a doctor yet?" Mrs. Delgado asked, as she put her hand on Krys' little belly.

"No. That involves scandal, and people talking. Then I'd be known as _the young slut who has no idea how to use a condom_. They always have something to say. And I figured that you'd find out, if it was a scandal. And then you'd tell him. And he'd leave auror training. Then- I'd still be known as the big slut, even though I'd have a husband. And he'd end up resenting me, and so would you- for trapping your son and making his future turn to shit." Krys said. "I don't want to take away his dream… and Moody's program? That's like the highest that you can get."

"Well… you need to go to a doctor, Padfoot. Its not good for you if you don't. Maybe you should go to Madam Pomphrey." Harry said, as he moved closer to her bed.

"If I go to Hogwarts, they're all gonna know. McGonagall is gonna know- so is Moony, Mrs. Weasley- and…. Moody will find out."

"Well- it doesn't matter." Jason said.

"Yes it does." Krys whined. "And… they're right. Regular condoms are only affective about 97 of the time."

"How did it happen?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her. "I mean- I _know_ how it happened, but-"

"We ran out of spermicidal condoms… and we used regular." Krys whined. "Contraceptive spells are weird."

"How didn't you know?" A.J asked. Krys glared at her.

"I was very busy doing it with your brother." she snapped.

"Again, how didn't you know?"

"Have you seen him? Would you care?"

"He's not that cute."

"Yes he is. He's cuter than Jason too." Krys snapped.

"Hey- hey. Ouch." Jason said.

"Oi- I'm horrible. I'm sorry, A.J." A.J shook her head and laughed, before she hugged Krys.

"I just like pissing you off." she said.

"What about me?" Jason asked. Krys looked at him.

"Yeah, whatever."

"So- when are we going to tell him?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him.

"_We're_ not going to. None of us are. He'll find out when he's done with auror training." she said.

"Krys- he has a right to know. I mean- I'd be devastated if I missed my child being born." Jason said. Ms. Delgado and A.J looked at him when he said this. "What?"

"I- I don't want him to leave auror training. If he leaves, then he'll soon grow bored of the boring life, taking care of me and Mark- or Nicolas." They all looked at her questioningly. "I've been thinking of names."

"How far along are you?" Ginny asked.

"I think- three and a half months."

"That's a long time. You two spent the entire summer toge- ill." Jason said.

"I'm hungry." Krys whined. Harry snapped, and a needle appeared in his hand. "No- I want chicken parmesan… and a lot of cheese."

"Is that where you've been going off to every night?" Hermione asked. "You've been hiding the fact that you were eating food?"

"I didn't want to be a burden." Krys sobbed, before she started to sniff and hug the shirt again.

"What- what is this?" Ms. Delgado asked, as she looked at the shirt. It was one of Ares' basketball jerseys. Jason laughed instantly, recognizing he and Ares' matching jerseys.

"So- you don't really hate him." Jason said. Krys looked at him and sobbed.

"He thinks I hate him?" she cried.

"Okay- we have to take you to Madam Pomphrey, because… prenatal vitamins. You should get some." Ms. Delgado said. "You should really go see her." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she whined, as she wiped her eyes. "I'm still waiting on that sandwich." They all laughed.

"Krys, its okay. We all know that you're responsible… and you're smart." Ms. Delgado said. "I know that you didn't want this to happen, but the fact of the matter is that it did. So… we'll just have to deal with it."

"I- guess its time to tell." Krys said, before she covered herself with a blanket.

End Flashback

"She… she tried to do a self sacrifice and pass her powers on to the baby, making it so that if she used a bit of magic… it wouldn't hurt the baby and if it were to hurt anyone, it'd hurt her. But it backfired, and the baby died from magical strain. And after a minute or two, Krys died too. But the babies magic mixed with hers, and it brought her back, tripling her magical capabilities, but half of it is trapped. She was dead… truly dead for eight minutes. She caused a massive fire, and almost ended up killing all of the people that she was going to die for. When this happened… she literally died in the process, and burned… then came back from her ashes. E.J was a phoenix and passed it on to Krys, when she died to save her. That's how she was able to heal your leg by crying over it. This is how we really know that you were her trigger. We really knew two nights ago. No one in the world, including me, could've stopped that Parasitic Red Baron from spreading, for just anyone. She can only go into the high and mighty stage for people that she can't live without." Harry said.

"I have no idea what to do." Ares said. "On one hand… I'm angry as hell, and I never want to talk to her again. On the other hand… I can't stop thinking about her. And I miss her. And when I think of all the things that I said to her." Ares closed his eyes painfully. "But… I can't go find her. She hates me… and I don't know how to apologize for that. I don't know what to say to her- and I don't even know how I can look at her. I feel too guilty… and its all my fault." Before any of them could say anything, he got up and walked out of the room.

Dont hate me. I have writers block and I'm scared of screwing up the story. Maybe if I get eight more reviews, I'll feel better and more motivated. Maybe... and I hope I get a chance to find out.


	27. Missing?

"How can you guys act so calm?" Hermione asked, as she watched Harry order pizza. "you're about to have a sports party and Krys is _missing_."

"Hermione, it's a videogame tournament… and she's alright." Harry said.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked in outrage.

"Um… because I'm her insignificant other." Harry said, before he ordered extra cheese. When he was off the phone, he looked at her. "If anything is wrong with her, it'll be something that's physical and has to do with her muggle instabilities."

"And how does that make it okay?"

"Because, if she's sick in any way, her magic levels will go down and I'll be the first to know, because she won't be able to block me."

"Harry, I don't know if you noticed this about Krys or not, but… she's crazy." Harry laughed.

"She's not crazy. Actually, she's the most sane person that I know. Hermione, number one… she's afraid to hurt herself, and even though she doesn't think twice about some things, she has common sense." he said. "She's alright, Hermione. I mean, its Padfoot. And she'd never miss our birthday ritual."

"What do you guys do on your birthday?"

"Private. Can't tell you. Marauder secret." Harry said, holding up his chain. Hermione sat down. "Come on, its Padfoot. Even when she didn't have the power, she was… she could beat up anyone. Its okay."

"Harry…I know that she's okay. You're right." Harry nodded. "When was the last time you saw her, anyway?" Hermione asked.

"I haven't seen her in two days." Harry said. "I haven't seen her since she dictated the procedure to you."

"Yeah. Exactly." Hermione said. Harry seemed to get her and he sighed, then nodded. "Is Stardom here?" Harry nodded.

"Yeah- she's playing with Hedwig. I just fed them both." Hermione looked at Harry. He immediately snapped and a piece of paper and pen set themselves in front of them.

_Dear Cookie,_

_Get your ass back home now!! What the hell are you thinking leaving in the middle of the night? Where the hell are you? Well, wherever you are, please be safe. We're the dynamic duo, I'm not worth much if I'm just me. _

_With_ _love_,

_Bon-Bon_

_Dear Padfoot,_

_Get your ass back home now. What the hell do you think you're doing, leaving in the middle of the goddamn night? Where the hell are you? We're all worried about you. Just, please be safe. I don't think I can live knowing that I'm partially to blame for you being hurt. We're the terrible two, I'm not as terrible without you. If you need anything, call or write me._

_Love_,

_Prongs_

Harry whistled and Hedwig and Stardom came flying into the kitchen. Stardom went to Harry and nipped at his fingers affectionately, while Hedwig nipped at his ear.

"So much love." Hermione said. Harry laughed, and gave Stardom the letters.

"Take them to Padfoot, okay Stardom? And you follow her and find out where she is, okay?" he said to Hedwig. The two owls flew off as soon as Harry gave his orders.

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A week had passed by and Harry and Hermione still hadn't received letters back from Krys. Finally in the middle of the night, in the middle of his snog session with Ginny, Harry got a call on his cell phone. He pulled back reluctantly and looked at the LCD. 'Padfoot', it read. Harry answered the phone rapidly and put her on speaker. "Where are you?" he asked. He heard her give a soft significant chuckle.

"Prongs, I'm okay." Krys said. "Um… I might not be back for our birthday, but… I'm sending you something via Hedwig." She chuckled at her own corny ass joke.

"What do you mean you _won't be here_? No matter where we are, we always do the thing on our birthday."

"I'm sorry. I said I _might not be there_. If I can… I'll be there. If I can't… I won't. Its just that simple… sorry."

"Padfoot, where are you?"

"I'm safe." Krys said. "Look, I'll be home in no time. I think Christmas, at the latest."

"What do you mean Christmas?"

"Look- I said Christmas at the _latest_!! The _latest_! Goddamnit, Prongs. I could be home tomorrow… but I doubt it. Look… I'll see you when I do."

"Padfoot-"

"I love you."

"I love you too, bu-"

"Bye Prongsie." Then she hung up. Harry groaned.

"You couldn't find out where?" Ginny asked. Harry shook his head.

"She wouldn't even let her guard down." he said, as he started to pound the pillow.

"Harry, I'll always be here for your birthday." Ginny said, as she moved his hair from his face.

"Its not the same thing." Ginny looked a bit burned, so Harry shook his head and held her hand. "Its not like that. I love that you're here on my birthday… but we just… Padfoot and I do the same thing every year since we met, and… it fills the family void." Ginny stroked his hair and nodded.

"I get it." she said.

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The next week dragged by as they all waited for Krys to call again. When Harry informed all of them about the call that he'd gotten from her, they all tried to figure out where she could be.

"Well- she's not at Nemonora, because she didn't accept the job. She… where do you think she could be?" Hermione asked.

"She's alright." Harry said.

"I'm not so sure anymore. How often is she alright, when she says she is?"

"Hermione, she's okay." Harry said.

"Harr-"

"Hermione…" Harry started patiently. "We all know how she is… and we're all hoping that she's alright. Right now, your realism isn't helping the hope. In fact, you're taking all the hope we have, which is about this much" Harry pinched his index finger and thumb together, until they were practically touching. "And you're making it this much." He dramatically pressed the two fingers together, and made them look like they would grind together. "Back to the hope- lets try some group meditation." They all had to laugh at this. They all remembered the day that Krys was sick and delusional. "I'm sorry." Harry said to Hermione. She shook her head.

"No… don't be. We're all under stress… I mean… its _Krys_. Its like, ever since she became part of the group, she _welded_ us together. A.J and Gin are best friends, you and Jason are really cool… we're all best friends now, because of her… and without her… we don't know what we are. It just seems like, without her, all of that erases." she said. "It seems like, without her here, its wrong for you and Jason to be so close, and for me and Ares to talk, and for Gin and A.J to be friends, while Ares and Ron are also so close. It doesn't seem right, because she is the glue that kept us all together."

"Yeah, like our common ground is that we all love her." Harry said.

"That's what it is." Hermione said. "Without that, we don't have that much in common." Harry exhaled, then nodded.

"What if its different when she comes back?"

"Well… you tell me. You're Mr. Boy-Who-Lived." Hermione teased. Harry instantly recognized what she was doing.

"Thanks for being Krys." he said.

"Its nothing, Harry."

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Ares sat in the bed that he and Krys lived in. A few seconds later, Hermione walked in and sat in a chair across from the bed.

"How are you?" she asked. Ares looked at her.

"I miss her." he said.

"What do you miss?"

"Everything about her. I slept in her bed yesterday, and the night before I slept in her closet. She didn't take Snuffles and Jamesie, so I slept with them. Am I pathetic?" Hermione looked at him.

"You were pathetic before." she teased. "Now you're just smart, Ares. Don't feel bad… I'm sure that she'll understand."

"I can't believe I said all of that to her. I feel so bad… I just- I don't know what I can do to make it up to her. And I want to make it up to her regardless. It doesn't matter if she takes me back or not. Okay… she's the one I wanna be with, but… I'll do whatever I can to make it up to her."

"You're such a loser." Hermione said. "That's so cute. I'm sure she'd be happy to have you." They sat in silence for a moment.

"What happened?" Ares asked softly. Hermione looked at him and instantly knew what he was talking about. She shook her head.

"I don't know. One minute we were on the flight, then she got up and went to the bathroom, because she was feeling sick… then the plane started to rock. Ares, you don't want to hear this." she said. Ares nodded.

"If you have problems telling it, you don't have to, but I want to hear it." he said.

"She… so everyone was in a panic, because the plane ride was smooth until the sudden shakes and turbulence. When it happened the panic was horrible and I went to go get her. She was doing a chant in the bathroom. And… she was sitting on the floor and she rocking back and forth. And when she was done, she looked at me for a minute, and I knew what she was doing. She was passing her powers to protect the baby, but it backfired as soon as she stopped the plane from crashing."

"Was it really crashing?"

"Yeah. I had to apparate within it just to get to her." Ares nodded. "Well… after she did it, she started to hold her stomach, and she was throwing up. Then she finally… she was crying. And a minute later, her whole body took to flames. And she caused this massive fire and it spread within a minute… and a bunch of people died. But the fire avoided me. It was like it passed right through me. Then the fire just disappeared, and everyone that was screaming… they'd forgotten all about it. And they were all sitting down like nothing ever happened, and they were all alright, but Krys was gone, and all that was there were ashes on the floor. A second later, she came back from her ashes, she was bleeding and crying." Ares had his eyes closed painfully and he was biting his lip. "I took care of her until I made the pilot delay the flight. Remember that she was only ending her second trimester. Then I took her to Hogwarts. The part that hurt her the most about it was your mum had just agreed to take care of him until we finished school. Krys just finished tying everything up. She wrote you a note about it, she was going to take care of him on weekends, and… am I making it worse?" Ares shook his head.

"Its not your fault. You're just making me more mad that I didn't go after her, before she left. Its all my fault."

"Ares… she loves you-"

"Hermione, the night that she left… she left because of me. I said so many things to her… we were about to get back together that night. We kissed so many times… so many things happened. And then we had an argument… and she left. I didn't follow after her. I'm the reason that she's gone."

"Ares… to be truthful, I would've acted the same way. But like I told you before… like everyone told you before, she just wanted you to want her, instead of feeling sorry and compelled to go back. Everything would've unfolded if you would've trusted your heart. Ares, if you still wanted her and felt as close to her, as soon as you came back… that doesn't just have to be characteristic of an old flame. I swear… the heart wants what it wants. There is no stopping it. You've seen her spread, right?" Ares nodded mindlessly.

"Yeah." he said. "She looked great."

"She's very photogenic." Hermione said. "Well- Thai and I are going shopping this week in New York. Do you want to come?"

"Yes." Ares said sadly.

"Good. Get your mind right." Hermione said. "She'll be home before you know it." Ares nodded.

"Okay." he said. "So- how's engaged life treating you?" Hermione knew he needed the subject changed desperately.

"Well… Ron and I are thinking about eloping." Ares nodded.

"That's cool. But… won't his parents be mad?"

"_Thinking about it_." Hermione said. "I'm not in that big wedding mood, considering my dad has never threatened Ron."

"The right to passage. It doesn't seem real if your dad's not there to threaten the one you love, right?"

"Exactly." Hermione said. "So… I don't know about a big wedding, but then I remember Mrs. Weasley would like that, so… I might."

"Or you could have a ceremony after you already get married. Like renewing your vows." Ares said. Hermione looked at him.

"You're smart."

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Hermione was frantically cleaning she and Ron's kitchen. They had gotten around to telling Mrs. Weasley that they were dating, and she was thrilled. Now came the time to tell of the engagement, and Mrs. Weasley said that she'd love to have dinner with the couple. Hermione graciously accepted, but didn't hear the part where she was to be the hostess until later. When Ron walked in and saw her cleaning, he looked at her questioningly.

"Tonight is the night that we have dinner with your mum." Hermione said, as she vacuumed.

"Hermione, its only 2o'clock." Ron said. "Relax… you've had dinner with my mum before."

"Never, since we started dating." Hermione said. "Oh my God… I think I'm having heart palpitations." Ron held down his laughed, and hugged her to him.

"Hermione… my mum loves you. She probably just wants to talk to you about… stuff." he said. "Come on… its okay."

"Oh God… Ron, you don't know this about me. You can't marry me if you don't know this… you'll probably hate me because of it." Hermione said. Ron looked at her.

"What?" Ron asked in fear. He was no longer holding her. He remembered what happened the last time one of them had to tell the other something about their relationship. Ron was the one who had to tell Hermione about he and Lavender having sex three years earlier. That was the only thing that kept them apart for so long. Hermione took a deep breath and sat down. She started fanning herself, then looked at him.

"I can't cook." she blurted. Ron couldn't hold down the laugh this time. "I'm about to order takeout and put it on fine china. I can't cook at all… I mean- I can make a toaster strudel… I really can, but nothing else. And… I'm not joking about ordering from the Italian restaurant and putting it on china and using silverware." Ron shrugged.

"That shows cunning. And I love that about yo-"

"No. I mean… I'm worse than Krys. All I can make is Cup of Noodles, by Ramon and… sometimes its not fully cooked. Okay- no, I'm not worse than Krys. I can microwave pizza without burning it and I can make Turkey Bacon, but… I can't cook. I mean- you're about to marry someone who can't cook. How can you be happy with that?"

"Hermione, I had no intentions of eating your cooking, anyway." Ron said truthfully. "I mean… I know that you can't cook. And the only thing you can whip up, is a potion. I know that."

"How can you marry me? If I can't cook-"

"Then, I won't eat." Ron said simply. Hermione looked at him and laughed. Suddenly she stopped laughing and hopped up.

"Okay. There's a lot of work to be done." she said.

When they were done, everything sparkled, and the dining room table was set beautifully. The two walked to the living room and smiled. It really did look homey. She and Krys had put their money into the condo, and considering their parents professions, they lived nicely. The living room had a beige leather furniture set. One nice couch and two Lay-z-boys. Their coffee table was made of class and mahogany wood. Everything about their place was lovely. Hermione desperately hoped that Mrs. Weasley thought so too.

"Nice work." Ron said.

"No thanks to you. When did your mum say she'd be here?" Hermione asked. Ron looked at his watch.

"She said six. She should be here in twenty minutes." he said. "Aren't you going to hide the takeout?" Hermione looked at him and shook her head.

"That's how people get caught in stupid situations. They lie, and then they lie some more. Why act like I can cook, when I can't? I don't see the point in that. I'm going to inform your mother of my… flaw."

"Your only flaw." Ron said, as he hugged her.

"Ooh- get off, get off." Hermione said, pushing him away. "I don't want your mum to know that we touch each other." Ron looked at her and laughed.

"We live together." Ron said. "People will assume that we touch each other, considering we share a room _and bed_."

"Well, people shouldn't make assumptions. When you assume, you make an _ass_ of _u_ and _me_." Ron laughed.

"You're weird." he said. Hermione looked at him.

"How?"

"We're sleeping together, in both senses of the word. Are you ashamed of that?"

"No… I just- its weird. Two months ago, I was this pure, good girl virgin… and now- I'm having sex. Good sex at that." Ron laughed.

"I think so, too." Hermione blushed.

"Okay- well… sit down and act busy." she said, before she looked at herself in the mirror. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful."

"Are you sure it's not too… racy?" Hermione was wearing a black camisole and a black flared calve length skirt. The camisole was covered by a sweater. On her feet were black round toe pumps and she looked very classy, considering the possibilities with the clothes that she chose. If she took off the sweater and let her hair loose, she could go to a party. In her ears were black pearl studs, and she wore a matching pearl necklace and pearl bracelet. They were Krys' birthday gifts to her the year before. She turned to Ron and laughed. He was eying the diary that she kept when she was younger. "What are you doing?" Ron shook his head.

"Nothing." he said, before he dashed to the diary. Hermione ran to it also, but Ron was too fast for her. He got to it and opened it, before she caught him in her heels. He started to read, and his eyes went wide at the first page. The page was her personal 'to do' list. It was from sixth year. Hermione tackled him, and pinched him. "Ouch."

"Drop the diary, or it'll only get worse." Hermione threatened. The two were on the floor, and Ron was pinned under Hermione. Ron shook his head, then smirked.

"So- you wanted to snog me, huh?" he asked. Hermione's face contorted with outrage, but she couldn't lie. "Snog me, and make me yours?"

"And now that I have it, I'm not so sure I want it." Hermione teased. Ron smiled and puckered teasingly.

"Ouch. You cut me deep, love." he said.

"Give it."

"Never."

"Then prepare to stay on the ground."

"You're sure about that?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded. Ron started to tickle her, and Hermione somehow ended up under him. "What was that? I'll be staying on the floor?"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, get off of me." Hermione said through clenched teeth.

"And… why would I do that?" Ron asked.

"Because… I'll… if you don't, you can forget about sleeping in my bed tonight, and get used to the idea of the big comfy couch."

"That's not fair." Ron said. Hermione nodded.

"I find it very fair." she said. "Actually- I think it's a bargain. I shouldn't give you such a great deal." Ron leaned down, but Hermione shook her head. "I think it should be… you either get off me, or you forget about kissing me again. And… you forget about hugs and any other form of intimate contact. Like that shower we had together thirty minutes ago. Or our nights together. You'll lose all of that, and I'll get you your own TV to watch Pay-Per-View, because I will not be touching you anymore." Ron pouted.

"Okay, I'll get up." he whined. "Kiss to seal it?" Hermione nodded, and pecked him on the lips. The peck on the lips turned into a full blown snog session, with hands roaming and hormones raging. Ron unbuttoned the first few buttons on Hermione's sweater, and kissed her again. That would've continued wonderfully if Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hadn't chosen that precise moment to pop in. The lovely couple didn't notice them and continued to kiss until Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. Ron shot away from Hermione instantly. Hermione's face turned a deep red, and her eyes and mouth widened, before she buttoned her sweater. Suddenly a voice popped in her head. '_Stop being such a punk. Laugh about it… and welcome them. They love you._' It wasn't Hermione's conscience, she was sure of that. It was Krys' voice. Hermione got up and smiled sheepishly.

"Hi, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley." she greeted. Mrs. Weasley smiled and looked like she was also on the verge of laughter.

"Hello, Hermione." she said.

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Later that night, dinner was much better for Ron and Hermione with the Weasley's. The embarrassment came and went. When Hermione told Mrs. Weasley about her flaw, Mrs. Weasley laughed and replied with a '_you can't be worse than Ginny._' The night was peaceful and wonderful. Hermione secretly praised Krys for always having cake in the house. Krys had cakes sent to the house on a daily basis. Hermione served a cheesecake with coffee and everyone loved it, as they sat around the coffee table and talked. When the Weasley's heard of the engagement, they were thrilled. When they heard that it happened months before, they were livid. The men and women split up, and soon got back together. When Ron and his father met up with Hermione and his mother, the Weasley's decided that it was late. They left after they said their goodbyes. When they were gone, Ron turned to Hermione.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"My father asked what was going on, when they first showed up." Ron said. Hermione's eyes widened.

"What'd you tell him?"

"The truth." Hermione sighed. "You jumped me, and demanded that you have me. I couldn't get you off, and after a while, I didn't want to. But… he now knows that you're very demanding." Hermione laughed and playfully glared at him.

"You're horrible." she said. Ron nodded. "And now your father thinks that I'm a walking sex fiend."

"Its okay. You are." Hermione laughed, and nodded.

"You know it." she said. Ron leaned forward, but Hermione turned her head and yawned. "Oh- I'm tired. Maybe another night, honey."

"We're not even married yet, we're not supposed to lose the spice just yet." Ron whined. Hermione laughed and got up, pulling Ron into the bedroom with her. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Well… since you got off me… I'm going to hold up my end and let you watch Pay-Per-View."

"But I don't want that." Ron whined. Hermione laughed and pulled him down on top of her.

"I know what you want." she whispered seductively, before she kissed him and the lights turned off.

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Harry stared at his watch. It was August 29th 11:58 pm. He sat in Godric's Hollow. He had the birthday cake specially made. It was a chocolate cake, with a picture of Krys and himself on it. It was a picture of them on their first birthday, eating the same slice of cake. Harry had his present for her, and he waited. Both years that they'd done this, he'd been the late one. The seconds seemed to go on for days, as he waited. He looked at his watch, after he thought an hour had passed. 11:58, it read. Harry sighed and waited some more. Finally, he was sure that she was already ten minutes late. He groaned, and stood up.

"Happy Birthday, loser." said the voice behind him.

I'm trying, people. I just have serious writers block. Reviews will make me feel better.


	28. A Happy Enough Birthday

He turned around, and there she stood. Krys…Padfoot… family. She had a big box in her hand also. Actually, she had a big box, with a little box on top of a big box. She let it go and it floated to the ground, before she and Harry ran to each other mockingly. He hugged her when they met up. He pulled back and looked at her, then hugged her again.

"I've missed you too, Prongsie." Krys said, as she pulled away from him. Harry laughed.

"Why did you leave?" he asked.

"I had to go. I had to get away." Krys said.

"You kn-"

"Don't talk about Ares." Krys warned. "All we talk about tonight are… good things." Harry nodded.

"Where did you go?"

"Nemonora."

"They didn't write the usual letter."

"I changed my address."

"Weren't you two a package deal? You and Hermione?"

"Yeah. And I huffed and puffed until they said that she would get paid anyway." Krys said, as she sat down.

"How's it been?"

"I've been horrible. I can't even sleep. And those students… some are young, some are old… but they're all lazy and horrible. It has showed me one thing. I am not meant to be in the classroom. I like it better when I can actually heal things. I started class of with the 'In this classroom, I am the law.' then I got all horrible, and said 'In this classroom, I am the punishment'. There's this smartass rich kid. I just want to punch him in his mouth all the time." Krys said. Harry laughed. "The best student that I have is this cool ass girl… and she is great. Honestly, the spell is wandless. This spell cannot be done without a certain amount of concentration. Only one person can do the spell so far, and that's the girl. She couldn't even do wandless when we started the class… we spent the entire class working until she got it right."

"What have you been doing?"

"Well… I have unlimited power with the course, so… I've been working around schedules to try and get everyone on task. The class runs almost everyday. Plus- I have a lot of visitors. Minnie and Poppy came to see me last week. Poppy was a visitor to my class. Oh- and I got a visit from Moody and Moony. Mrs. Weasley, Ms. Delgado, and Ronnie came to see me earlier."

"So the only people who didn't know where you were, were us?" Harry said. Krys looked thoughtful, before she nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "Pretty much. What have you been doing?"

"Waiting for phone calls from you." Harry said. Krys laughed.

"How is everyone?" she asked.

"And by everyone, do you mean A-"

"Don't, Prongsie." Krys said. She looked at the cake. "Are we gonna eat?" Harry handed her a fork. Krys took the fork, and ate around the edges. Harry watched her, and held back on asking his question.

"When are you coming home, Padfoot?" he finally asked. Krys looked up at him and smiled slightly.

"Um… Prongs, I don't know. I- I kind of……"

"Padfoot, what are you saying?"

"I don't know if I'm coming back." Harry looked at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Prongs…" Krys sighed, and ran her hand through her hair. "I…"

"You can't ruin your life because of what happened with you and Ares. You can't make everyone else suff-"

"You're not suffering." Krys said. "You can always come and visit me, Prongs."

"Padfoot, it isn't the same. California is your home. You made California everyone's home away from home. I haven't been in England in a month." Harry said.

"Prongs… I'm sorry. I have a future there. I've only been there for two months and already they want to grant me tenure."

"You have the opportunity to sit in and run your dad's business everyday, and you don't want to. You have a future there, too."

"Because people that have been running it under my father can run it better than me. No one, except Hermione, can teach this class better than me, Prongs. And it feels good."

"Padfoot… you're talking about picking up and leaving." Harry said.

"Prongs… just support me. Please, I don't want you to hate me for my decision."

"Whatever." Harry said.

"Prongs-."

"Its fine." he snapped. Krys looked down. "Padfoot, I'm sorry." Krys looked up and Harry held the box out to her. She looked at it, and waved her wand. Her two boxes whizzed to the two of them. She handed Harry the two boxes, and Harry handed her the box. Krys opened Harry's gift, and her eyes widened.

"Prongsie… I love you." she gushed. In the box were a pair of low black Adidas. They were spray painted with a white paw print outlined with an electric blue. Next to the paw print 'Padfoot' was written in electric blue cursive. There were little rhinestone sapphires inside of each 'o' of Padfoot. "Okay okay… open yours. The big one." Harry looked at the big box. Inside was a new set of auror robes. 'Potter' was written in emerald green. Harry looked at her. "You don't like it?"

"No, I love it. But- Padfoot, you know I don't work. I only go in when they need me. I'm lazy."

"Prongs… you should really make it full time. You know that you could be Class 3 in no time, detective even. I forget- is Class three higher, or is class one higher?"

"I don't even know." Harry said. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Okay- open the second box." Krys said. Harry nodded, and opened the second box. Inside was a small electronic item that Harry couldn't identify. "It's a self tracking device. I swear, I think all aurors should have one. If you ever get captured, then you know where you are… and when you escape, you'll still always know how to get back to the psychos, once you have backup." Harry nodded.

"Thanks."

"Dude- I tried." Harry laughed.

"No, I love it." he said. He pulled a tube from behind his back, and held it out to her.

"Ooh- more gifts." Krys said. Harry laughed.

"Its from Ares." Krys looked at the tube, and reached for it tentatively. She popped off the cap, and dumped the contents in her hand. Blueprints dropped from the tube. She looked at the design that he came up with and smiled.

"Cool." she said. She went through the sheets, until she was done. "Very cool." She stood up.

"I won't tell them, you know." Harry said. Krys nodded.

"I know." she said. "You ready to go?" Harry nodded, and they both apparated to Potter Manor. They walked through the mansion, looking around. Finally, they got to the main room, where the portraits were. Four big portraits were on the wall. One of each parent. Then two big wedding pictures. All of the portraits were sleeping. "Prongs, maybe we shouldn't wake them this year."

"Padfoot… they'll be mad." Harry said.

"Okay." Krys said, before all the portraits yelled,

"Boo!" Harry and Krys jumped back, slightly startled. Then the two laughed, along with all four portraits. "Happy twentieth birthday."

"Thanks." Krys said.

"Thanks." Harry said.

"So… are you going to tell us how everything is?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah… we haven't had any visitors for a while." Lily said.

"And the last few weren't pleasant." James said. "By the way, Krys, how are you?"

"Happy." Krys said.

"Are you eating?" E.J asked. Krys nodded. "_What_ are you eating?"

"Chocolate, chocolate cake, cookies, chocolate, chocolate chip cookies-" Harry recited, before Krys punched him. "Ouch."

"Snitch." Krys complained. They all looked at her.

"Are you staying healthy?" they all asked her in some form.

"This is not 'gang up on Krys' day, okay?" Krys asked. This made all of the portraits laugh. "Why is everybody always asking if I'm healthy? Why don't we grill Prongsie over there?"

"Because he's not the one always scaring people." Sirius said. Krys looked at him.

"Well… I apologize for that. It seems that I'm always doing the wrong thing." she said.

"Is it me, or did they get along a lot better before we knew they were related?" James asked. This question broke the ice and made them laugh.

"You're my little girl… and I only want you safe." Sirius said. Krys nodded.

"I know." she said.

"Happy Birthday." said Sirius. Krys nodded.

"Thanks… daddy." she said.

"So… did everything pan out with that… boy?" Krys laughed and shook her head.

"He got married." she said.

"Well… then he's an idiot."

"I know. He is." Krys said. "Then again, I'm an idiot, too. I paid for the wedding… _voluntarily_." They all looked at her. "Don't judge… it was a personal choice, and he doesn't know. I got him a few Kryscounts."

"So… how was auror training?" Sirius asked Harry.

"Oh- it was good." Harry said.

"How was healer training?" Sirius asked Krys.

"Hermione and I got the grant. We healed the tissue and now I'm teaching a course in Nemonora, where all these incompetent rich kids have no idea what they're doing." Krys said.

"Hey… we were those rich kids." E.J joked. They all laughed.

"Yes, but you knew what you were doing." Krys said. "I mean… I'm teaching the slackers that didn't have the common sense to show up to class and write their names on the attendance sheet, before they left. A few of them were in classes with me, you can imagine how awkward that is. _We were classmates, now I'm your teacher_." They all laughed.

"So… how's Ginny?" E.J asked Harry.

"She's good." Harry said.

"When am I going to hear wedding bells?" Lily asked.

"When I have a steady job." Harry said.

"Yeah, your son is a slacker. He doesn't want a stable job. He gets called in when the ministry has a problem that they can't deal with. He's supposed to be like 'Super Auror'." Krys said.

"Shut up." Harry said.

"Make me, you punk." said Krys. "Um… mom."

"Yeah?" E.J asked.

"When were you going to tell me that you know Julia Jade Delgado?"

"When I tell you who killed me." E.J said.

"What?" Krys asked.

"No, Thalia. She didn't kill me." Krys exhaled. "I said I'd tell you, when I tell you who killed me."

"Can we not talk about this?" Sirius said.

"Get over it. We're all dead." Lily said.

"Yeah, can we stop talking about it like its no big deal?" Krys said.

"Whatever." E.J said. "It's the truth… but, whatever." Krys and Harry nodded. "When you're ready to know the truth, I'll tell you the truth. Its blocked for a reason, _Thali_… and I don't want you to look for it. You're not ready."

"Okay… whatever." Krys said. "I just want you to know that you just switched from really, really, British, to really, really Hispanic, and back… within the course of a second. But continue." E.J chuckled slightly.

"I don't want you looking for it, either, Jamie." E.J said to Harry. Harry nodded.

"Okay, Jazzy." he said.

"Daisy said that Peter popped up in the auror office, hemorrhaging and crying. Would you two know anything about that?" E.J. asked. Harry and Krys shook their heads in harmony. "The truth." Harry and Krys nodded. "Explain."

"He tried to kill me." Krys said. "Actually- he didn't get a chance to try… but he was lurking around outside the house. What was I supposed to do?"

"Let the ministry handle it." Lily said.

"Well… if its any consolation, Harry's an auror. He works for the ministry." Krys said. They all laughed, except for Lily.

"Not funny. You could be in serious trouble for that. I don't want you to abuse your power." she said.

"Mum, we didn't. Just imagine it… the person who ruined our lives flaunting the fact that he ruined our lives. He deserved it." Harry said.

"Honey, he deserved it." James said to Lily. Harry and Krys scrunched their noses, as Lily and James kissed.

"Ill." they chorused.

"But… in all reality, Melrose Pearl didn't even get detention when she put me under the Black Bone Shadowin-" Krys started,

"What?!!!" the portraits yelled.

"You didn't tell them, Prongsie?" Krys asked Harry.

"You were put under BBS?" E.J asked. "Who did it?" She was talking though clenched teeth.

"It wasn't maliciously." Krys said. "Plus… I was lucky. She didn't do it right, and no harm done. Just a month of my life."

"That's my girl." Sirius said. Krys and Harry laughed. "So… are you sure that you're okay? Is everything okay with you?"

"We're good." Krys and Harry said simultaneously.

"Call Daisy up here. She has your gif-" E.J said.

"Mom, I want to know." Krys said.

"Know what?" E.J asked feigning obliviousness.

"If you're not gonna tell me who killed you, you can at least tell me why."

"E.J, she deserves to know. They tried to kill her too." Sirius said.

"Too secretive, E.J. Its been affecting her too." James said.

"Yeah. They're right, E.J." Lily said. "Harry, leave the room."

"Why? I want to know. I have a right to know." Harry said.

"I'm gonna tell him anyway." Krys said.

"Thalia, I… the reason that I was in hiding was because, I- I created the ultimate weapon. And when you're ready, you'll know who killed me and what happened. But you're not ready." E.J said. "Trust me, when you're ready… you'll know. And you'll wish that you didn't have to carry it with you."

"Well… thank you. I'll sleep soundly tonight." Krys said in a jokingly sarcastic way that made them all laugh.

"I trust you, Thalia. I really do… but, I don't trust your ability. And I will not lie to you about that. You have too much power for someone so angry, and not enough self-control for someone with such power and capability. And when you learn or develop that self-control, your mind will be more than happy to let down all barriers to the secrets of your past." E.J said.

"Okay." Krys said.

"E.J, weren't you the one who accidentally set me on fire, when you thought I forgot your birthday?" Sirius said.

"I'm just not good with surprises." E.J said. "And it served you right. Turns out, you were just proposing."

"No, you have little to no self-control, E.J." James said.

"Listen, E.J… Krys spent an entire week with her trigger's fiancé, and didn't once hit her. I think she has good self control." Harry said.

"Yeah, and didn't you punch Emily in the face at the dance, E.J?" Lily said.

"Emily is Ares' wife." Krys said. They all looked at her.

"Emily Jr." Harry said.

"Oh honey." E.J said. "You really _do_ have self-control."

"Especially after how you handled Emily Sr." Sirius said.

"Not enough self-control, obviously." Krys said. "I can wait."

"You'll be happy you did." Sirius said. "Nobody wants to remember what happened. When I found out… it took Daisy two hours to put me back on the wall." They all laughed.

"Um… I'm sorry. I have to go. Prongs… I have to go." Krys said.

"Padfoot…about not coming home. Are you sure?" Harry asked. Krys looked at him and smiled sadly, before she nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Prongsie… but its not gonna change."

"I was afraid you'd say that." Harry said.

"Looks like we're all moving our party to Switzerland." Krys said. Harry laughed. "Are you gonna come visit me?" Harry nodded.

"Yeah." he said, before he hugged her.

"Well- I love you guys. I'll see you guys." Krys said, before kissing each of their portrait cheeks. Harry groaned, and snapped his finger, making the cake disappear, before he kissed E.J and Lily. Then he and Krys disapparated. When they landed in the graveyard Harry turned to Krys.

"Why does your mum call you _Thalia_?" he asked. Krys laughed.

"My first week there. When they took care of me, you know." she said. Harry nodded. "They broke out into this story and told me everything that kids don't usually want to hear, but adopted kids live for. You know, the story of how they got together, their relationship, their marriage… all that shit. Well- she was talking about naming me. Dad wanted to name me Krystal, and mom wanted to name me Thalia. So, they did the most ghetto thing imaginable and put the names together, instead of using one and giving me the other as a middle name." Harry laughed. "My name in Spanish, is also _Krystathalia_… or that's what E.J claims. But I like it. I might even use it."

"Dannitti Thalia, Davetti Eris?"

"No. Dannitti and Davetti was reserved for my children with Ares." Krys said. "You know Dannitti and Davetti Delgado." Harry laughed.

"Padfoot, about Mark-"

"Prongs, I don't want to talk about it."

"Padfoot, please. You haven't done any healing." Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Lets go to my place." she said, as she took his hand and disapparated. Krys sat at her new apartment's kitchen table. "You wanted to talk…lets talk."

"You have to stop blaming yourself."

"Prongs… how do you think it makes me feel to know that I could've just left, and everything would've been alright?" Krys said.

"You saved over two hundred lives that night."

"Yeah. People who don't give a damn about what I lost that day. Okay… true. I probably made the right choice, but… I killed a part of me, for a bunch of people that don't give a flying fuck. And people who got pissed when the flight to Germany had to be delayed, and I got let off on the plane, bleeding, writhing and crying, with a pregnant stomach. And the worst part is that, I looked different, but they knew I was pregnant… so tell me what I killed my son for, Prongs. Filicide… I killed him." Krys said. "Tell me why I no longer have anything going for me."

"You didn't kill him, Padfoot. It was an accident. You're right." Harry said. "But you have to stop blaming yourself."

"No. I always have to play the goddamn hero. It happened because I was too damn weak and fucking do-gooder. '_Ooh- I'll risk my baby's life to save a bunch of bitches, who have nothing to do with me. Everything will be fine if I just do a good selfless deed_'" she said in a happy tone. "Well guess what, not everything is fine. I have no one. I'm gonna die alone. I haven't had sex in two years. And the father of my late and nonexistent son is married to someone that he loves more than he loved me. Life is shitty, Prongs."

"Padfoot… it isn't your fault. These things happen and… no one can explain them."

"No. These things don't just happen, Harry. These things happen _to me_. Okay- you know what… in all truthfulness… you're right. I shouldn't blame myself… but that doesn't change the fact that I do. I lost everything because I couldn't just turn away."

"What about Hermione? You saved her too, that day."

"We could've both left."

"Hermione didn't leave because she wasn't going to leave you."

"I could've flamed. Pregnant phoenix-women can flame."

"Padfoot… you saved lives that night. You saved so many lives in that one night."

"Yeah, but I lost mine. I didn't even break even. Prongs, I got so used to the idea of having that baby. And… I kept thinking that if I did, I'd probably have a sense of contentment or a life, even. I just forgot that nothing ever goes the way its supposed to, when it comes to me. I'm like a jinx. Everything that I go near turns to dead." Harry took his cue and moved a few paces away from Krys, earning a laugh and smile.

"Come on, Padfoot… it cant just the fact that you lost the baby. It can't just be that."

"Its not. Its just-… I was used to the idea of having Ares' baby. Not just a baby… but his baby. I know, that seems psychotic." Harry nodded, and made Krys laugh again. "I just- I also- I wanted him. I wanted to be able to do my part in the cycle of the world. I wanted Mark Raphael John James Rodriguez-Black-Delgado." Harry laughed. "He sounds like a law firm, I know. But… I'll never have that." Harry nodded.

"I have to go." he said. "Happy twentieth."

"Happy twentieth." Krys said.

"Don't do anything crazy, okay?" Krys laughed.

"You're right. I did some major healing in half an hour." she said. Harry nodded.

"See. I told you so." he said, before he hugged her and kissed her cheek. "I love you."

"Whatever." Harry looked at her. "Alright, I love you, too." Krys said.

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September 30. They all sat in Krys' dining room, waiting for Harry to walk in.

"What do you think he has to tell us?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe Krys is coming home." A.J said.

"Oh- you're right." Hermione said. "She's coming home. He even said that she and him had their annual birthday meeting." They all looked at Ares. His hair had grown a considerable amount, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in years. He was growing a mustache and a beard, while his sideburns continued. He looked hopeful. A minute later, Harry walked in.

"Um- hey guys. Thanks for doing this and coming here to listen." he said. "Um- I saw Padfoot last month, and I've been trying to think of a way to tell you all this. But……she told me that she isn't coming back." No one said anything for a while.

"She has to be back for my wedding." Hermione said. "Did you tell her about my wedding?"

"She- I'm sorry guys. I tried to talk her out of it, but in the end… she just wanted me to be happy for her." Harry said. No one else said anything.

"You know what? I have to go." Ares said, as he got up and walked away.

"Me too." Hermione said, before she an Ron disapparated.

"Okay… I feel a little… I have to go too." A.J said, before she and Jason disapparated. Ginny was the only one left. She looked at him and smiled slightly.

"Its okay Harry. Come on, lets go." she said. He nodded.

"Yeah." he said.


	29. Home Sweet Home

Hermione and Ron lied in bed.

"Come on, Hermione… its okay." Ron said. "Come on… lets go to sleep. It really late."

"She's not coming back. We don't even know where she is. Only Harry knows where she is, and he won't tell us." Hermione said. She shifted uncomfortably when her cell phone vibrated. When she pulled it out from under her and looked at the LCD, it read 'Delta'. Hermione flipped the screen open.

"Hello." a feminine voice said.

"Hello?" Hermione said. "Who is this?"

"Bon-bon, you don't know my voice?"

"Krys, where the hell are you? Why aren't you coming home? Harry says your not coming home!"

"Hermione, shut up." Krys said, with laughter in her voice. "Yes, I told Harry that I wasn't coming home."

"Why? Why the hell aren't you coming home?" Hermione asked.

"I _am_ coming home. I just- I had a few things to tie up. I went to Hogwarts, and I helped Moony teach a class. Didn't Harry tell you where he was last week?" Krys said.

"No." Hermione said.

"Well- my class was done, but Harry and I did our usual dueling thing for Moony's class. He still doesn't know that my class is done. I'm in the airport right now. My flight is in a few hours. I'll be home at like 1pm." Krys said. Hermione laughed.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah. California is home. Well- England is really home, but you know what I mean. I'm gonna work in Gem's hospital." Krys said.

"Okay." Hermione said.

"Gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't tell Harry."

"Krys-… safe flight." Hermione said softly. Hermione could hear Krys' nod.

"Yeah. I'll be fine… knock on wood." she said. "Love ya, Bon-bon."

"Love ya too, Cookie." Then Krys hung up. Ron looked at Hermione expectantly. "She's coming home tomorrow." Ron laughed. "Don't tell Harry."

"It seems like Krys to get us all pissed off, so that she can surprise Harry." Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"You're right. We all probably should've seen it coming." she said, before she kissed his cheek. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Ron said, before he started to kiss her neck. Hermione looked at him.

"Didn't you say that it was time to go to sleep?" she asked.

"That's when you were being crazy."

"Well- goodnight." Hermione said, as she turned her back to him.

"That's mean."

"I love you."

"Yeah, I love you too." Ron said grumpily.

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The next day, one o'clock couldn't come fast enough for Hermione. At nine am, she was in Ares' room, flicking at him, so that he'd wake up.

"Get dressed! Shave!! Cut your hair!!" she yelled. "You look like Tom Hanks, in Castaway." Ares looked at her and groaned.

"No work today." he said into his pillow.

"I have a surprise for you." Hermione said. Ares got up and looked at her through squinted eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"You have to start looking good again." Hermione said. Ares nodded. "Promise?" Ares nodded. "Well- start now. We're going out."

"Where?" Ares asked. His voice was muffled because his head was buried in a pillow again. Hermione laughed and pulled the pillow away from him.

"Come on." she said, as she hit him with the pillow. "Come on, dammit!!"

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When Hermione finally got Ares up, she dragged him to a barbershop.

"You look like a hobo." she said. Ares laughed and shrugged.

"So what? Who do I need to look good for? Krys isn't coming back- I don't want Emily." he said. "Word spread that I wasn't getting married, for the first few weeks… some women at work were giving me the eye. But it doesn't matter, I don't want anyone but Krys."

"Ares, just because Krys isn't back, doesn't mean that you should start to look like… this." Hermione said, gesturing to his new grungy look. Ares shrugged, then walked to the barber's chair. Hermione sat down and looked through Vibe and Maxim as Ares was in the chair. A few minutes later, when Ares was done, shaved and back to looking good, he sat down next to Hermione. "Is this the magazine that they want Krys to do?"

"What?" Ares asked. Hermione showed him the Maxim and his eyes widened. "They want her to do a men's magazine?"

"Yeah- they want her to do Maxim. They called her house the other day." Hermione said, before she looked up at him. "Aw- you're pretty again."

"You can't have me." Ares said, as he got up.

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When Hermione pulled up to the airport, Ares looked at her.

"What are we doing here?" he asked. Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know." she said, before she looked at her watch. "But it is about 1:12 pm, and… I got a call last night." she said.

"Hermione, what do you know?" Ares asked suspiciously.

"I know that Krys called me last night... to tell me that she's coming home today. And that her flight should've landed at about 1pm." Hermione said. Ares' eyes were wide.

"Whoa." he said. Hermione nodded and got out of the car. Ares rushed out after her. "What the hell am I supposed to say, Hermione? _I'm sorry that I was such a jackass… in reality, I just didn't want to be considered weak for going back to you. And if you don't believe that I still love you, just ask me what underwear you were wearing each day of the week I last saw you?_"

"That would make her laugh." Hermione said. "Do you really know what underwear she was wearing each of those days?" Ares chuckled slightly. "Oh- you are a sick pervert."

"No, no I'm not. I just-"

"You're a pervert."

"I can't tell you what underwear Emily was wearing last time I saw her, and I was the one who took them off." Ares said. Hermione looked at him and laughed.

"I can't wait to see the look on her face." she said, as they waited. A few minutes later, Hermione and Ares were in shock at what they were seeing. Krys walking with a bag duffle slung over her shoulder, and she was pulling her rolling suitcase along with her. She was wearing tight black bootleg jeans, and a small black and pink sequined top. When Ares saw her, a goofy look overtook his face.

"Whoa." he said. "I mean… she looked good when she left, but now… whoa." Krys was looking around. A minute later, Josephs walked out behind her, with two bags on each shoulder. He then took the bag that Krys had slung over her shoulder, and kissed her cheek. Then the two started to publicly kiss. Publicly Kiss meant they were tonguing each other down. Hermione looked at Ares, who was fuming.

"Well… I don't want to say-"

"Don't say it, Hermione." Ares warned.

"I told you so." Hermione sang. "When _you're_ ready, _it's too late_." Ares almost laughed, because she was right. She told him so. Hermione looked at him, pulled her shades over her eyes, then skipped over to Krys and Josephs, before tapping Krys on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Ms. Rodriguez- can I have your autograph?" Krys pulled back.

"Sure." she said, before she turned to Hermione. Her eyes widened. "Jesus Christ!" The two hugged. "Oh my God, Bon-bon… dude." Hermione laughed. "Who else is here with you?" Hermione smiled and looked at Ares, who was walking slowly towards the group. Krys looked at Hermione, and growled at her viciously and discreetly. Hermione smiled and slightly waved at Josephs. He smiled and waved back. Ares walked over to them and smiled slightly.

"Hey, Krys." he said shyly. Krys looked at him and gave a halfhearted wave.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey Josephs." Ares said. Josephs nodded slightly. It was the 'wassup' nod. "How was your vacation?"

"It was good." Josephs said, before he looked at his watch. "Krys, can you get me to a good apparation sight?"

"Um… what car did you guys bring?" Krys asked.

"Torres." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"Good trunk space." she said. "C'mon." She looked around, then made a beeline for the Toyota.

The drive to Krys' house was tense, as Ares continued to stare at his boss's girlfriend.

"Where's Emily?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her and shrugged. "So- how's married life treating you?"

"Oh- they didn't tell you?" Ares asked.

"You guys are pregnant? Cool." Krys said. Ares shook his head.

"No, actually-"

"You guys got divorced… Already?" Ares laughed.

"You're terrible."

"I try."

"No, we're not divorced, or separated. We never got married." he said.

"Oh." Krys said. "Wow."

"Thanks for the tickets, though."

"Well- I figured that you could use them."

"Huh." Ares said. "I never got to. But I did make sure all of your jewelry was back in your cases."

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When they got to Krys' house, and Josephs disapparated, Krys, Hermione and Ares sat around Krys' kitchen.

"So- where's everyone?" Krys asked.

"I have no idea." Hermione said. "I'm just so happy that you're back." Krys turned to Ares and glared at him.

"You small dickhead. How dare you come in my house after what you said to me the last time we saw each other?" she asked. "Okay- I'm selfish? Big fucking deal, I hated your fiancé and didn't think that she deserved you. That's the real reason that I wasn't going to your wedding. I mean… you're so self involved, and yet so stupid that you didn't realize that I just hated your trifling, two timing fiancé. That's why I lied and said I was going somewhere with Josephs. I had no plans to go and get drunk with him that night, a-"

"What?" Ares asked in a confused voice.

"When was the last time you guys saw each other?" Hermione asked. Krys shrugged.

"I was pretty drunk the night before his wedding. No… I got drunk because of him." she said, pointing at Ares.

"I'm sorry." Ares said. "I'm an idiot."

"You are." Krys agreed.

"So- do you forgive me?" Ares asked. Krys looked thoughtful.

"Okay." she said. "But only because… you forgave me." Hermione looked at Ares, who was guiltily nodding.

"Come on, I want to show you something." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Okay. Bon-bon, come on." she said.

"No- um, I have to go talk wedding plans with my _fiancé_." Hermione said. "You two have fun."

"Ooh- I have to go change. I haven't done laundry in about two months and I feel like a tramp in this getup." Krys said, before she ran out of the room and up the stairs.

"She doesn't remember that night." Ares said.

"How drunk was she?" Hermione asked.

"Krys can't drink. She- she can't even have sparkling cider. I have the slight feeling that I was taking advantage of her that night." Ares said.

"Ares… you didn't-…you didn't know. And in all honesty, she wouldn't've told you, because she thought that you were happy with Emily and you'd be happier without her. She really just wanted you to take the chance on her." Hermione said.

"Hermione, you're making it worse. I just wanted to be an asshole and hurt her. And she just wanted me to trust her."

"In all truth… she would've done anything for you to be an auror."

"Well… now I feel really bad." Hermione laughed.

"Don't." she said. "Look- I'll see you later. Tell her, then tell me how it goes. Oh- and name your first girl after me, okay?" Then she skipped out of the room. When Krys got downstairs forty minutes later, she looked like the old Krys. She was wearing a big black t-shirt with her name spray painted in royal blue, silver, and white. She was also wearing baggy black jeans, and the sneakers that Harry got her. On her head was a solid black Mitchell and Ness fitted cap, spray painted royal blue, white and silver. Her hair under the cap was in a curly half bun, with curls falling all over. Ares looked at her and grinned. She skipped over to him and hopped on the counter.

"Heya." she said. Ares laughed. "So- what's going on, did you miss me?" Ares nodded.

"Yeah. Of course." he said. Krys smiled cutely, and looked at him.

"Good." she said. "So- what'd you need to talk to me about?"

"Um… I've been staying here… since you left." Ares said. Krys nodded. "And I was wondering if I could stay here permanently." Krys gave him a look. "If- I'm sorry. I just threw someth-"

"I'd love it. Of course you can stay here. Hermione just threw me away for Ron… you're my new road buddy. I mean- I can't believe that you just asked me… you should've known that I'd say yes." Krys said, hopping off the stool. "So that's what you wanted to ask me?"

"Well… I wanted to give you something too." Ares said. Krys looked at him and shook her head.

"Come on, I can't accept anything from you." she said. Ares looked at her like she was stupid. Ever since he'd found out, almost everything about her attitude changed. Just by knowing her, he knew that she blamed herself. The fact that she could still give an actual smile was surprising to him. She was basically angelic to him. And even before he knew, she was always doing something for him.

"Come on, Krys… you paid for my entire wedding. A wedding that I didn't even go through with. I was saving the cake for you… but you didn't come back." Ares said. Krys laughed and shook her head. Ares took her hat off of her head, and earned himself a scowl from her.

"Actually, I got you something." she said, after she smacked him and got her hat back. Ares looked at her, while rubbing his arm.

"Okay… well we actually have to leave for mine." he said. Krys nodded, then jumped off the counter. Without saying anything, she ran out of the kitchen. Ares just shook his head, as he waited for her to come back. When she did, she was carrying a wide box. She sat on the stool next to him, then turned so she was facing him. Krys held the present out to him and smiled cutely. Ares laughed.

"Come on, open it, dammit." Krys said, as she helped him open it. They uncovered a gigantic box of Swiss chocolates.

"Thank you." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"You make it seem like I just got you a Bentley."

"No… its because, I thought you hated me."

"Never. You have to remember, you're my Kingie. I can't hate you." Krys said softly.

"Come on. We have to go to my house, to get your gift." Ares said. Krys nodded and they disapparated. They landed in the magical neighborhood, in front of Ares' house. The two walked inside, and looked around.

"Oh shit. I haven't been inside your house since I had dinner with you and your fiancé."

"That was a bad day." Ares said. "I think this is the one place you and I never had sex." Krys looked at him and laughed.

"You're horrible." she said, before she walked up the stairs to his room. When they got in the room, Krys lied down, after kicking off her shoes. "So- what do you have for me, Loverboy?" Ares sat down next to her.

"You wanna sit up for this?" he asked. Krys sat up and looked at him. Ares' heart started to race, because of how close they were. "Um…" He pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket and handed it to her. Krys looked at him, then the box. Then, she looked at him again.

"What is this?" she asked. Ares looked at her questioningly. "What is this?"

"Um… I just want you to have it. I left your birthday gift at your house." Krys looked at him.

"You didn't have to get me anything." she said. "I mean, I love presents, but… I have enough already."

"Well… I want you to have it." Ares said. Krys smiled.

"Well… before I open it… thank you." she said. She looked at the box and opened it. Inside the box was a ring. The ring was beautiful. It was a platinum pear shaped, sapphire setting. It had many stones, but three more noticeable than the rest. The two stones on the outside were sapphires and the stone in the middle was a big diamond. The rest of the stones around the ring were diamonds. They surrounded the entire ring. "**Oh my God. **Are you proposing to me?" she teased. Ares laughed and shook his head.

"No. But it's the ring I bought you." he said. Krys looked at him and pushed it to him slightly.

"Thank you. But… Ares, I can't accept it." she said. Ares nodded, and pushed it back towards her.

"Yes, you can." he said. "Come on, Krys. I want you to have it." Krys looked at the ring and smiled.

"Okay." she said. She looked at the ring. "I'll pay you for-"

"Krys, shut up." Ares said. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Thank you." she said, before she kissed his cheek. Ares nodded.

"No problem." he said, before he slid the ring on her finger.

"I love you, dude." Ares nodded.

"I love you too." he said. Krys lied back down on his bed, and looked at his chocolate.

"What are we eating today, Ares?" she asked, as she pointed at the box of chocolate.

"Well- do you want some chocolate?"

"Oh… are you sure?" Ares laughed.

"Do you want some, or not?"

"Yes."

"Well… what do I get?"

"What do you want?"

"Kiss." Krys laughed. "I'm serious." Krys continued to laugh.

"Sexual favors for chocolate. I feel so cheap." she said. "Then again, I've done worse." Ares looked at her and laughed, before handing her the box of chocolate. "Remember that time I had sex with you, for a scar?" Ares looked at her and smiled.

"Good times." he said. Krys nodded, and took his chocolates. She began eating.

"Very good times." she said. Ares looked at her and had a whole sexual fantasy, while nodding. It started by his licking the chocolate off of her lips. Krys looked at him looking at her. "What happened?" Ares wiped the piece of chocolate from her lip with his index finger. Then he licked his finger.

"You bought me your favorite thing in the world, but you didn't buy any for yourself?" he asked.

"Oh… see- um, I bought some… but I ate it."

"You ate it?"

"I know. I'm weak." Ares laughed and lied down next to her. The two faced each other.

"I missed you." he said softly. Krys smiled slightly.

"Good." she said. "I've looked over your blueprints. And I _loved_ them."

"Did you really like the design?"

"Yes."

"So… can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Krys said, as she lied on her back, and folded her legs. Ares laughed, and stared at the ceiling.

"What's the deal with you and Josephs?" Krys looked at him.

"Where's that question coming from?" she asked.

"Krys… can you just answer the question?"

"There isn't much of a deal." Krys said. "We've gone out a few times. He visited me in Switzerland." Ares nodded.

"So… you guys are… serious?" he said. Krys shook her head.

"I'm not having sex with him, if that's what you mean." she said. The two turned back to facing each other again.

"So- you guys spent the night together, doing what?"

"Nothing in particular." Krys said. "He… he's a player, and its not like I don't know it. I remember what you told me, about him and Mike. Its not like I'm toying with him, we're just friends, who occasionally get _really,_ very close."

"I don't want to know that." Ares said. Krys laughed and flicked him on his arm.

"We should go out tonight." she said.

"Where?"

"Well… you got dumped-"

"I didn't get dumped. I left Emily at the alter." Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked. "Why?"

"Because… she wanted me to throw away something that I wanted to hold onto." Krys looked at him and smiled.

"You're cute." she said, before she pinched his cheek. "I have this friend who got me passes to a club. We should go." Ares nodded.

"I don't have to work tomorrow, either. So- yeah." he said.

"So we're going out tonight." Krys said.

"Yeah." Ares said. "Is- um, is Josephs coming?"

"Why would he?"

"I just assumed that since you two are-"

"You guys aren't friends. You guys don't even like each other, from what I can see. I'm not dumb enough to thrust you both on each other. Plus I don't spend every waking moment with him."

"You have some chocolate here." Ares said, pointing to her cheek. Krys laughed.

"Why do I have chocolate on my cheek?" she asked. Ares shrugged, before he licked her cheek. "Ill." Krys wiped her cheek with massive exaggeration.

"Well- you asked for it."

"When- exactly when did I say 'Ares, lick my cheek'?"

"Okay- you didn't, but… you said it with your eyes." Krys looked at him.

"What am I saying now?" she asked.

"You're asking me to kiss you." Ares said. Krys smiled.

"Oh… you couldn't be more wrong if you tried."

"Well then, what was it?"

"I was asking why you and Emily broke up." Ares rolled his eyes, and lied on his back. "Ares, you didn't have to choose me. I would've been good with having a secret friendship."

"No, you wouldn't've. You say that I don't have to, because I already have. If I would've chosen her, you'd have given me a long ass speech about how stupid I was, and how I was ruining my life. Which, I also realized. I mean, the woman was a big bi-… I didn't really like her."

"So… why did you get serious with her?"

"Because." Ares said. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Alright. God… no need to act like a little pigtail ridden bitch."

"Because I don't want to talk about this?"

"No. Because of your tone, when it comes to talking about this."

"When you don't want to talk about something, I don't fuck with you. I don't mess with you, to get you to talk about something that I don't want to really hear about in the first place." Krys laughed.

"You think I don't want to hear about it?" she asked.

"You don't. I don't even want to hear about it. I was a-"

"What was it?" Krys asked seriously.

"She was freaking off with a lot of fucking dudes." Ares said. Krys looked at him, got on top of him and held his face in her hands. Ares' breathing became shallow. She held his faces inches from hers.

"And… why did you break up with her?" Krys asked, still holding his face in her hands. Ares bravely put his hands on her hips, earning a smile from Krys.

"I didn't care enough to be hurt. I didn't even care enough to act hurt." Krys smiled and rolled her eyes playfully.

"So… you broke up with her, not because she was cheating, but because you didn't even care that she was cheating." Ares nodded. "I don't see why she'd cheat anyway. I mean… I saw him and… he's without." Krys said softly. Ares chuckled. "Plus- I know a bunch of girls that would give all of their itty, bitty, boy-breast cup sizes to get you to smile their way." Ares laughed.

"Are you one of them?" Ares asked.

"They're itty bitty?" Krys asked, as she let go of his face and looked down at her chest.

"No!" Ares said in panic. "They're nice." Krys looked at him weirdly, then laughed slightly.

"I was just joking. I don't care… I tend to go for men who are more in love with the 'a', instead of the nonexistent 't'." Ares gave her the look to make her go back on topic.

"Are you one of them?" he asked.

"Do you want me to be?" Krys said.

"Do you want to be?"

"Well…" Krys looked down at her chest, then down at him. "I don't have much to give. Would I give the little that I have, for you to smile at me? I have pictures of you smiling." Ares laughed. "Exactly like that."

"Well, I wouldn't want you to give them up." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"Do you think Emily was prettier than me?" she asked, after their minute of silence. Ares looked at her.

"Did you honestly just ask me that?"

"Oy… sorry."

"Of course not. You're… you are adorable, and beautiful, and very… sexy. Of course Emily had a feature that most men respond to." Ares did the sign for big breast, and Krys laughed. "But… you already said that you go for dudes, who are more about your booty and thighs… and… well-…"

"What?"

"Trust me, you have it covered already." Krys laughed.

"You talking about my booty?"

"Well- not to stereotype you and all… but you _are_ Dominican."

"That's horrible."

"I never said I had a problem with it. You forget what my hands groped whenever we kissed." Krys laughed. "Plus- the honest to God truth is… when guys first see _you_, its your lips they're looking at." Krys looked at him.

"My lips?"

"Yeah… you have… sexy ass lips." Ares said, as he watched her bite her lip in thought.

"Really." Krys said skeptically. Ares nodded.

"It's the first thing I see. That and the eyes." he said. "Plus- you know… I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay. You wanna know what girls see when they look at you?"

"What?" Ares asked, as Krys put her hand on his chest. "Oh- it's my sexy ass body, right?"

"Oh- of course, I meant besides that." Krys said seriously. That made Ares laughed. "Its true." This time, Krys laughed herself. "No the first thing is your eyes."

"Oh- I forget… the eyes."

"Then… women of course, look at what you're packing." Ares laughed. "Well- that's probably just me."

"You need help."

"I do. And so do you."

"No, I need you."

"Well- I could've told you tha- you've lost weight. You're losing weight." Krys said. Ares looked at her.

"What?" he asked. Krys lifted his shirt, and unbuttoned his pants. "Krys, what the- what are you doing?"

"Checking something."

"The only thing you can be checking down there belongs to… well- me. Get out of my pants."

"Ares, its just your lower abdomen."

"Krys, my pants hang off my ass anyway. All you'd need to touch is my boxers."

"Well… maybe I just wanted to see it." Krys said, as she touched around his stomach. "What have you been eating?"

"What?"

"Dude- tell me you've been cleaning your ears, please." Krys said sarcastically. "_What have you been eating_?" This time, she spoke and did it in sign language.

"Nothing much. Just… well- turkey bacon, turkey sandwiches, chicken, spinach… cake."

"Okay Popeye… maybe you- have you been sweating a lot? Stress? Anything wrong with you?"

"No. I'm good. I just missed you." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"You sure you're okay?" Ares nodded. "Better be. I didn't spend time operating on your ass, so that you could get sick. I didn't invest nine valuable years so that you could get sick and… But maybe you should eat something besides cake. Hey- how's your case going?"

"I dropped it-"

"What?"

"Are you cleaning your ears regularly, Krys?" Ares mocked. Krys looked at him.

"What the hell do you mean you dropped the case?" she asked.

"I didn't feel good eno-"

"I ought to beat the shit out of you. Are you sick, or not? Are you okay? Is something wrong with you?"

"I just dumped my fiancé. I'm not getting as much stress released, as I used to." Krys laughed.

"You're a dick. Look, you're either okay, or you aren't. Which one is it? You just said that you weren't feeling good, and now you say you don't- no… you just said you were feeling fine, now you say that you aren't. Tell me. I can't have you sick on me, Loverboy. I need you to be okay." Krys said softly. "Are you okay?" Ares nodded.

"I'm good now." he said.

"Good." Krys said, before she kissed the corner of his lip. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ares said, before he hugged her. "I love you so much." Krys pulled back and smiled.

"'Bout time you figured it out. I'm your heart. You can't shake me, Kingie." she said.

"I wouldn't want to."

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When Krys and Ares got back into her house, Krys crept around the corner to see who was in the kitchen. She stood by the door and saw Jason and A.J talking to Harry and Ginny. Krys strolled in casually and sat down next to Harry.

"What are we talking about?" she asked. They all looked at her for a moment, before the girls squealed, Jason hugged her, and Harry glared at her playfully. "_What_? What are we talking about?"

"I thought you weren't coming back." Harry said through clenched teeth.

"Well… I got a job offer." Krys said. "Gem offered me a job in her hospital. She offered me head healer position as miscellaneous medic. I start work tomorrow."

"Cool." Harry said. They all sat around awkwardly.

"So… what's been going on? Have you all been missing me?"

"You know it." Ares said, as he walked into the kitchen. Krys laughed and writhed, before pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"It was on vibrate." she said. They all laughed.

"Same old Krys." Jason said.

"You know it." Krys said, before she answered her phone. "Hello?" She laughed. "Can't do it… Well- I'm going out with Ares… No… _that_ would render you important and make you think that I actually _want_ to spend time with you… Tomorrow." She laughed. "No… dinner… oka- what- with him? Hell no… because I said so… The moment that I see him at the restaurant, I will chop off little Mike- no… Fine- then find another date… That's okay… Josephs, whatever… okay. Okay, Goddamnit… I said that you could take someone else, didn't I?… Alright… I'll see you the day after… Bye." Then she hung up. They were all looking at her. "What? I didn't want to have dinner with Mike and Madison."

"Madison- Olivia's crony, Madison?" Jason asked. Krys nodded.

"Plus- Kingie and I are going out tonight." she said. They all looked at Ares. "Yeah, I gotta go unpack." Krys got up and ran out of the kitchen.

"You still haven't told her, have you?" Harry asked. Ares grinned slightly.

"Well… I'm waiting for the right moment." he said. "I'm just having a bit of trouble coping with the fact that she's messing with my boss." They all laughed.

"That's one of the difficulties." Jason said. "You're right." Ares glared at them.

"Ya'll are fucked up." he said.

"What- whose fault is it that you don't listen?" Harry asked. "We all said, Ares don't be a jackass… and you ended up being more of a jackass. If you want her, go get her."

"He's right, Ares. Plus, mom always wanted you to marry a doctor." Jason said. Ares laughed and looked at him.

"You're an idiot." he said.

"Its true though, Ares." Ron said. "Your mum said that she wanted always you to marry a healer." They all laughed.

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Later that night, Ares walked by Krys' room a million timed, before he finally knocked. When he finally got in, Krys was lying on her bed in her girl boxers and a t-shirt. Ares' breath hitched, before he waved slightly.

"Hey." he said. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Hey." She looked at him and laughed. "What's wrong with you?" she asked. Ares shook his head. Krys nodded and patted the space next to her. Ares walked over slowly and sat on her bed.

"So… are we still going out tonight, or are you leaving me?" he asked jokingly. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"We're still going. I'll start getting ready at nine. Okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." He kicked off his shoes and looked at her. "Listen…" Krys looked at him expectantly.

"What happened?" she asked. She had this angelic glow about her. Ares smiled.

"The last time we saw each other, I was the perfect asshole." he said. " I- you're my best friend… I'm sorry. Please, forgive me."

"What do you mean? I already do… and its not like you really did anyth-"

"Krys… I was ready to choose the… that _thing_ that I was gonna marry, over my favorite girl in the world." Ares said. Krys squinted, then gave him the cheesiest smile he imagined possible.

"I'm still your favorite girl in the world?"

"Of course." Ares said, as he chucked her under her chin.

"Well… truth be told…" Krys stopped, and looked at her vibrating phone. She picked it up and answered it. "Hey… okay. Um… I'm free tomorrow night… okay, Josephs, dinner." She laughed. "No, trust me, I can wait."

"You and Josephs, tomorrow night?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "What should I wear tonight?" Ares laughed.

"I don't care." he said.

"Oh come on. I need help."

"That I cannot argue with." Krys laughed.

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When nine o'clock hit, Krys and Ares got up and went their separate ways to get ready. When Ares got back to Krys' room, she was standing in a towel, looking in the mirror. Ares cleared his throat and walked farther in. Krys laughed and held up a butterfly top. The top was a piece of fabric cut in the shape of a butterfly. It was solid black, with blue and green detailed stitching.

"I- I like it." Ares said huskily. Krys smiled and nodded.

"Okay… I'll wear it." she said. Krys skipped into her closet and came out a minute later. She walked out and Ares looked at her with wide eyes and his mouth open. The butterfly top was backless except for the few crosses down the back, to hold it up. Krys' black bootleg jeans were extra tight, with slight rips in knees. On her feet were black uptowns, with a blue and green stitched check. Her hair was loose in perfect ringlets, and she looked beyond gorgeous and sexy. The way her face alone looked, made Ares wonder why he hadn't sung outside her window, when she dumped him. He actually took more time to appreciate her features. Her pouty full cotton candy mouth, her extra long, extra dark lashes, her big eyes, and cute nose. He grinned, as she hopped around like a bunny rabbit. "You like it?" Ares nodded, then growled jokingly. "Thank you. I can't wait for you to see the club tattoos glow."

"Oh shit- what does it look like?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Krys said, before she looked at him. His jeans were light and baggy, and he wore a big black t-shirt with Biggie spray painted on it, in silver. "Sexy." Ares laughed.

"You ready?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Okay… we have to take _public transportation_, because this club is crazy… and we wouldn't find parking. So… train, here we come."

"Okay… do you have a jacket?" Krys looked at him pointedly.

"No." she said sarcastically. Ares growled at her, then sat on her bed.

"So… we're gonna be living together." he said. Krys looked at him and nodded, before she walked into her closet. When she came out, she was wearing a little, short black jeans jacket. It was fitted and made it even harder for Ares to stop staring at her. "Are you ready?" Krys looked around, and picked up her cell phone, wallet and house keys. She handed them to Ares.

"No pockets… and no room for bulges, unless you want me to seem like a transvestite." Ares looked at her, then took the stuff.

"You need help." he said. Krys smiled, and took his hand. "No no. Where's your pump?" Krys rolled her eyes, and huffed.

"Its in your pocket." Ares laughed. "Lets go." she said. When they got downstairs, everyone was there. Harry looked at Krys and then at Ares.

"What are you wearing?" he asked Krys.

"Clothes." Krys said. "But… the jacket makes it seem tacky. Krys took off the jacket. "No-no, its cold." Ares laughed. "I'll be right back." Krys ran upstairs. Harry looked at Ares.

"You still haven't told her. She has no idea that you know, or that you're in love with her still." he said.

"Quiet… she might hear you." Ares said in a hushed voice.

"You're such a punk." Hermione said, as she made herself visible.

"Its creepy that you come out of the shadows like that." Ares said.

"It is." Harry said.

"That just proves my point. You guys are both punks-" Hermione started.

"Hey- hey." Harry started. "I'm with the girl that I want to be with." Hermione looked at Ares.

"See- _he's_ with the girl _he_ wants to be with." she said.

"I'll tell her. I just need time… to think about what I'm going to say."

"Ares, the night she left, she _told_ you that she was still in love with you. What's the problem?" Harry asked.

"Um- she's messing with my boss." Ares said. "And that was about four months ago."

"Its you and Padfoot. The way you feel about each other never changes." Harry said.

"Tell that to the girl with the chummy relationship with my boss." Ares said.

"Yeah, well… I kinda see your point. Except for the fact that you had a relationship just as chummy, with Emily. Emily, who you didn't even really like, but were about to marry." Hermione said.

"Okay… we're talking about Krys. I waste my time with a lot of the girls I go out with. Ailen, for example. Jessica, Mariliz, Melanie, Rochellie, Olivia… I waste my time with a lot of girls. She's the only girl that makes me feel like my time is well spent. Krys doesn't go out with people. She doesn't even kiss most people." Ares said. "So when she goes out with someone, that's serious enough."

"He has a point, Hermione." Harry said.

"Well then, take a chance." Hermione said to Ares. When Krys walked down the stairs, she was wearing a full sized jeans jacket, and it looked good. "Cookie, you're dealing with a punk here." Ares and Harry shot looks at Hermione.

"Ares or Harry?" Krys asked.

"Hey." both boys exclaimed.

"Ares, naturally." Hermione said.

"Hey." Ares said.

"And you call yourself a Phoenixtear. We would've made you an honorary Gryffindor, too. But now… I'm not so sure." Hermione said.

"Ares is being a punk?" Krys asked, as she looked at Ares. Hermione nodded.

"He is. He just won't tell you." she said.

"What happened? What's making him act like a big punk bitch?" Ares glared at her.

"Ares wants to get out in the field again, but he's afraid." Hermione said. Krys looked at him.

"I don't think he's a punk." she said. Ares shot a triumphant look at Hermione.

"Really?" Hermione said. "He has women that he's interested already. He just doesn't want to make the first move." Krys looked at Ares.

"Kingie, is this true?" she asked. Hermione shot a smug look at Ares.

"Krys, the girl has a boyfriend." Ares said. Krys put on a hat, and sunglasses, then looked at him.

"Well… she doesn't deserve you, if she's not waiting for the smile, Kingie. I mean, if I thought that you had any interest in me, I'd be ecstatic, so whoever this girl is… she's either a painful idiot, or she doesn't know." she said.

"Maybe we should go." Ares said, as he took Krys' hand.

"Bon-bon, you coming?" Krys asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm engaged. I have better things to do." Hermione teased. Krys and Ares laughed, along with Harry and Hermione.

"Where is the fiancé anyway?" Krys asked. Hermione looked thoughtful.

"He's at work." she said. "Guys, go out. Have fun."

"Before I forget, I had your money sent to your vault." Krys said. Hermione looked at her weirdly. "We're a package deal, babyyy. If I get paid, you get paid. Best believe it." Hermione laughed.

"Get home at a reasonable hour." she said.

"I'm twenty. Hell no." Krys said, before she dragged Ares out the door. When they got outside, Ares looked at Krys.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"Not right now. Actually… hold on." Krys looked thoughtful for a minute. "No. But thank you." Ares laughed, as they walked off of her porch.

"So, where is this club?"

"Near Compton."

"What kind of club?"

"Mostly hip-hop, reggaeton, reggae… my kind of club. Not that I've actually been to a club before."

"Really?"

"I'm not into clubs." Krys said. "Here we are… in Beverly Hills. About to go to a hip-hop club, in Compton. Kewl." Krys said. Ares laughed and nodded.

"But what's the point?" he asked.

"I know. I can't dance. Why am I going to a club?" Ares laughed. "Remember what I said the night of your bachelor party."

"Before or after you jumped my bones?" Ares teased. Krys looked at him.

"Watch it, Mister." she said. Ares laughed. "I said that I was looking for a rich guy to marry me after a few weeks of dating me."

"Watch it, Missy." Ares said. Krys looked at him and stuck out her tongue. Ares laughed and slung his arm around her shoulder. "You haven't grown."

"I'm 5'1 without curls. 5'3 with them." Krys said. When they got to the train, it was packed. Krys used a napkin to touch the pole, and that amused Ares. But every time the train moved, the man behind Krys bumped and touched her with exaggeration. By the third time, Krys looked like smoke would come out of her ears.

"Bunny, why don't you hold onto me, instead of the dirty pole?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Thank you." she said, as she held around his waist. When they came to their stop, Ares reluctantly let go of Krys and they got off the train. The walk to the club was fast, but the line was long as hell. Krys laughed and took off her hat and sunglasses as Ares complained. "You need to stop complaining."

"No." Ares pouted. "Krys… its long as hell and-"

"Whatever." Krys said, before dragging him to the front of the line. She looked at the bouncer and showed him the passes. "Burger?" The bouncer looked at her and laughed.

"Krys, baby… what are you doing all the way over here?" he asked.

"Beefy, it's all L.A." Krys said. "You gonna let me in, or what?"

"Only you, baby."

"What about my Kingie?"

"Who the hell is that?" Krys pointed to Ares.

"Ares, Burger. Burger, Ares." she said. "Burger's real name is Jackson, but I call him Burger 'cause he's a fat ass." Ares and Burger laughed.

"Wassup, man." Burger said to Ares.

"Nothin' man." Ares responded. They gave each other a pound, and Burger let Krys and Ares through. But not before giving them the over twenty-one drinking stamps on their hands. "You do know that you're not twenty one, right?" Krys looked at him.

"I don't drink." she said. "I just like the stamp because it glows in here." Ares laughed, and Krys took off her jacket. All across her back, her lily tattoo was outlined, smaller paw prints trailed up her shoulder blade and down her arm, and she had shooting stars all across her back. 3D traveling stars looked like they were shooting all over her. Her 'Andromeda' tattoo was redone, in an abstract constellation design that all so had the name in it. All of the loops and swerves said Andromeda, if you looked hard enough. Ares saw a glowing 'k' through some of her hair. When he moved her hair aside, the name 'Mark' was on the back of her neck, with a small star next to it. Jealousy swelled in the pit of Ares' stomach. He couldn't believe that she actually dated someone else after being pregnant with his child. She said that she's loved him. Did she mean it? Krys turned to him and looked questioningly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ares said, trying to sound normal, before he looked away from her. Krys scratched his hand softly and smiled at him sweetly.

"Be happy. You're with me. When you're with me, its only natural that you're having the best time. Smile. _You're with Krys_." she said weirdly. Ares laughed.

"You're right." he said.

"Shouldn't you go grind up on someone? This is a good hip-hop club song, in my opinion." Krys said.

"You gonna grind with me?" Krys laughed.

"I'm too immature for that." she said.

"Yeah, I forgot." Ares said. Krys laughed and noticed a girl looking at Ares.

"You got a girl giving you the eye, Kingie. Go dance." she said. Ares shook his head.

"I'm not gonna leave you." he said.

"Go dance." Krys said. "She's looking at you. No- she's grilling you, like crazy." Ares sat down and turned around. When he did, his eyes widened, and he turned back to Krys instantly.

"No no. I'm not dancing with her." Ares said.

"What, why not?" Krys asked.

"Because, I beat… and never called her back." Krys looked at him.

"You didn't." she said. Ares nodded. "I'm ashamed of you."

"I'm sorry."

"Why don't you tell _her_ that."

"Because… she's scary."

"Ares." Ares groaned and shook his head.

"No." he said.

"For me?" Krys asked with a pout. Ares groaned, and looked at the girl behind them. She was staring at him still.

"You have to come with me." Ares told Krys. She nodded, then hopped off the stool. When they got to the girl, she looked at Ares.

"Yes." the girl said.

"Hi… Lana." Ares said. Krys kicked him. "Ouch."

"My name is Lauren." the girl said, showing him her name chain.

"I'm- sorry." Ares said. "I'm sorry, Lauren. I'm sorry for what happened last year… and I'm sorry that I never called you again."

"I'm not mad that you didn't call me. I wasn't looking for much… but you didn't know that." Lauren said. "I'm mad that you had sex with Serena and Latrina the week after." Krys looked at Ares and whistled. Lauren looked at Krys. "Are you his girlfriend? Because, if you are, good luck." Then she hopped off the stool and walked onto the dance floor. Krys looked at Ares.

"You big slut-butt." she said.

"I'm sorry."

"You had sex with her _and_ her friend, then her friends friend?"

"It was a messed up summer for me." Ares said. Krys looked at him and was about to say something, when a girl walked up to them and "accidentally" bumped into Ares.

"Oh." the woman said, touching her collarbone lightly, while pushing out her chest. "I'm sorry." Krys rolled her eyes.

"That's okay…" Ares trailed off.

"Myra." the woman said.

"That's okay, Myra." Ares said.

"No… its not." Myra said. "Why don't you let me buy you a drink…?"

"Jason." Ares said.

"Okay, Jason. Let me buy you a drink." Myra said.

"Excuse me, Myra." Krys said. Myra looked at her. "Can I talk to Jason for a moment?" Krys didn't wait for an answer before she dragged Ares off to the bathrooms. "Jason?"

"Strange, pushy, drunk woman… pressing all up on me, grinding her shit on me. She's lucky I didn't run." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"Well… you like to hit it and quit it, maybe you can do that again." she teased. Ares laughed. "Put yourself out there, Ares."

"Krys, I'm not interested in her." Ares said. Krys laughed and kissed the corner of his lips.

"Doesn't matter. If you want this girl… you have to put yourself out there, then get her." she said. Ares nodded, and took her hand. They walked out and back to Myra. Ares gave Myra the 'Ares Delgado, I'm the sexiest man in the world, but I'm shy and wonderful, also, with no real traces of ego' grin, then asked her to dance. Krys nodded and puckered her lips slightly. Ares laughed and took her to the dance floor. The two danced to about 3 songs, including 'Smack that' by Akon and Slim Shady, 'Tipsy' by J-Kwan, 'Say I' by Christina Milian. Ares stopped dancing, and when the Reggaeton came on he walked over to Krys.

"Are you happy?" he asked. "Now she wants to marry me."

"Ecstatic." Krys said. "Hey, why aren't you dancing now?"

"Its reggaeton." Krys laughed.

"You're the least Hispanic, Hispanic person that I know." she said.

"No. That's you." Ares said.

"At least I can speak Spanish." Krys said. Ares laughed.

"I don't care. I'm Hispanic. I eat Spanish food." he said.

"So do I."

"You don't eat food."

"I eat tre leche cake." Krys argued. Ares looked at her and laughed. All of a sudden 'Gasolina' the remix, flooded through the club loudly.

"Come on… lets go be Hispanic together." Ares said, taking Krys' hand and leading her to the dance floor, ignoring her protests. "Krys, come on."

"No." Krys said, before she crossed her arms over her chest. Ares have her his cutest pout.

"For me, Krys." he said, before he took her hands, and started to spin her around. After a while, they were really dancing, and Ares was trying his best to stay calm despite the enticing moves that Krys was doing. Krys turned to Ares and took his hands, before she got very close, and started to grind into him seductively. Ares whimpered as she did this, and tried his best to focus on one of her tattoos. She surprised him again. New surprise; Krys can dance hip-hop, reggaeton, and R&B… very well. After their twentieth consecutive dance, they finally left the dance floor. "What do you want to drink?"

"I want Pepsi." Krys said.

"Okay." Ares said, before he ordered the drinks. When he got back to Krys, she was spinning around on the spinning barstool. Ares laughed and tapped her shoulder. Krys turned to him and smiled, as Ares handed her the drink.

"Thank you." she said.

"Your welcome."

"I don't think I've ever danced like that." Krys said. Ares smiled and nodded.

"I believe you." he said. "And where exactly did you learn to dance like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Krys." Ares said. Krys smiled slightly, and looked at him seriously.

"Music videos." she said. "Oh- and sex."

"Thanks for the visual of you and your ex-boyfriends." Ares said bitterly. Krys laughed.

"Just because I have a boyfriend, doesn't mean that I have sex with him." she said. "Why exactly am I having this conversation with you?"

"I don't really know." Ares said. "You wanna go back out there?"

"What, with you? I don't think you can keep up." Krys teased. Ares looked at her and took her hand.

"Lets go." he said. '100' by Big Pun was playing. Ares and Krys, danced until 'Toma' came on. As the two danced to that song, a girl went behind Ares and started dancing with him, making a little 'Ares Sandwich'. While the girl behind him was grinding on him, Ares put his hands around Krys' waist and pulled her closer. Krys laughed. "You know you like it." Ares yelled over the music. Krys laughed and nodded.

"Sort of. Actually, you're right." she said. "Maybe I should switch places with missy, though. Give her some of the action." Ares shook his head.

"You're the one I wanna see." he said. Krys laughed, and took his hands, before spinning around playfully. Ares laughed and kissed her hand. When the song ended, he turned around to see who was on his ass and almost yelped. Behind them was Ashley Martinez, a girl he recognized from his park in Compton. Krys laughed, and walked over to the bar, dragging Ares behind with her. She looked at him and smiled. "You knew the whole time, didn't you?" Krys smiled, then laughed exaggeratedly and hysterically.

"You know it." she said, in a creepy weird voice. Ares looked at her and laughed. "Maybe you should go over and talk to dear Ashley."

"Krys, I don't… I don't want to talk to her. We… spent some _time together_, after you and I broke up." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"And just how much time did you two spend together?" she asked.

"Three hours." Ares said.

"Were those three hours spent in a movie, or in her bed?" asked Krys.

"An hour was spent on the court. The other two hours were in her bed." Ares said. Krys closed her eyes and shook her head in mock shame.

"Who _haven't_ you had sex with?" she asked jokingly.

"Well… I _would_ say you, but… we all know that-"

"Shut up." Krys said, before laughing. "So… you had sex with her, when? While we were going out?" Krys had her head in her hands. Ares touched her shoulder, and shook his head.

"No." Ares said. "Never."

"When?"

"That's not import-"

"When?" Krys said, more forcefully.

"Krys."

"When." this time, it sounded nothing like a question. It was more of a command. Before she was joking, and now… she was actually angry.

"The day after we broke up." Ares said reluctantly.

There'll be some Ron and Hermione action in teh next chapter, I just wanted to warm the scene of the old Ares/Krys relationship. Review, though. I like em. And thank you to those who do review,,, I love it.


	30. Just Another Ordinary Day

"The _day_ after we broke up?!!!" Krys shouted at the top of her lungs. Ares winced.

"Krys, I'm sorry." he said softly.

"_Your sorry_." she said. "Oh motherf-"

"I'm sorry." Ares repeated.

"And she's such a bitch… we went to the park _together_. Everybody that you introduced me to, _knew_ that we were together. They all knew that I was your girlfriend… okay- I'm not mad." Krys said.

"Oh thank God-"

"I'm pissed. Livid. Enraged. Incensed. Riled. Irritated." Ares looked at her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Krys, I'm sorry." he said.

"You're sorry? You sick mo-" Krys started, before she started to curse in Spanish.

"Krys, don't be mad at me." Ares said. "I'm really sorry. I- I… I'm really sorry. I can't even find a word-"

"Remorseful, repentant, compunctious, sorrowful, contrite, rueful, penitent, regretful… that's it, I think." Krys said. "The day after we broke up, Ares… what the fuck?"

"Krys, I am so… _remorseful_." Krys nodded slightly, with a small, fake chuckle thrown in.

"You know what? Um… lets just go." she said. Krys walked ahead of him and got her jacket from the coat check, before leaving the club. Burger was outside, still letting people in every few minutes. "See you later, Tubby." Burger looked at Krys.

"Mami, that was less than three hours." he said. Krys smiled.

"I don't feel like partying." she said. "I'll see you later, Burger."

"See you, Krys. Come back whenever you want. You too, son." Burger said to the two.

"Wait!" they heard behind them. "Ares!" Krys continued to walk, and Ares looked at her, then continued to walk. Finally, he touched Krys' shoulder, making her flinch.

"Krys, hold up." he said. Krys stopped, then the two looked at who was behind them. Ashley Martinez. Krys laughed one of her crazy, angry laughs, and stood back on the wall, with a wave of her hand.

"Proceed." she said, as Ashley made her way to the two.

"Hey." Ashley said, as she got to him.

"Hey, Ashley." Ares said.

"So… how've you been?" Krys was in the corner laughing.

"Dude, if you guys want me to leave so that you can spend _some time together_… just say the word." she said. "I mean… we can all go back to the house, and you can do it in the bed, Ares… how _wonderful_ does _that_ sound?"

"Um… Ashley… this isn't a good time." Ares said.

"Oh- well… here." Ashley said, giving him a piece of paper with her number. "Call me, if you wanna get together again." Krys gave a weird exaggerated laugh, as Ashley walked away.

"Oh my God." Krys said, through her laughter. The walk back to the train station, Krys didn't give more than a two word response to each of Ares' attempts to talk. The walk was slow and painful. On the train, Krys held onto a pole across the cart from Ares. He sensed that she needed her space, so he stayed away. When they were off the train, the walk back to Krys' house was just as bad. Krys walked ahead of him briskly, and didn't look back once. When they got into her house, Harry and the others were still up. He looked up at the two and immediately knew something was wrong.

"Padfoot, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Well… tonight at the club, I met two girls that Ares had sex with after we broke up. One that he had sex with, then had sex with her two friends in the occurrence of a week… and one that he had sex with- check this… you're gonna laugh your asses off… one that he had sex with the _day after_ we broke up." Krys said, before she gave one of her angry laughs. "This was one of the girls that was at the park, when Ares used to go there… Ashley Martinez." Jason looked at Ares, then at Krys. A.J looked at Jason. Then Harry looked at all of them.

"You had sex with Ashley too, didn't you?" A.J asked.

"Only… six- seven-… twelve times." Jason said, after a moment of thinking. Harry put his head down, with shaking shoulders with laughter.

"You guys are both dickheads. What did you see in her?" Krys asked. A.J looked at her.

"The same thing they saw in you." she teased. "Big booty and big attitude." Krys laughed slightly.

"Night, Prongs, A.J, Gin." she said, before she walked straight to her bedroom.

"Why is she mad at me? _I_ didn't have sex with one of her enemies the day after _we_ broke up." Jason said. Ares glared at him.

"She's pissed." he said.

"Yeah. She is." A.J said.

"I mean… she shouldn't really be mad. I didn't tattoo my fiancé's name on me. She tattooed 'Mark' on her. Who the fuck is 'Mark'? Did you guys meet him?" Ares asked. They all looked at him.

"None of us got to meet Mark." Ginny said softly.

"Yeah, Mark isn't the name of some boyfriend… Mark is what she was going to name the baby." A.J said. Ares looked at her.

"Padfoot wouldn't let us call him 'the baby', because she said he was more than that. She said that it was a sign of disrespect." Harry said.

"Now I really feel bad." said Ares, as he lied his head on the counter.

"As well you should." A.J said. "Sex with Ashley Martinez… she was a slide." Then they all looked at Jason. "Twelve times."

"About twice each summer that we went back." he said. "She used to invite me back to her house after pickup games. That girl was-" He looked at A.J. "_Very bad. Very, very bad_." A.J laughed in spite of herself, before she punched Jason playfully.

"Who exactly was your first?" she asked. Jason looked thoughtful.

"Madeline. Olivia's crony." he said.

"Her name was Madison. You don't even know her name." A.J said.

"Oh yeah, that."

"She was three years older than you." Jason nodded.

"No, no… Jamie. _Jamie_ was first." he said. "_Then_ it was Madison. Then Olivia." he said.

"And you said that you only had sex with how many of them?"

"Well… I thought it was thirty… but now that I think about it… it's got to be more." Jason said.

"You're disgusting." A.J said.

"Am I the only respectable guy here?" Harry asked. A.J and Gin looked around at Ares and Jason, then nodded.

"Yes." they said in unison.

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The next day when Hermione woke up, Krys was sitting on her bed. Hermione groaned, and turned back to her pillow.

"Ron still working the double shift?" Krys asked. Hermione made an inaudible sound, then put her hand up. "I'll take that as a yes." Hermione finally dragged her head out of the pillow and looked at Krys.

"What?" she asked grumpily. Krys looked at her for a minute.

"Oh… this is how I felt when I finally stopped having sex with Ares. Oh- grumpy as hell, I was. Okay- get up, because we're going out." she said.

"No, we're not." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"Yes, we are. Ares had sex with Ashley, the day after we broke up." she said. "It's your job as the best friend to make me feel better."

"Krys… I don't want to." Hermione grumbled.

"Okay. I understand. I haven't been home in months, and we haven't even gotten a chance to talk." Krys said in mock sadness. Hermione shrugged.

"Doesn't matter." she said. Krys laughed, and snapped, stripping Hermione's bed of all linen and pillows. Then she snapped, opening the shades and blinds, letting the sun in. Hermione groaned, and got up reluctantly. She glared at Krys, as she walked to the bathroom.

When Hermione was ready, the girls immediately went to Krys' kitchen.

"Okay… what happened?" Hermione asked. Krys got up and pulled out all of the cheesecake, whipped cream, and chocolate cake. She set them all down on the counter in front of she and Hermione. "That bad." Krys nodded, then she blew on the chocolate cake, heating it up.

"He had sex with _Ashley Martinez… the day after we broke up_." she said, stressing each syllable. "_Ashley Martinez_- I _hated_ her."

"Maybe that's why." Hermione said. Krys rolled her eyes, and started to cut up her slice of cake, before she took a gigantic bite. "Oh my, you look like a five-year old, at a birthday party." Krys shrugged and licked the chocolate off of her finger.

"He had sex with Ashley Martinez. Ashley Martinez… I hated her so much. Me and Ares didn't go out to dinner, or regular boring date shit. I hated that shit. But, we'd go to the park and I'd watch him play, and we'd play on the swings or the slide. It was fun. We would play one on one, and he'd 'let me' win. But, other times- most of the time, I would let him play ball with his friends. Well… Ashley went _out of her way_ to flirt with him. I can't believe he had sex with her… I mean, I wouldn't mind _anyone_ _else_. I just _hate_ her, with a passion."

"So what? Forgive him. It was two years ago and you _just_ finished dumping him."

"For a good reason."

"In whose opinion?"

"The only person's that matters when _I'm_ about to make a decision, _mine_." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"Then why didn't you do all of the things that you wanted to do, while Emily was here? You always said that you wanted to hurt her, why didn't you? If only your decision matters, why didn't you just punch Emily in the face?" she said. "You want to forgive him, so do it."

"I have a date tonight… lets go shopping." Krys said, before she cut a big slice of both cakes. "You want some?" Hermione looked at her and laughed, before taking smaller slices.

"I have no idea how you eat so much and stay so thin." said Hermione.

"It all goes to my booty and thighs… which I don't mind so much." Krys said. She and Hermione looked at each other, then broke out into laughter.

"Well… you're dating Eric, and we all know that you have a soft spot for chocolate." Hermione said. Krys looked at her in shock, then broke out into more laughter.

"I can't believe you just said that." she said. Hermione slowed her laughter down and shrugged.

"He's hot… I'll admit it." she said. Krys nodded, as they finally got to the Nissan. Hermione looked at her questioningly.

"I haven't been shopping since I left… I plan to make up for lost time." Krys said. Hermione shrugged and got in.

"What are you doing with Josephs?" she asked, as they were on the roads. Krys looked at her in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. If you love Ares, why aren't you giving it a shot?"

"Me and Ares are too far gone."

"He ran out on his wedding for you-"

"He ran out on his wedding to preserve our friendship." Krys said in a final tone. "Hermione, when I was with Ares… its like I was on a high, that I didn't have to inhale for." Hermione laughed. And Krys did, too. "But… the way he made me feel… it more than scared me. And I knew why I was scared when we finally broke up. Its like what drug addicts always say… once you lose it- once its gone cold turkey… you feel horrible." Hermione looked at her.

"Bullshit. You're just afraid of going out there, and being shot down."

"Listen up. Eric is sexy as hell, and whatever it is that he and I are doing, its working for me." Krys said. Hermione laughed. "So… what are you going to do about your wedding? Are you going to elope, or are you going to have a big wedding?" Hermione sighed.

"I have so many plans. I have so many ideas. But some of the things that I want… it's like, I can't make them happen. I want a winter wedding." she said. Krys nodded.

"That's doable… and sexy. Winter weddings are sexy."

"Yeah, I want snow. And I want… I want the scene from Kill Bill, when Oren Ishii and Beatrix were going to kill one another." Krys looked at her.

"I have that." she said. Hermione looked at her pointedly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"My daddy. You forget-"

"What was his job, exactly?" Krys looked at her.

"He had an empire." she said. "He owned media companies… and he even made a killing in real estate… which is why I have the houses. You see, me and Prongsie balance out. Harry has the magic money and I have the muggle money. So… we both take care of each other."

"Back to what you were saying, girlie."

"Okay, Bridezilla." Krys joked. Hermione laughed slightly. "Well… anyway… he has this private cabin in the Berkshires. Its really remote from the others… we used to have to drive so that he could try to get me to ski… which I _still_ can't do. I used to say, 'what am I, a California girl? I'm not rich, Daddy… I don't do those weird-ass extreme sports.' He'd call me a punk."

"When did you find time to do any of that shit?"

"Well… you remember that I was home schooled, and he was _always_ on business. Ms. Banes was basically my prime caregiver, while he was working, which was always. So… when he got home, school was put off and we did whatever we wanted. One year, the Christmas before I went to Levebons. I've only been to that cabin once. But yeah… I can always put a charm on it, and make it warmer, so that you can wear your dress without a NorthFace over it." Hermione laughed. "And it'll be totally cool. Oh- shit… I just sounded like a valley girl… what-the-fuck? I gotta get my Gangsta back up." Hermione laughed.

"Its okay… you're still gangsta in my eyes." she said.

"That's only because I'm offering you this." Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"Damn right." she said.

"But it'll be hot as hell, because… we can all spend the weekend there and get our minds right. It has a fireplace… and you've seen all the places that my dad have bought… he had two cabins knocked down and built one big one. Its about half the size of my house… which is pretty damn big for a cabin." Hermione nodded. "We could make the arrangements and spend Christmas there. It has all these gadgets and cookbooks… it could be a great getaway. And if you get your arrangements done quickly then… we could rest for a while before your wedding and take the days to relax." Hermione gave a small squeal. "You just lost all of my respect in that one squeal."

"Oh please. You still look up to me. I'm like your big sister."

"Whatev." Krys said, giving the 'w' hand signal.

"So… tell me about Josephs."

"He's a good kisser, and a big pervert. Psychotic bonus points."

"So… have you two…?"

"No." Krys said. Hermione looked at her. "What? I'm the only one to have deviated from the group. Everybody is doing it with their high school sweetheart, in our clique. We've done _stuff_."

"You didn't push your _'OV_', did you?"

"What the hell is an 'OV'?"

"Fellatio? Cunnilingus?" Krys looked at her with a weird look on her face.

"Hell no, no, no." she said. "If I didn't do it for Ares… I won't do it for him. Plus… I'm not saying that its nasty… I mean, ya do what ya do, but… its not my thing."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems weird." Hermione said, with her nose turned up. Krys laughed.

"We pushed the '_MM_'"

"You _skank_." Krys laughed.

"Okay, big deal. You had sex with Ron before you two even had a _date_." Krys said. Hermione laughed.

"But I'm in love with him." she said.

"Okay… so I pushed the 'MM', its not like I actually pushed the topless '_MM_'. Or even just the 'HJ'."

"There were touching of private parts. You both did each other, it was mutual masturbation… you might as well have pushed the topless 'MM'."

"The only person to ever see me fully naked in the slight adult body, is Ares. Topless, Ares. All that other good stuff, Ares. Then again, its no longer special, because Ares had sex with a million other girls. I'm the loser that's holding onto the memories."

"Krys, you save them, because they were memories that you wanted to keep. At the time that Ares did all of this, he wanted to forget about you. You have to see this from his point-of-view. He had the ring in his pocket, when you dumped him, Krys. Can you imagine being dumped like that?" Krys sighed.

"You're right." she said. "But fuck him… I wanted to forget about shit, too. And my fourth month with Mark… I was so incredibly horny, that I wanted to have sex with everyone. That was where A.J's true base of me being attracted to Jason came in. She knew- I _told_ her, that I honestly wanted to rip his clothes off, whenever I saw Jason. You remember how I used to act with him."

"Oh yeah." Hermione said. "That was the worst… you used to bite your lip and cross your legs a lot. It was very weird to me. And we were so lucky that McGonagall loved you so much, she let A.J and Gin out to see you every weekend. We had fun together."

"Yeah… I liked it. Being…"

"Say it, Krys. Maybe that's the reason that you still feel so bad. You haven't started the healing."

"I liked being pregnant. I liked having people rub my tummy with cocoa butter so that I didn't get stretch marks. I liked that I could eat… and I wish it hadn't happen sometimes, because losing Mark was the worse thing that happened to me, ever." Krys sighed, and nodded. "I feel so much bette- oh, parking spot." Krys sped up, and beat a silver Ford Focus for a race to the spot. Hermione laughed, as the girls in the car cursed and honked. When she and Krys got out of the car, the driver got out also. "Oh God… here come the waterworks." Krys looked at the woman driving and raised her eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Excuse me, but me and my friends were waiting for that spot." she said. She was about twenty-five and she spoke with attitude, even though her words were calm. Just her tone alone, made Krys laugh.

"Um, excuse me, but my friend and I _got_ that spot." she said, before she dragged Hermione away slightly.

"Krys, that's not right." she said. Krys rolled her eyes and walked back, where the girls were all still staring at her. She and Hermione hopped in the car, and backed tried to back up, but they were still blocking, like it was doing her harm to be stuck in the spot. Krys honked twice, and they finally backed up. She then backed up, and a spot vacated. She parked, and she and Hermione walked into the mall.

"I could've kept the goddamn spot for that." Krys muttered. Hermione looked at her, and laughed.

"You need to stop being so mean to people."

"Hermione, what people don't get is that, when you're on the other side of the parking lot and have to travel for the spot, you're not waiting for it. It pisses me off… that bitch had the nerve to tell me that she and her cronies were waiting for the spot. And you, talking about how it isn't right."

"You got a spot right after, get over it." Krys groaned. "Oh shit! Clearasil wants you to do a commercial." Krys looked at her.

"What?"

"Clearasil. They want you."

"Kewl." Hermione nodded.

"So… we're really gonna do that cabin thingy?"

"If you want that for your wedding, why not? And I'll get you so much more Kryscounts. So… you only have a few months to plan… do you want to start today and rush, or do you want to wait until next year?"

"I wanna rush. I can't wait to marry Ronald Bilius Weasley." Hermione said dreamily. Krys looked at her, and pinched her out of her reverie. "Ouch-"

"You were pissing me off." Krys said. "I couldn't help myself."

"You're just a sourpuss."

"Please, don't say shit like that. Next thing, you'll be taking a strip class, and cooking courses." Hermione looked at Krys. "When is your cooking class?"

"Actually, I started taking strip two weeks ago." Hermione said. Krys looked at her pointedly. "I'm just kidding. I want to start the classes after we get married."

"Well… you should start planning so that we can get this on the road. You only have three months."

"You helped plan Emily's in a week."

"I got her Kryscounts, there's a difference. Plus… I had to do some namedropping. And… I want to help you get good deals with this wedding. I love you and Ron."

"Well… we love you, also." Hermione said, before she and Krys stopped in Abercrombie and Fitch. Inside the store, Krys could've maxed her limitless credit card. She bought so many different miniskirts and jeans jackets, it was almost possible that she could wind up broke.

"How was Thai's date?" she asked, once they left the store. Hermione grinned broadly.

"Okay- so, I went to go get her that week. She came back, and we went shopping, then I took her to Angel's. She still can't tell him that she loves him. I think she has more commitment issues than you. I think she got them from you." she said.

"I didn't have commitment issues. I walked into the relationship with commitment. I was brave as hell. Thai has issues that belong to her, she didn't get anything from me."

"Rid yourself of all blame. The girl went crazy when the boy was with his girlfriend… and now she can't tell him that she loves him. That sounds like how you and Ares started out."

"But, I told him that same day."

"Big deal."

"Damn right, it is."

"Does it not remind you of someone? She loves him but she can't tell him that." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"No, who?" Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at Krys.

"How was your first day of work?" she asked. Krys smiled.

"I love it. I have my own office." she said. "I'm so happy." Hermione nodded. "Gem lost another healer."

"Oh." Hermione said.

"You're gonna be so mad at me." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"What'd you do?"

"I kinda filled an application for you." Hermione smiled. "Bon-bon, we're a package deal."

"Who am I up against?"

"Nobody. You already got the job. I have to show you the ropes tomorrow."

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When they got back to the house, there were only two hours until Krys' date. They were all in the kitchen, when the two got back. Harry was laughing with Ron and Jason about something, while A.J and Gin shook their heads in mock shame. The only one that wasn't there, was Ares. They all knew that Krys noticed, but none of them mentioned it. Hermione skipped over to Ron, and the two publicly started to snog. The group looked at them for a minute, before they started to ignore them completely. The couple ironically stopped when they were being ignored.

"So… what's going on?" Harry asked, still shaken from the public display.

"Well… Krys was telling me about this cabin that she has in the Berkshires. I was thinking about a Christmas wedding." Hermione said. They all nodded.

"And I was thinking that we could all take off from work and have our pagers on, in case anything major happened. Meaning, we wouldn't have to go into work unless there was an emergency that only we could handle. So… we could spend about a week there. And when the Weasley's go on their honeymoon, we could spend some time together… and be us." Krys said. They all looked at her.

"I can _try_." Harry said. They all nodded slightly.

"You do that." Krys said.

"So, are you still mad at Ares?" Ron asked.

"Does _everyone_ know?" Krys asked.

"Don't be mad. The week we left school, I had sex with Lave-… oh, wow." Ron said. Hermione looked at him.

"With _who_?" she asked.

"What?" Ron asked stupidly. Hermione chuckled slightly, then her face turned deadly serious.

"With who." she said with more force. It was so creepy, that it was no longer a question.

"You look lovely, love." Ron said sweetly, an in pure terror. Krys looked at Hermione.

"It was in the past, and he did it to piss you off." she said. "You should forgive him." Hermione looked at Ron and nodded.

"She's right. It _was_ in the past." she said. Ron smiled and Hermione kissed his cheek. The two mouthed 'I love you' to each other, and held each other. Krys looked at them and the look on her face was enough to make them all laugh. It was a look of pure disgust.

"So why can't you forgive Ares?" Harry asked.

"Because while Ares and I were together, Ashley went out of her way to be all over him, and he went out of his way to tell me that he wasn't interested. If he goes running to bone that smutty bitch _as soon as we break up_, then he obviously had _some_ interest." Krys said.

"Padfoot, you're dating _his boss_." Krys rolled her eyes.

"He was going to _marry_ _Emily's daughter_." she said.

"Wait- what are you talking about, Krys?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah." Jason said.

"I'm lost." Ron said.

"Emily is a Jr. Her mother was my dad's girlfriend, before he started to date my mommy." Krys said.

"Wow." they all said in some form.

"And check this." Krys said. "Kay is a Jr., too. Her mom was James's girlfriend, before Lily." They all looked at Harry and Krys.

"Are you serious?" Hermione asked. The two nodded. "Wow."

"Yeah." Krys said, before she got up. "I gotta go get ready."

"Where are you and Josephs going this time?" Ron asked. "I heard you two are still dating."

"We're not dating." Krys said. "We're… hanging out."

"Well- where are you two going?" Harry asked.

"His apartment." Krys said. They all looked at her. "_What_? I'm not easy to _kiss_… do you know what a person has to do to get me into _bed_?" They all had to laugh at that.

"You need help." Hermione said, through her laughter.

"No, I mean… I'm mean when it comes to guys. Jason remembers how I was, when I first met him." Krys said.

"She was mean." Jason said. Harry looked thoughtful.

"You were." he said.

"But… I get better." Krys said. "I'm wonderful."

"How long have you two been _hanging out_?"

"I don't know. All I know is that I was attracted to the fact that all he wants from me is sex."

"Ill." said Ron, Harry and Jason.

"You know-" Ron said, as he looked at her. "I can't imagine why. I still wonder what Ares saw in you." Krys and the others laugh.

"I still wonder what Hermione sees in you." she replied. They all broke out into fits of laughter.

"So… what do you intend _to do_ in his apartment?" Ron asked. Krys looked at him.

"Um… video games." she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You've really never dated anyone but Ares, huh?" Jason said.

"Why?"

"'Cause, he intends to get some today." Krys squinted.

"You guys need help." she said.

"No, its true." Ron said.

"So… a guy can't invite a girl to his apartment, unless he wants sex." Krys said in a recapping tone. They all nodded. "That's weird."

"Why do you say that?" Ron asked.

"'Cause before I came back, we spent a week together in my apartment. He slept on my couch, and all. Seven days, and he didn't even pull out a Trojan man. Now I'm insulted." Krys said. "I mean, is there something wrong with me?" They all started laughing. "What? Can't you guys take anything seriously?!" They all let the laughter die down.

"Okay, Krys…" Ron started. "If I didn't know you and we weren't related… I could say that just seeing you, I'd think you were attractive. But the moment that you start to… be… _you_, its hard for certain guys to cope with… _you being you_." Krys sat down, and looked at him, before biting the tip of her finger.

"What the fuck does that mean?" she asked. She didn't ask it as if she was insulted. She was genuinely confused. Ron pointed at her.

"That." he said.

"What?"

"Krys, you're… okay, A.J is girly and… delicate." Jason started. Krys burst out into laughter.

"I'm sorry. A.J is a hard-ass, okay. The girl is psychotic." she said. A.J glared at her playfully.

"But, she's delicate, _when she's with me_." Jason said. Krys nodded.

"You're friend material." Ron said.

"I always said Ares was strong to be with you." Jason said. Krys laughed.

"You're a dickhead." she said.

"Padfoot, its just that… okay- I can't explain this." Harry said.

"I'm gonna use A.J as an example again." Jason said. "When we're alone… A.J is really sensitive. She doesn't judge, she doesn't pressure. She's- she stands by me."

"Krys, he's trying to say that you make most guys feel weak." Hermione said. Krys laughed.

"You don't make them feel weak. You just- you remind them of a friend. You don't switch into girlfriend mode." Ginny said.

"And you make them feel weak." Ron said. Krys raised her eyebrow, and got up.

"I make _weak men_ feel weak." she said, looking over the guys in the kitchen. "And… if I make _any of you_ feel weak, you might want to strengthen up." And with that, she left the room. When Harry knew that Krys was out of hearing range, he began to speak.

"So… she's still dating Josephs." he said. Hermione nodded.

"Ice has to be going crazy, now." Jason said.

"Yeah. But about your wedding, Hermione… you want something like the Kill Bill thing, don't you." A.J said. Hermione looked at her and grinned.

"See. Our glue is back, and we're all happy." she said. "Krys said that we'd have fun if we went away to Mass."

"It'd be a nice place to spend Christmas." Harry said.

"I want the wedding to be then, so that Thai can come." Hermione said.

"Yeah… why is Krys throwing and latching people on us?" Ron asked jokingly. "Now I can't imagine anything important happening, without Thai being there." They all laughed, knowing that he was right.

An hour later, Ares walked in the kitchen, with a box in his arms. They all looked at him. Harry laughed when he saw what was in the box. The two guys took a glass tank out of the box, and they all stared in awe at the white baby milk snake that inhabited the cage.

"You bought her a snake?" Hermione said. Ares looked at the snake and nodded slightly.

"Yeah. That's not too desperate, is it?" he asked. They all laughed and nodded. Harry looked at the snake and nodded, as she tried to slither out of the cage.

"_Hey. What's your name_?" Harry asked. The snake looked at him.

"_Asia_." she said. Harry could hear from her voice that she was really young. She was a child.

"_I'm Harry_. _Where are you from_?"

"_Colorado_."

"_That's nice. Do you miss your family_?"

"_I don't know my family._"

"_Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't either, until I met my cousin. You'll like her… she'll take care of you._"

"_I hate onlookers_." Asia whined. She sounded like a little girl that didn't want to go to the dentist.

"_She's not an onlooker. She'll understand you_. _And the rest of them… they're kind of onlookers, but they're not going to treat you like you're on display._" Harry said. He turned to the others. "Her name is Asia, and she's from Colorado. She doesn't like onlookers."

"Who's Asia?" Krys asked, as she walked into the room. Ares looked at her and his mouth widened. Hermione kicked him.

"Close your mouth." she said. "You're about to start drooling." Krys was wearing a deep blue t-shirt and a white denim cutoff miniskirt. On her feet were matching blue flip flops and her hair was straight, in layers and hit just above her behind, before curling under. Her bangs were pulled away from her face by a white plastic headband. She wore her usual clear pink lip gloss and earrings. It was then that the doorbell rang. Harry got up and went to get it, as Krys looked around. Ares approached her, as the others acted as if they were doing their own thing.

"Krys, I'm sorry about Ashley. I'm so sorry… I really- that's not me. It was just… I got you something." he said. Krys looked at him, before she put her hair in a loose bun loop. She pretty much just folded her pony tail, so that her hair only reached her mid back.

"You can't buy me, Ares." she said.

"I'm not trying to." Ares said. "I was going to get it for you anyway, I just figured that this would be the best time to give it to you." He walked her over to the glass display case that was on the counter. Krys' eyes widened, as she saw Asia. She looked at him, then back at Asia, then back at him. She couldn't help smiling slightly, before she moved to Asia's cage.

"_Hi, I'm Krys_." Krys said brightly. Asia looked at her.

"_Hello, I'm Asia_." she replied.

"She's so _cute_." Krys said to Ares. "_Hey, do you like to roam? Do you want to roam the garden?"_

"_Maybe later. Right now, I'm sleepy_." Asia said.

"_Of course. Just- you're not hungry now, are you?_"

"_No. Thanks for asking_."

"Hey." said the voice from the archway. Josephs was standing there, as Harry walked in and sat down.

"Hey." Krys said. Josephs walked in more.

"What is- is that a _snake_?" Josephs asked. Krys nodded. "You like snakes? Don't you think snakes are creepy?"

"No, I think she is _wonderful_." Krys said, before she stroked the top of Asia's head.

"Well… didn't you spend some time in Hogwarts? The snake is basically the symbol for everything bad." Josephs said. "Next thing you'll say that you're an animagus and your form is a snake, or that you're a Parselmouth." He said it in a joking way, before he laughed. Krys looked at him, laughed then turned to the snake.

"_I'm gonna take you to my room._" Krys said to Asia, before she lifted the glass tank. As soon as she lifted it, Ares took it from her.

"I'll help you." he said. "Where do you want it?"

"Come on." Krys said, as she walked ahead of him. When they got to her room, she snapped and a big table placed itself in the corner. "You can put it there." Ares set it down on the table.

"So, am I forgiven?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"This has nothing to do with you… it has everything to do with Asia. I only like you again, because of the gift you gave me." she said jokingly. Ares smiled.

"Krys, I'm sorry." he said.

"What _exactly_ were you thinking?"

"Well… you have to remember that I… guys need to have sex."

"I'm a healer, Ares. _I know that_." Krys said.

"Actually, that sounded shady as hell. I'm sorry. I have no idea what to say to you… I don't want you to hate me for what I've done. Please, just forgive me. Come on, you know I hate it when you're mad at me."

"You're forgiven." Krys looked at him, and hugged him. Ares held around her waist and moaned slightly, as he smelled her hair.

"Coconuts, vanilla and strawberries." he murmured.

"What?" Krys asked.

"That's what you smell like."

"Mmm. In that case… cinnamon, soap, and baked apples. Sexy." Ares laughed. "You're definitely forgiven. I mean, I love you."

"I love you, too. Thank you." Ares said. Krys shook her head. "So, where are you going on your date?"

"Oh- we're just gonna kick it at his crib, for a while." Ares nodded awkwardly, angrily, and disappointedly. "What's wrong with you?" He shook his head.

"Be safe." he said. "If I think anything's wrong, I'm knocking his door down and dragging you out of there." Krys smiled.

"You're crazy." she said.

"Only when it comes to you." Ares said, before he gave her a soft, lingering peck on the lips. When he pulled back, Krys looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Listen, I wanna talk to you about something, when I get back." Krys said. Ares nodded.

"Yeah." Krys looked at herself in the mirror. "Your hair is really black. I mean… raven black. Its really shiny and glossy, too." Krys looked at him and laughed.

"Are you nervous about something, or something?"

"No."

"Do I look okay?"

"Better than." Krys smiled brightly.

"Wait up for me." she said, before she dragged him down the stairs. Josephs were looking at their holding hands, before Krys walked over to him.

"You ready?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." He pecked her on the lips. "Lets go." Josephs chose that precise moment to nuzzle her neck and be extra affectionate, before Krys flicked him on the arm. "Lets go." she repeated, before taking his hand and dragging him outside. They all looked at Ares, who was lying his head on the table.

"Is this all to punish me for having sex before I got married?" he asked, before he started to bang his head on the table.

"Well, mate… cheer up." Ron said. "Three months ago, we were having the same little talks with Krys. She'll come around. You did, after all." Ares looked up.

"What does she see in him?" he asked. A.J, Gin and Hermione laughed. "_What_?"

"Did you _see_ him?" Hermione asked, before she blew a kiss to Ron, easing his jealousies. "I mean… she pretty much sees the same thing she saw in you. You're both smart and sexy." Hermione blew a Ron another kiss. "Except he's more successful, with more money."

"You think that's what she wants?" Ares asked.

"No, but… it helps the package." A.J said. "I mean… he's _really_ sexy and he was a Dolphintail. Jason, I love you. But he's really, really sexy… and, you're not." Hermione and Ginny laughed pointedly, then looked at Ares. They turned to A.J.

"Yeah, he is." they said in unison, before blowing kisses to their boyfriends.

"Should we be insulted?" Harry asked. Ron and Jason looked at him and nodded lightly.

"But… you were an ass." Ginny said. "Thinking about it… what were you doing with Emily, when Krys was giving you all the signals?"

"You guys should _never_ run a suicide hotline." Ares said. "Here I am… pissed and alone, yet you girls kick me down, like a dog."

"But what were you thinking?" A.J asked. "'_Oh Krys, you break my heart. I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna be mad at you and sleep with a bunch of girls to get you jealous, even though you don't talk to those girls._'"

"I told you that when you were ready, it'd be too late. Plus, you should blame Harry. If he'd have told you where she was, you could've gotten her alone and gotten a chance to talk to her." Hermione said.

"Its not _my_ fault." Harry said. "No one told him not to listen to our painfully obvious hints. Honestly mate, how _didn't_ you know?"

"I had suspicions. I mean, I wanted to use a plain contraceptive charm, which is 100, and she decided on condoms… she said that contraceptive charms were weird." Ares said.

"Ares, this is just a little hint for you." Hermione said. "If we're all- _all of us_, were telling you to go back to her. Even though we love Krys more than we love you, nobody would steer you wrong that way. None of us would tell you to forgive her, if she just dumped you for no reason, or for a bad reason.

"But, just a little hint for you. If your Aunt Lauren likes someone… they can't be all bad. Actually, they can't be bad at all." Jason said.

"And… if your mother was telling you to do it, you should've just listened. Everyone was giving you hints… why didn't you just put the pride away, and go back?" Ron asked.

"Because she didn't ask me to. I told Hermione that I was still in love with her." Ares said. They all looked at Hermione.

"In my own defense… I kept Krys' secret, I have to keep his also. Although my loyalty lies with Krys, she needed to tell him, and the only way she would was through believing that she was losing him." Hermione said.

"I mean… she had two years. How come she couldn't come to me? Three years ago, after she dumped me… I did everything to change her mind. She couldn't do that for me?" Ares asked.

"Ares, stop being an ass. She says that she and Eric aren't exclusive. Why don't you talk to her?" Hermione said.

"Okay. I will… tonight." Ares said.

"Good. Now… I'm gonna take my lovely fiancé to dinner." Ron said, as he hugged Hermione's waist.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked.

"Where do you want to go?" said Ron. Hermione looked at him.

"Lets get some takeout then go back home." she said. Ron grinned, before they disapparated. When they got to the apartment, they immediately ate microwave pizzas and discussed wedding plans. When they were done washing their hands and brushing their teeth, they went to the living room. Ron sat on the couch and watched her. Hermione laughed, looked at Ron and smiled.

"Why, Mrs. Weasley… you have a dirty mind." Ron said. Hermione laughed, ran to him, then jumped into his arms.

"I'm gonna be a Mrs. Weasley." she said. Ron laughed.

"You're gonna be a Mrs. Weasley." he said, before he kissed her cheek multiple times. Hermione laughed, and kissed his cheek softly, before rolling over and sitting next to him. She turned to him and sat Indian style. Ron turned and looked at her. "What's wrong?" Hermione bit her lip, after twisting her mouth.

"How many girls have you slept with?" she asked. Ron looked at her. "I mean- if we're getting married, we should have no secrets. Everything should be bare… excepts for the secrets that we're keeping for the others. We should share our secrets." Ron took her hand and kissed it.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked.

"Yeah, I want to know about who you've dated seriously other than me, too. We should be able to tease one another about these things." Hermione said. Ron nodded.

"Okay." he said. "You go first." Hermione laughed.

"Nope. Its time to put you on the spot." she said. "Who have you dated seriously?"

"Well- there was Kay… and now there's you, my fiancé."

"So- you basically had a lot of one-night stands." Ron nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"How many?"

"Three a year."

"That's not that much. Three a year since you left Hogwarts is only six- or nine, depending on how we look at it. Which one is it? Is it six or nine?" Ron looked at her and squinted.

"Um… three a year since _ever_." he said. Hermione's eyebrows raised, and she nodded.

"Oh, wow." she said. "Sixty one-night stands. All different girls?"

"Yes."

"Anyone that I know?" Hermione laughed at the look on his face. "People that I know." Ron nodded. "Any that you plan to invite to the wedding?"

"Well… it depends on who we invite, and if they can bring guests." Ron said. Hermione laughed. "So, you're not mad?"

"Well… it'd have been nice if we were the other's first, but… your one niters made you good at it. So… I feel better. You know what you're doing." Ron laughed. "So… who that I know?"

"Well Lavender, of course." Hermione nodded. "Romild-"

"Romilda?!" Ron winced. "I mean, honestly… choose someone who looks like they're worth it."

"I'm sorry." Ron said.

"No, continue. I'm not mad at you. I'm just questioning your taste."

"I chose _you_."

"Yeah… you're right. Continue."

"Well, Lavender, Romilda, Parvati Patil, Padma Patil, Rachel, Melanie, Stacey, Jessica, Rose, and Jennifer. They all went to Hogwarts… and the others are girls that I met in auror training and in France." Hermione nodded.

"What about the blonde Ravenclaw?"

"Her name is Melanie." Ron said.

"Wow… I haven't even kissed that many people."

"Oh- the only one that I kissed was Lavender. The rest… it was more like-"

"I don't want to know." Hermione said. "Now I know how you can unhook bras without struggle."

"Are you angry?"

"Actually, no. I'm just a little _bartholomnicked_."

"What the hell?"

"Its me and Krys' word. It's a jumble of different feelings that I can't sort out, but none of them have to do with rage. I'm just a little jealous, a little sad, a little happy, even."

"Why happy?"

"Like I said, your one niters taught you a lot. And… _I_ benefit from their time spent." Hermione said. Ron grinned and kissed her. "Which is why I think that we should…"

"What?" Ron asked in fear.

"Well… I was thinking that we should hold off making love, until we get married." Ron blinked twice and squinted.

"_What_?" he asked again.

"You hate me now, don't you?"

"No, its just… _what_?"

"I just think that when we start to do it again, it'll be so much more special." Hermione said. Ron nodded, and kissed her hand.

"Okay. Whatever you want." he said. Hermione smiled and kissed him. After a few kisses, her hand ended up under his shirt. She pulled back.

"Um… maybe we should wait until we start planning to make it official." she said. Ron nodded, and leaned in again. Hermione giggled against his mouth and pulled him as close to her as possible, after she maneuvered herself to a comfortable position. She pulled back and looked at him. "What time do you have to work?"

"Huh?"

"What time do you have to be to work tomorrow?"

"I have the day off, tomorrow."

"Okay." Hermione said, before she leaned back in and kissed him again. Ron laughed, and Hermione pulled back. "What?"

"You're addicted to the man, aren't you?" Ron said. Hermione looked at him. "What?"

"The man?" 

"You know you want me."

"You're so cocky."

"And you love it. You know how sexy you think I am." Ron said. Hermione shook with laughter.

"You know, when we were younger, I didn't think we'd be like this." she said. "I swore that I'd be a prude."

"You still are a prude."

"Hey. I'm just saying that you were so shy when it came to girls… and here you are, telling me how sexy you think you are." Ron laughed.

"You're right." he said, before he tried to stifle a yawn. Hermione looked at him and pulled back.

"You're tired." she said. "Come on, go to bed." She got up, and tried to pull him up with her. Ron shook his head, and pulled her back down.

"No." he said.

"Yes." Hermione said, more forcefully. Ron hugged her waist.

"I don't wanna go to sleep."

"Too bad. You're gonna go to sleep." Hermione said. "We'll spend the entire day together… _tomorrow_." Hermione wriggled herself from his grasp, and started to pull him up. "Come on."

"Okay." Ron pouted, as he got up and followed behind her. When he got into the room, he started to change into his pajamas, while Hermione watched him. "Are you watching me?"

"No." Hermione said bashfully.

"You know, its okay. I already told you that I was sexy." Hermione laughed, before she threw a pair of balled up socks at his head.

"Go to sleep." she said, before she lied down next to him. Ron held her waist and kissed her cheek. "I love you, babe."

"I love you, too, love." Ron whispered in her hair.

"Go to sleep." Hermione said.

"You promise you're not gonna leave me for Krys."

"I promise that we'll spend the whole day together."

"And what about the night?"

"Twenty four hours." Hermione clarified. Ron yawned and nodded. Hermione had to stop herself from laughing, as he started to snore. She looked at his hair falling over his eyes, and moved it gently. Before placing a kiss to her _fiancé_'s temple.

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"She always has secrets. Why does she _always_ have to have secrets?" Ares asked them. Harry and the others laughed at his rant. Ares spent hours leading the conversation through all of the reasons that he shouldn't love Krys. All of those reasons really equaled one. It all basically boiled down to the fact that she was always keeping something from him.

"Well… she kept secrets from all of us. She keeps secrets from all of us. The first person to know about Mark, was Thai." Harry said.

"Fourteen year old Thai." Ares said. They all nodded. "And she couldn't tell me. She told the fourteen year old."

"Padfoot lives by that Spiderman wisdom. With great power comes great responsibility. She keeps secrets because she feels that she has to." Harry said.

"She planned to spring a baby on me. I mean- she planned to spring a child on me."

"Ares, she kept the secret because she was afraid that you'd do something stupid. Ooh- lets get married. Three years later, I hate you and I resent you. Oh- now my son has to choose between mommy and daddy for Christmas and summer." Harry said. They all laughed. "She just didn't want to thrust anything on you. And knowing her, you coming back with Emily… she would've denied that he was yours anyway."

"I know. And even with a paternity test, she would've said that it wasn't mine." Ares said.

"It didn't matter what anyone else thought. She only kept it secret, because she was afraid that it would get back to you." Ginny said.

"Well- why? I would've- we would've-"

"You'd have dropped out of auror training and married her."

"But that's what I wanted anyway. Josephs has ruined being an auror for me, anyway. I'd rather be with her and-" Ares stopped speaking when he heard the door close. He visually perked up. "She's back." he said, before he looked at his watch. "Its ten o'clock."

"Well… I guess she didn't have sex with him." A.J said. They all looked at her.

"You're-"

"Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your girlfriend! No way! No way! I think you need a new one. Hey! Hey! You- you guys are awake." Krys said. Ares laughed.

"Its only ten o'clock. Why are you back? You've only been gone for three hours and twenty- why are you back?" he asked.

"Do you not want me here?" Krys asked. "'Cause I can go back."

"No. Dude, how was your date?" A.J asked. Krys groaned.

"I just want to forget about it. I'm pissed." she said.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"Well- we're in his apartment and we're chilling, then we start kissing, and you know." Ares stood up.

"I gotta take a leak." he said. Krys looked at him, but he didn't leave.

"Well… he pulls back… and he shoots me with the 'r' word." Krys said.

"What, 'ribbed for her pleasure'?" Jason guessed.

"Ha ha, cute." Krys said. "Relationship." They all looked at her expectantly.

"What did you say?" Harry asked.

"Nonexclusive. I can't be in a relationship, right now. Number one; I was okay with going out with him, when I thought he was a player. And now… its just- wow. Number one;-"

"You already said number one." Ares pointed out.

"Number two; relationships have too much drama. I mean- people get stupid because of relationships. Ares was an ass, when he was with Emily." Krys teased, as she looked at Ares.

"So… what did you tell him?" Jason asked.

"That I thought it was best that we were nonexclusive and saw where things went."

"You're an idiot." A.J said. Krys looked at her.

"Why?" she whined.

"Josephs went out with Olivia, Madeline, Jamie, Jennifer- he went out with all of them for all of two weeks, before he dumped each of them. He's asking you for a relationship. Little nineteen year old you."

"I'm twenty."

"The point. When guys like him ask a girl out… its usually serious." Ginny said. They all looked at Jason, who looked at Ares, then at Krys.

"Well- he either loves you, or he wants to see how good you are in bed." Jason said.

"Well- then he sprung something else on me. He's in line for getting a promotion to Class 1 auror and he's gonna be watching his workers, to give the recommendation for who becomes Class 2 leader." Krys said, looking at Ares.

"Mike is gonna get the promotion." Ares said.

"Mike doesn't do shit."

"Well- then why does he get the top cases?"

"Because he's smart enough to be the boss's best friend." Krys teased. "Ares, I've seen you at work. You're the loser that looks over files, while everyone is at lunch."

"I'm sleepy." Jason said. "A.J, lets go home."

"No, I wanna hear what they're gonna talk about." A.J said, before Jason kissed her earlobe. "Okay- lets go home." Then they disapparated. Ares shuddered with disgust.

"We're gonna go, too." Ginny said, taking Harry's hand.

"See you." Krys and Ares said. The couple disapparated, and Krys looked at Ares.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. Ares shrugged. "Okay." Krys hopped up and walked over to her refrigerator. She pulled out some four cheese pizza hot pockets, before blowing over them. She skipped back over to the counter, and handed Ares one. "I could've made you a burrito, but… I chose pizza for our binding contract night." Ares looked at her. "Okay- well… the house is already paid for and you already have your own bathroom and stuff. Laundry room is in the basement. Near your room… that door across from your room is the library. And you of course know where my room is. You can drive any car that you can… and there's money under the forks in the drawer."

"Krys, you told me that two years ago." Ares said.

"Well- its weird." Krys whined.

"I can go-"

"No. I don't want you to go. I'm just saying. It is weird. The last time we lived together, we _were_ together."

"What's the policy for bringing people back here?" Krys looked at him.

"Do you have anyo-"

"No. I just- if you have Josephs he-"

"I wouldn't do that if it made you uncomfortable. I'd ask you first… and he has an apartment. If you want to bring someone here… don't." Ares laughed. "No, if you're in a relationship… then you can. If you're having a one night stand, you can. Just- don't ask me to lend her clothes or a brush." Ares looked at her pointedly.

"You really wouldn't mind?"

"Well… that doesn't matter. You live here. Its just as much your home as it is mine."

"Krys, you were raised in this house. And your dad paid fo-."

"It is as much your home as it is mine. Oh- and the combination to the saf-"

"Krys."

"My candy safe, loser. I just showed you the money for food. I'm telling you about my candy safe. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Well- the only panties I have, are in my pocket. And they're yours." Krys looked at him.

"You need help." she said, before she started to laugh. "Okay- the candy safe, has mad charms on it. Voice activations, whether I like you or not… and a code. I need to change the code."

"Why? What is it?"

"Um- Kingie and Bunny 43v3r." Krys said. "I'm weird. Don't call me a bad roommate just yet."

"No, its okay. You can keep the code."

"Its only 'cause you like it." Krys teased. Ares nodded.

"I do."

"So- when do you need to be at work?"

"Well- I went all through my honeymoon days, and I haven't taken my days off, since I got there… except the day you came back. So- I have about fourteen days off to take, if I want to. But- I don't have to be in until seven pm tomorrow."

"I have the late shift tomorrow, too. I start at five. I had the early shift today."

"Me too." Ares said.

"Okay- well… you wanna hang out with me?"

"Well- this'll sound a little sexual, but, your place or mine?" Krys laughed.

"You're a cornball." she said.

"You like it." Krys nodded, before she went to her stash and brought out a chocolate lily. "You're cornier than me. Does your stash have a freezer?"

"It's a fridge." Krys said, before she stuck the lily back inside. She pulled out lollipops and gummy candies from the cabinet next to it. The two walked up the stairs. Ares was behind Krys, as they went into her room. Krys plopped down on her king-sized bed, before Ares sat next to her. "I have to change."

"No, you don't. Are you changing for Josephs? Krys, come on… you're perfect." Krys looked at him.

"I was talking about my clothes." she said, with laughter in her voice.

"Oh yeah." Ares said. "Go do that." Krys laughed and got up, before walking to her closet. When she came out, Ares laughed. She was wearing her Cosmo pajamas. Timmy Turner, Cosmo and Wanda were all over the solid black cotton pajamas. On her feet were Cosmo slippers, and her hair was in loose ringlets. She walked over to the bed, and jumped on Ares, who was lying down. "Off of me, you weigh too much." Ares teased.

"Hey- hey. Don't blame the fact that you're weak on me." Krys retorted playfully. Ares laughed and started to tickle her. She shook with laughter, before she poked him and shook her head. "Don't. You made fun of my weight, and I'm hurt." she said, instilling guilt.

"You know that you're gorgeous." Ares said. "You've been the same size since you were sixteen." Krys rolled off of him and sat up.

"You've gotten bigger." she said. "And smaller. I mean… when I first saw you again, there was that whole minute where I was like… wow. Then your fiancé came and whipped me out of my little fantasy world, where I thought we'd be really good friends again."

"We are."

"I just thought that you'd hate me a lot more."

"I did."

"Oh." Krys said.

"Then I remembered that we always said _friends first_. I mean- we were pretty sure that the relationship was gonna work, but… you were too good a friend to give up. I hated you, though." Ares said. Krys looked at him and glared slightly.

"How much?"

"Okay- I didn't want you to know this, but… I didn't dump Emily when I knew she was cheating, because… I knew that I'd be coming back here."

"And…?"

"I proposed to her, because I wanted you to see me with someone. It was basically my fault that Emily cheated anyway. I didn't like her. I didn't love her. I just used her to piss you off."

"So… you were going to marry someone, to piss me off." Ares nodded.

"Huh." she said. "I'm sorry that I didn't write." Ares looked at her and instantly knew what she was talking about.

"Krys, I didn't even remember. Plus- I didn't write either."

"Ares, you were mad at me. I didn't write you because I was being petty over something stupid. I always wrote you about your dad's birthday and…-"

"Krys, say it."

"And his death day. How did your mom take it?"

"She was good." Krys nodded.

"Good." she said. "Look- I love the snake."

"Oh- shit. I have to go get your birthday gift."

"Ares… in the past two days, you've given me a diamond ring, and a snake. Save something for Christmas." Ares laughed, and took her hand.

"Come on." he said.

"To your room?" Ares nodded, and pulled her along. Krys whined the entire way. When they finally got to his room, Ares walked over to his nightstand and pulled out two tubes and a book of papers. Krys looked at it, as he held it out.

"What are you giving me?" she asked. Ares laughed, and put them in her hand, as she sat down. Krys opened the first tube, and a paper escaped. She unrolled it and laughed.

"You don't like it?"

"Why do I look better when you draw me, rather than when I look in the mirror?"

"You like it?"

"I love it." Krys said. Ares drew her at the minister's ball. She was twirling the dress and striking a pose that only a model could pull off. The portrait moved, showing Krys do a 360 turn. In the folds of her dress, were the words 'Beautiful. Compassionate. Tough. Lovely. Adorable. Sweet. Cute. Loving. Intense. Brilliant.' It looked exactly like she did that night. He'd gotten every detail correct, down to the spikes in her hair. She looked at him. "Thank you. I can't even- I have no idea what to say. I have no other words for thank you. All I can say is that… I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. And I love you."

"Good. I love you too." Ares said, pointing to the other tube. Krys smiled and picked it up.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Open it." Ares said, popping the cap off for her. Krys smacked his hand.

"Do not touch."

"Hey hey… it took me a while to do the other drawing."

"How long?"

"Well- I started the night of the minister's ball."

"Wow." Krys pulled the next paper out of the tube and laughed. It was a simple sketch of Krys the night before. She was wearing her butterfly top and strangling Ashley, whose eyes were popping out. "You're an asshole." Ares nodded. "Thank you. I love it."

"And finally." Ares said, pointing at the thick book of art paper. Krys looked at the first page. It was a close up of her as an eleven year old. Suddenly, Krys realized that it was a flip book, as she looked through the rest of the pages. She flipped through it speedily and laughed. Ares drew her face as the details changed, and her features got more mature.

"This is amazing." Krys said, before she turned to him and kissed his cheek. "Amazing." Ares shook his head.

"You're amazing." he said, before he hugged her. When he pulled back, she looked at him.

"You should apply to be the section 2 leader." she said.

"Krys-"

"Ares… you can do it. I mean- come on. You're an amazing auror."

"How would you know?"

"Well- it'd probably have to do with the fact that I talk to your boss." Krys said sarcastically.

"Krys, I've only been out of school for a few months."

"True, but the opportunity may not open up for a while. You should at least try. I mean- you have great organization skills, and you're fair. You wouldn't be biased and you- Ares, you should do it."

"Will you help me?"

"With what?"

"Well- the Section leader is automatically on the NA fight team. That's how they decide if they want you to be Section 1."

"Well- okay." Krys said.

"Krys, I'll be leading over one hundred people."

"You can do it." Krys looked at him and hugged him. "Come on." she said, while still hugging him. "You worked with Moody… you have the experience." She pulled back and kissed his forehead. "Stop being such a punk."

"I'm not a punk." Ares said. Krys grinned.

"Yeah, you are." she said. "I hear that PC can't tell someone that he likes them. I'm actually ashamed."

"Its not that easy."

"For you, it should be. I mean… not only did you have the opportunities to do almost every girl in Levebons, but… you're sweet."

"Women consider that weak."

"Not me."

"Then why are you with Josephs?" Krys looked at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Josephs is an ass."

"Well… all guys are asses. _Including you_."

"I-"

"You are an ass."

"Okay… but I thought I was sweet."

"You are. But you're also an ass. I mean… it shouldn't be hard for you. Mainly because you haven't been able to keep it in your pants since we broke up. It should be pretty simple for you."

"I'm tired." Ares said, as he lied back on his head. "You wanna make history?"

"I already have, but how?"

"Lie in this bed and only sleep." Krys laughed, and lied down next to him.

"Okay." she said.

"I love you, Bunny."

"I love you too, Ares. You're my best friend." Those words just shot a flashback through Ares' mind. He'd said the same words to her a few months ago. Would she really forgive him and take him back? Should he even take the chance? Or should he just move on?


	31. What Did You Just Do?

The next day, when Krys woke up, Hermione and Ron were sitting on the couch across from the bed that she was sharing with Ares. She squinted, and closed her eyes tightly, before reopening them again. She groaned, when she realized that they were real. She rolled out of bed and crawled to the bathroom. When she walked out half an hour later, she looked at Ron and Hermione, before she laughed.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked. Krys smiled slightly.

"I think that Marky was made on the couch." she said. Ron and Hermione jumped up as if they'd been burned. "I was kidding. I don't have sex on couches."

"Did you and-? Last night?" Hermione asked, pointing at Ares. Krys laughed and shook her head.

"No." she said. "God. We decided to make history, last night. We slept in that bed and didn't do it. Not even a little inappropriate touchy feely. I'm actually disappointed." Hermione looked at her.

"No you didn't." she said.

"What?" Krys said.

"No, you didn't. You woke up in the middle of the night and switched rooms, then came back here this morning." Krys laughed.

"You're psychotic." she said.

"Are you saying that you didn't?" Hermione asked. Krys laughed, and put a big t-shirt over her sports bra revealing tank top.

"No, I'm just saying that you're psychotic." she said, once she got into the shirt. She looked down at her long basketball shorts, and sat on the bed, before putting on socks. She hopped up and put her feet in slippers. "Can we go and give the boy some alone time?" Krys was the first to walk out of the room and Ron and Hermione followed. As soon as they got to the kitchen, Krys snapped and a platter of food spread over the counter. "Okay… so why are you guys here? Aren't you two supposed to be spending the day together or some bullspit like that?"

"Bullspit?" Ron said. Krys laughed, and nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "I'm trying to stop cursing." Hermione looked at her. "Because I almost cursed at one of my six year old patients, yesterday." Hermione looked at Ron, and they both broke out into fits of laughter. "Its not funny."

"Yes, it is." Hermione said.

"Oh- you have to go in with me, today." Krys said. Ron looked at Hermione.

"What's she talking about?" he asked.

"Oh- I'm sorry, babe. I have to go in to Gem's hospital. Job." Hermione said. Ron pouted and nodded.

"Okay." he said. Krys looked at them and started gagging in the corner.

"Krys, stop." Hermione said.

"What am I, a dog?" said Krys. Hermione and Ron looked at her pointedly, because of this statement. "Okay- so what? Am I a dog _now_?"

"How was your date?" Hermione asked. Krys groaned.

"He wants a relationship." she said. Then she looked at Ron. "And… I don't make _him_ feel weak. Think about that." Ron growled at her, and Krys threw a piece of toast at him.

"Hermione, make her stop." Ron whined.

"Hermione, if you try to restrain me… I'm gonna tell Ron what we were fighting about in 7th year." Krys threatened, as she continued to throw little things at Ron. Hermione groaned.

"Sorry, Ron." Hermione said. "You're on your own."

"Ha ha." Krys said, as she threw a bigger piece of toast at Ron. "Okay… now I'm done." Hermione laughed, and looked at Ron, who was brushing nonexistent toast crumbs out of his hair. "There are no crumbs in your hair, crumpet."

"I don't like her." Ron said to Hermione, as he pointed at Krys. The three laughed.

"I'm gonna tease you, because of what you said to me, yesterday." Krys said to him. "That's why your fiancé is coming with me today, and she's leaving you."

"Hermione." Ron whined.

"Dude, you don't have to go with me." Krys said. "Today would basically be telling you how you're getting paid and asking about your personal information… which I can giv- actually, no I can't. It'll take a few minutes though. You can bring Crumpet, if you want."

"You wanna come?" Hermione asked Ron. Ron nodded like a child, before Hermione pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Ill." Krys muttered, as she cut herself a piece of cheesecake. "You guys are disgusting and really bad to be around."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because you make lonely people wanna kill themselves." Ares said, as he sat down next to Krys.

"You're not lonely, loser." Krys said.

"You're simply a punk, who can't tell a girl that he likes- oh, I'm sorry, _loves_ her." Hermione said. Ares glared daggers at her, while Ron laughed. Ares looked at Krys, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. She smiled slightly, then looked at her toast.

"What time is it? Gem and Nic are supposed to come by for breakfast. I think it's a pointless meal, but… what the hell?" she said.

"Its ten thirty." Ares said, looking at his watch. As soon as he said that, Krys got up to get the door that didn't ring yet. She walked back to the kitchen with two girls following her. They were both taller than her. Gemini was 5'6 with light brown hair, and a tan complexion. She had dark brown eyes and perfectly plucked eyebrows. She was wearing skintight jeans and a short shirt. Nicole was a bit shorter than Gem, measuring 5'5. She had darker hair and lighter eyes, with a very light complexion. She wore a short skirt and Pumas, with her low cut top.

"Gemmy, Nic." Hermione said. "This is my fiancé, Ron." Gem and Nic both shook his hand and congratulated the couple. Then they both turned their sights on Ares.

"Well… Gem, Nic… you both know Ares." Krys said. Ares looked up and waved at the two, then looked down at a book that Krys was showing him. Krys pointed something out in the spell book and Ares nodded.

"Krys, when were you gonna tell me that you were living like this?" Gem asked. Krys laughed.

"Gemmy… Krys has some good news for you." Hermione said. Gem looked at Krys.

"I talked to Michael Stevens. Hermione and I talked to him- actually, it was Hermione's idea to drop your name." Krys said. "And he's thinking about transferring the medical care coverage to your hospital."

"Who the hell is that?" Gem asked. They all looked at her.

"Gemini… he's the head of the NA auror department. Not only does he run the entire- he runs controls everything that the NA aurors do. Meaning he controls where some of their money goes. Medical money. He controls which hospital NA aurors get taken to, by default. When they're hurt, and for checkups." Krys said. Gem nodded, then her eyes widened.

"Oh shit. Thank you." she said. They all started laughing.

"Dude, last night I was at Josephs' house, and we were-" Krys started.

"Wait. Who is Josephs?" Gem asked.

"Her boyfriend." Ares said bitterly. Gem looked at Krys.

"You're dating someone?" she asked.

"She's _hanging out_ with someone." Hermione said, looking at Ares inconspicuously.

"_Nonexclusive_." Ron pointed out.

"Oh- who?" Gem asked.

"_Eric Josephs_." Ares said bitterly. Gemini squeaked.

"Oh shit! You're having sex with Eri-"

"Jesus Gemini! No, I'm not having sex with him. I'm hanging out with him." Krys said.

"Oh my God. Why are you always getting to _hang out_ with the hot ones?"

"Oh God. _Now_ I know why I didn't hang out with you in Levebons." Gem gave her the finger and they all laughed. All of a sudden, Harry popped out of nowhere.

"Padfoot, did you know that there's a ne-" Harry stopped talking, when he realized that more people were in the room.

"Harry, Gem and Nic. Gem and Nic, Harry." Krys introduced. Harry waved politely, then took Krys by the arm, and dragged her into the next room.

"Tonks is pregnant." Harry said. Krys' eyes lit up and she laughed.

"How long?" she asked.

"Doesn't know. But Moony is afraid that the baby will be a werewolf. He'll be coming to you, today… so that you can check her out. Or so that he can ask for you to take her on as your patient."

"Prongs… I won't be able to look at Tonks the same, if I look down there." Harry laughed.

"Come on, Padfoot. You can still look at Ares." he said.

"Because I li- Prongs, shut up." Krys said. "Come on." Krys skipped through to the kitchen, in time to see Gem flirting with Ares, a little too aggressively. "**Gem, put some ice on it.**"

"**He's fucking sexy**. **No- no, he's** fexy." Gem replied in Spanish. Krys rolled her eyes and walked over to Ron and Hermione.

"Okay… so, what have you guys come up with, for the wedding?" she asked them. Ron looked at Hermione, who smiled.

"This is no longer my forte." he said, before he walked over to Ares, Gem and Nic. Hermione looked at Krys and smiled.

"The first thing I think we should focus on is the dresses." she said. Krys nodded.

"Cool. Well- is it gonna be white?" she teased. Hermione glared at her playfully. "I'm kidding. Vera Wang?"

"Something like that." Hermione said. "It doesn't actually matter. Just as long as its nice. I was thinking gold for bridesmaids."

"Cool." Krys said. "Muggle or magical?"

"Magical ceremony. Muggle clothes. I want to see Ron in a tux." Krys laughed.

"Okay. Simple black, white shirt, black bowtie?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"It looks sexy to me."

"It is. Yeah." Krys said. "What about flowers?"

"I don't know. Tulips. Roses. Tulips and Roses. What do you think?"

"Well… when I get married… if I get married, I want the bridesmaid dresses to be cream silver, maid of honor dress to be cream gold. Flowers… all white lilies. But maybe if you're gonna have that little snow and Kill Bill water pipe thing… there can be cream vanilla orchids floating in the cold ass water. And your flower girl can sprinkle them down the snowy path also."

"That's so cool. Can I have that? I want that." Hermione said. Krys laughed.

"You're on crack." she said. "Who's gonna be your flower girl?"

"I was thinking about Angel." Hermione said.

"Ring bearer?"

"Jamie?"

"How many bridesmaids?"

"Three bridesmaids one maid of honor."

"Who?"

"Well… Gin, A.J, you and Thai."

"Okay… and what about reception? What do you want to do for the reception?"

"Shit- why can't we just send them on their way?" Hermione asked.

"Why don't you? Just keep famil- who's gonna be at this wedding?"

"Family. I only have Ronnie. Everyone else is dead."

"_Okay_." Krys said in mock awkwardness. Hermione laughed at her tone. "Well… then if it's a small wedding, why does the reception have to be big? It doesn't have to be. Everyone could just go in the house and chill. Food… a nice small cake."

"I like that." Hermione said. "That sounds good. Date… everything will be booked for Christmas week. Can you get a cake? I loved Ares' wedding cake."

"I'll call- when is Ms. Banes getting married? Shit. I-" Krys pulled out her phone and started dialing. "Hello. Hi, Ms. Banes. I'm so sorry… I went AWOL. I'm so sorry… when? You guys eloped… cool. Mrs. Dulaine? New favor… I know, I'm horrible." Krys laughed. "I know… I call you every week, lady…" Krys laughed again. "Cake. Christmas week…………… you can?! Thank you, Simon… Um, I'll call you back to tell you what she wants soon… thank you… hey, Mr. Dulaine, take care of her." Hermione laughed, as Krys hung up.

"Take care of her?"

"Ms. Banes was like… she was great." Hermione nodded.

"I get you." she said. "So… he's gonna do it." she said. Krys nodded.

"He's gonna make the cake." she said. "Free of charge."

"Really?"

"His cakes can run as high as $10,000."

"Shit."

"Yeah. But, he said that he'll do whatever you want for the cake."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"That's cool. When do you want to go look at wedding dresses?"

"I don't know. Just tell me when, and I'll make some time." Krys said. "Do you want McGonagall there?"

"Of course. I love that lady."

"Yeah, me too. I just- if you do… then you'll have to make sure that it isn't on Christmas Day. Maybe you should make it on the 26th."

"Yeah… because before that is the Christmas madness and the 26th is so great." Hermione said, looking at her palm pilot. "That sounds good… and now, I won't be invading anyone's Christmas."

"Okay." Krys said. "That was fun."

"Honestly. I want you to help me plan this." Hermione said. "So that I don't become a Bridezilla. Please, help me plan this."

"What do I get out of it?" Krys asked jokingly. Hermione laughed. "I mean- I probably won't get any _bing-bing_ on you wedding night."

"_Bing-bing_?"

"That's what I'm calling sex now." Hermione laughed.

"Oh my." she said. "Please, help me plan this?"

"Okay… of course I'll _let you _help _me_ plan your wedding." Krys teased. Hermione looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'd be honored to help you."

"Thank you. I mean… I love A.J and Gin. Nothing against them, you know? But… for some reason… I think that I trust you with this a bit more. Like, you have an idea of what I want. Like, y-"

"I get you, dammit." Krys mockingly snapped. Hermione laughed. "Its not that you don't trust them with this. Its that you know I won't flake out on you with this, because I have no life. You trust that I'll commit to it."

"Exactly. A.J and Gin have lives." Hermione joked. Krys laughed.

"I hate you." she said, before she pounded her hand on the table. A notebook appeared on the table. As soon as she did this, Harry touched her shoulder.

"Padfoot, what was that?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"What you just did, Krys." Hermione said.

"Oh." Krys said, before she pounded her fist on the table and a pen appeared. "I've always been able to do it. Since I first got my magic. I thought it was just hand wandless."

"Hermione, try it." Harry said. Hermione looked thoughtful, before she pounded her fist on the table. Nothing happened. Harry looked at Krys, and pounded his fist on the table. Nothing happened.

"Prongs… its stomp magic, then." Krys said. Harry nodded, and though about stomp magic matching what he wished would happen. He pounded again. A mess of pens appeared.

"Okay- I thought you found a new step of magic." he said.

"Dude… if I did, I'd have thought so, too." Krys said. "Okay, back to the planning."

"Thank you." Hermione said. "That was five lost minutes… and we need all the time we can get. I'll be stressed, with this and work."

"Dude, if we take all the same breaks and lunch hours, while working at the same times, we can get this planned, without turning you into a Bridezilla." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"I am no Bridezilla." she said.

"Lets hope you stay that way." Krys said, before she stood on the counter and whistled. They all looked at her. "Where are Jason, Gin and A.J?"

"A.J had to teach a dance class at Acklemeyers. Gin is with her, and Jason went on a job interview." Harry said.

"Okay." Krys shouted. "Is everyone listening to me?"

"You're loud as hell." Gem said. "Even if we didn't want to hear you, we would." Krys gave a fake laugh, then stopped abruptly.

"Cute." she said. "What are we doing on the V pridie Kalendae of Ianuarii? Its Latin, it means the 26th of December. Actually, it means five days before January." Hermione stood up next to Krys.

"I was thinking about the wedding date, people." she said. "I want to get married on the 26th."

"I like that idea." Ron said, before he walked over to the part of the counter, where Hermione was. She jumped off and into his arms, while Krys gagged mockingly.

"Anyway… what are we doing then, people?" she asked. "Because… Gem, I'll tell you this now. I'll work all the days I need to, to get that week off. Which would only need to be two months straight… not including sick days, but I don't like to miss work, anyway."

"Is Hermione coming to work for me?" Gem asked. Hermione nodded.

"I'll need those days off, too." Hermione said. "Then again, I have a honeymoon, so that'll be two weeks. But, I'd have days marking up, because I like healing things."

"I'll check your work schedules." Nic said.

"Okay… so- December 26th is the big day?" Krys asked Hermione. Hermione looked at Ron and nodded. "Okay… Hermione, I'm a tough ass when I have a goal. The goal… lovely wedding. I have a lovely mind. Night or day?"

"Sunset?" Hermione said, looking at Ron.

"The whole romance concept again, huh?" Krys said. "Oh God." They all laughed. "Who's gonna marry you?"

"Do you know any judges?"

"Well… you can always have a Minister marry you. Even an ex-minister." Krys suggested.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"Well… Harry knows people. I know people. Harry can always get Cornelius-"

"No." Harry whined.

"Well, its okay. The new minister was cool. Or even a judge can marry you." Krys suggested, with a glint in her eye.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked.

"Well… on my birthday, you won't believe who I had dinner with." Krys said.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Harriet." Krys said. "She's the head chair, and that's just like getting a judge to marry you."

"That would be cool." Hermione said excitedly. She then looked at Ares. "Could you ask your mommy to ask Harriet?" Ares nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"Okay- well, Krys enough of this until we have some catalogues and magazine." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"Krys, you're a in In Style magazine." Gem said.

"Cool." Krys said.

"What was she wearing?" Hermione asked.

"A black mini, halter, and a blazer." Gem said.

"Where was I?" Krys asked.

"Walking into your house."

"Why does someone have a picture of you walking into your house?" Hermione asked. Krys shrugged. Gem cleared her throat, earning a look from all of the girls. She pointed at Ares, closed her eyes and bit her lip, before mouthing 'he's so sexy'. Krys whistled 'Friends to the End' and Ares looked at her questioningly. She pointed at Gem and mouthed 'she thinks you're sexy'. Ares looked at Gem, then back at Krys, before he shrugged. Krys threw a marshmallow at him from her 'Lucky Charms'.

"What are you wearing?" Harry asked her. Krys laughed.

"I don't have to be at work until later. I'll live in my own filth if I want." she said.

"Krys, can I talk to you for a minute?" Gem asked. "Hermione, Nic… can you guys come, too?" Krys looked at her watch.

"I'm off duty, I don't have to do shit that you say." she said.

"As a friend?" Gem said. Krys groaned and followed them all into the next room.

"What happened?"

"He's so cute." Gemini gushed.

"Gem… _guys_ know that. I don't think there's a man on this earth that's afraid to tell a woman that Ares Delgado is sexy. And that's because its there. He just lets you bask in his… _goodness_." Nic said. Krys and Hermione looked at her.

"Krys, can you set us up?" Gem asked.

"And what if _I_ wanted a chance with him?" Nic asked. Krys and Hermione looked at each other.

"Look guys… I'm not about to meddle in his life. If he wants one of you, he'll ask one of you out. And he just broke up with his fiancé. _Tigress_, give him some time and don't push up on him, please? And if he comes by the job… don't make him feel uncomfortable." Krys said. Then she dragged Hermione back to the kitchen, with Nic and Gem behind them. Krys wasn't fully in the room before,

"Krys, can I talk to you in the other room?" Ares asked. Krys got up and walked to the other room, with Ares behind her.

"Yeah, what happened?" she asked.

"Please, don't set me up with any of your friends." he said.

"Ares, I'm not Sally Setup, okay? Its not my thing… and what makes you think I want you with Gem or Nic?" she asked.

"Thank you." Ares said, before he opened his arms.

"What?"

"You're not gonna hug me?" Krys stood on the tips of her ties, and kissed right under his bottom lip.

"There." she said. "Lets go, ho."

"Hey, I'm no ho."

"You had sex with… Lauren, Latrina, Serena, and Ashley… and I'm guessing, a shit load more. You're a big whore." Krys said, before the two walked back into the kitchen. "Okay… Hermioninny." Ron and Hermione glared at her. "What he called me was so much worse. You had it easy."

"What did Vicky call you?" Ron asked.

"I can't even pronounce it. Lets just leave it." Krys said.

"He used to call her _Kiss-the-thigh_-lee." Ares said. "Something disgusting, the Jackass."

"All he really did was grunt." Krys said.

"What were you doing when he was grunting?" Hermione teased. Krys looked at her.

"You want me to recap on your relationship with Brandis, don't you?" she said. Hermione's face dropped, as she straightened the area in front of her. "I thought not."

"I hate you." Hermione said. Krys pouted.

"No you don't." she said. "You all love me." Hermione looked around and they all slightly nodded.

"They may, but _I_ hate you."

"No you don't. I'm your Cookie." Krys said. "Ooh- by the way, I can't eat _Chips Ahoy_ anymore."

"They used to be your favorite cookie." Ron said.

"Okay… so a few nights ago, I was in my room and I was heating the cookies up. I took a bite, then I looked at the package… and the little fucking cookie man was just _staring_ at me." They all burst out laughing. "Its not funny. And… I felt so guilty, because he was wearing this knowing smirk. So- I couldn't eat him, no matter how much I wanted. That's it. Cookies should _not_ have faces." She looked around, and had them all laughing. "Wrong or right?"

"Okay." Harry said. "As much fun as I'm having… I have to go to work." Krys looked at him. "I'm a permanent auror, now." She ran to him and jumped into the hug. They hugged for a moment, then she jumped down.

"Permanent auror. You listened to me?" she asked.

"More or less."

"Good. Go to work." Harry rolled his eyes and they did their special handshake, before he disapparated. Krys looked at Hermione and smiled.

"So… are you and Ron gonna hang out before you have to go to-" Krys' sentence was stopped, as soon as Ron's beeper started to beep uncontrollably.

"911. I have to cover double shift again." Ron said. "Its an emergency at work… I have to take this." Hermione looked at him with puppy eyes.

"Do you have to go?" she asked.

"They're my hours. The more I work, the more time I can take off in the long run." Ron said. Hermione smirked.

"I'm not the backer-outer anymore, am I?" she teased, as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ron said.

"Stay safe."

"You too. I will… knock on wood." Then he disapparated.

"So… Ares, now you're alone with a bunch of beautiful women. Well- one beautiful woman. What do you want to do?" Gem asked, as she stretched in front of him in what she probably thought was an enticing way.

"Um… I'm gonna go play old videogames." Ares said, as he started to get up.

"What game?" Krys asked.

"You know what game."

"Okay… sign in for me, and I'll be there in a minute, okay?" Ares nodded and walked out of the kitchen. As soon as he was gone, Krys looked at Gem. "Did I not tell you to _go slow_? He just got out of a relationship, you shouldn't even be trying to get him now."

"Krys, have you _seen_ him?" Gem asked. "If _I_ don't do it, someone else will."

"Do you have to force yourself on him and make him uncomfortable?"

"He-"

"Gem, maybe he just wants some time." Hermione said.

"All he really needs is to be with a gem." Gem said, with a wink.

"Oh my- oh my God. I can- okay. Lets go. I don't even wanna try and process what she just said to me." Krys said, as she led the way to the game room. Ares was sitting on the couch in front of the PS2. Krys skipped over to him and sat down. "I'm sorry." she whispered.

"No problem." Ares said, as Hermione sat next to Krys.

"The original Streetz? Or Streetz 2?" Krys asked.

"V2." Hermione said. "Don't you see the graffiti?" They both looked at her. "Its from hanging out with you."

"What are we playing for?" Krys asked Ares.

"Clothes?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him, as Hermione laughed next to her.

"Huh?"

"Clothes."

"No."

"I thought you never backed down from a bet or a gamble."

"I think you should, Krys." Gem said. "That way, I get to see a little more of Ares." She was touching his shoulder, before Krys smacked her hand.

"**Cool it**." she said in Spanish.

"**Why**?" Gem asked. Krys rolled her eyes.

"**Work him on your own time. Not on mine.**" she said. Krys turned to Hermione. "I can't play for clothes."

"Why not?" Ares asked.

"Because… how would that work? Every point and an item of clothes is removed?"

"Yeah… we can make it a five point game." Ares said.

"But what about two-pointers?" Hermione asked. Krys stood up and walked to the massage chair. Nic speedily occupied Krys' vacated seat next to Ares. Hermione looked at Krys and they both laughed.

"Two points equal two items of clothing." Krys said. Ares nodded.

"Lets play." he said.

"Krys, where's your laptop?" Hermione asked. Krys waved her wand, and the laptop whizzed through the air and onto Hermione's lap.

"Krys, lets play." Ares said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"Which players do we avoid?"

"We avoid our personal play-"

"Why?"

"'Cause yours is better than mine." Ares said. Gem and Nic laughed like that was the funniest thing they ever heard. "Nah- its okay… you can use your person." 

"Whatev." Krys said, before they both picked their players. In the first five minutes of the game, Krys and Ares had both lost two gamebreakers each, because of each other. Nic and Gem were cheering for Krys, while Hermione was looking at dresses online. Finally, four minutes later, Ares got a gamebreaker on Krys. It was worth three points. He stared at her with a grin of pure delight on his face. Krys glared at him, as she pulled off her big t-shirt and her tank top. Ares whistled as she took it off. He instantly stopped whistling as she snapped him with her t-shirt. Then she took off one of her slippers. When she sat back down, she had the look of pure determination on her face, as she scored a gamebreaker on Ares. "Take it off, Loverboy. I believe that's _four_ points. I doubt you even have that much on." Ares glared at her, before he took off his t-shirt, tank top, then slippers.

"Why are you guys dressed alike?" Nic asked. Hermione stopped typing and looked at them.

"Oh my God." she said, before she started to laugh. "You guys _are_ dressed alike."

"No, we're not." Krys said.

"You're both wearing basketball shorts and pretty much topless." Gem said, as she touched Ares' shoulder. Krys glared at her, then smacked her hand away again.

"Okay… can we play the game?" Krys said. Ares nodded, and took it off pause. Another four minutes later, he scored a two-pointer. Krys glared at him, then smirked, as she took her other slipper, and her socks off. "I don't wanna play anymore. Its cold in here."

"I can see that." Ares said. Krys looked up, then threw an M&M at him.

"Big pervert." she said.

"Hey- its true." He looked at her, and noticed that she was actually shivering and had goose bumps. "Krys, put your clothes back on."

"Thank you." she said, through slightly shattering teeth.

"What's wrong with you?" Gem said. "I'm not shivering."

"That's okay. If you want to see him naked, why don't you play with him." Krys suggested. Gem looked to Ares, who'd already put his clothes back on. Krys was gonna say something, when the doorbell rang. Hermione got up.

"I'll get it." she said. "I'll be right back." Krys looked at her and nodded. Hermione left the room, and Krys started to follow after her.

"Krys, don't leave me." Ares said, making Krys laugh. She looked at him and his pout, and decided to stay.

"Okay." she said, before she dragged him back to the couch. "C'mon, lets watch Kat Williams. I love him."

"I know." Ares said, as Krys snapped her fingers. Gem was sitting on the other side of Ares, and Nic was slouched next to Krys. Krys looked at her, and stood up, moving to the massage chair. Hermione walked into the game room, with Eric behind her. Josephs looked at Krys and grinned.

"Hey." he said. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Hey." she said. "Josephs, this is Gem and Nic. Nic and Gem, this is Josephs." Gemini and Nikki looked at Josephs and their eyes widened.

"Hi." Gem said, as she fixed her hair. Hermione and Krys looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Um, Krys… can I talk to you?" Josephs asked. Krys got up and walked with him into a corner.

"What happened?" she asked. Eric leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled back he grinned.

"I- you wanna have dinner tonight?"

"Sorry, I can't." Krys said. "I have to work. Late shift."

"Okay. What about tomorrow?"

"I should be able to, but I might be doing some planning with Hermione, for her wedding."

"You wanna call me, when you're free?" Josephs asked.

"Okay." Krys said.

"Are you too busy for me to hang out with you, right now?"

"I think I can spare a few for the outcast." Krys teased.

"Good." Josephs said, before he kissed her again. Krys laughed when he pulled back. "What happened?"

"Don't you ever work?" she asked. Josephs laughed.

"Of course I work. I have my pager in case anything big happens. I don't have to be in until 2pm." he said. "Um… but, I wanted to talk to you about something else."

"Okay. What happened?"

"Do you mind if I start seeing someone else?"

"You mean you don't want to hang out with me anymore, or you're hanging out with someone also?"

"Also."

"Oh, no, I don't mind. Nonexclusive." Krys said, before she kissed his chin. "Lets go." Krys took his and tried to pull, but he pulled her back to him.

"Are you sure about this nonexclusive business?" Eric asked. "Are you messing with anyone else?"

"No."

"Then what's the point?"

"You're messing with someone else, why would you have a problem with this?"

"I don't want to be with this other girl."

"Then don't."

"Krys-"

"Josephs-"

"Eric."

"_Eric_… this is about the mistakes that people make everyday. I'd rather be nonexclusive, so that if I feel something for someone else, I have a right to do what I want. This way, we still have a good time together, and… you don't feel the need to live by rules that revolve around me. If I make a commitment to you, and you screw me over, I'll be pissed. If we make a commitment to each other, and we break up, I'll be pissed. This way, I won't be."

"I still don't see the point."

"You're really into labels, aren't you?" Krys asked.

"I was the most popular guy in school. Of course I'm into labels." Josephs said.

"Whatever." Krys said, before she dragged him to the couch. "Park it."

"Krys." Gem squealed. Krys looked at her. She looked at Gem's excited face, and Nikki's sullen one, and figured it all out. She decided to give Gem her happy moment.

"What?" Krys asked.

"Ares asked her out." Hermione yelled deadpan, from the massage chair.

"Ready to get back out there, I see." Krys said to Ares. He nodded dully.

"Yeah." he said. "It just depends on when I have the night off." Eric looked at Gem.

"You want a deal?" he asked.

"On what?" Gem asked.

"You give Krys the night off, and I'll give Ares a night." Josephs said.

"Hmmm… why do I feel like an old used Jeep?" Krys asked.

"You're a Porsche." Josephs said, before he pulled her into his lap.

"We should all go out together." Ares said, as his eyed darted to Krys and Josephs. Hermione shot him a sympathetic and knowing look.

"Yeah. Tonight." Gem said eagerly.

"I have to show Hermione the ropes." Krys said.

"Hermione can just come with us. She can chill with Nic."

"Hermione has a life and a wedding to plan." Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"She does. I do." she said. "I have shit to do."

"Well- if she comes tonight, then I'll give her a day off to work on her wedding." Gem bargained.

"What about people's lives? You know, its our jobs to save them." Krys pointed out sarcastically.

"Come on, Krys. You work too much." Gem said.

"I _just_ started." Krys said at the same time that Hermione said, "She _just_ started."

"But you were working before we came back." Josephs said. Krys looked at him.

"Krys, Hermione, come one. Hermione… your fiancé's gonna be at work for a while. And Eric wants to come. Maybe we _should_ do something tonight." Nic said.

"Doing something when your dude is away consists of cookie dough, calling crushes, and makeovers. It doesn't consist on a group date, where you're paired with a woman." Krys said to her. They all laughed.

"Come on, Krys. You're the only one that has to be swayed." Gem said.

"Hermione doesn't want to go either." Krys pointed out.

"But she will if you do." Gem said.

"Hermione has a life." Hermione said.

"Thank you. And we have a lot of work to do. If we're all gone, who's gonna run the clinic?" Krys asked.

"Krys… we haven't been out together in a while. We haven't all hung out in a while." Gem said.

"Seven months ago, we hung out. And the night Ares got hit." Krys said.

"_Exactly_. We hung out not too long ago." Hermione said.

"We should do it again. Except this time, Gem probably won't go to bed alone. And you, Ares and Hermione won't be in an operating room… Knock on wood." Nic said.

"I'll go if Hermione goes." Krys said, looking at Hermione. They all looked at Hermione expectantly. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You all wanna beg _me_ now, _don't you_?" she said. They all cracked up. "You were kissing Krys' ass a minute ago, and nobody thought about me, huh. Well, _I_ want a brownie." They all laughed again. "Okay… where are we going?"

"Well… we should go to a club." Nic said. Krys laughed sardonically.

"No." she said.

"Why not?" Josephs asked.

"Because, when a bunch of girls go to a club with a few guys, the girls always end up doing body shots. I don't do body shots. And… I don't do clubs." Krys said.

"You went to that club a while back."

"And I was so drunk that I woke up on the Knight Bus, with no recollection of how I got there." Hermione looked at Ares, who had a guilty look on his face, as the other laughed as if it were a joke.

"Well… where should we go?" Nic asked.

"To work." Krys said.

"You're so boring." Gem said.

"'Cause I'd rather go to work, than shake my ass on some stranger and get drunk?"

"No, because you're not even willing to shake your ass on your boyfr-"

"She's not my girlfriend. We're hanging out." Josephs said mockingly. Krys pointed at him.

"What he said." she said. "Okay whatever. We'll go to some stupid ass club, but the moment some man touches my backdoor business, I'm fucking each and every one of you guys up, save Ares and Hermione."

"Like you can." Gem said.

"Test me." Krys said, before she started to get up out of Eric's lap. Eric pulled her back down, and hugged her waist.

"So Josephs, why isn't Krys your girlfriend?" Gem asked. Krys looked at her.

"Okay, Gem, is there a reason that you're here?" she asked. Gem ignored her, and looked at Josephs.

"Why?" she asked. Krys groaned and got out of Josephs' lap. She skipped over to Hermione.

"We've agreed to be nonexclusive." Josephs said. "Actually, Krys wanted to be nonexclusive. I'm just as curious as you." They all looked at Krys, who was sitting in the big massage chair with Hermione. They were both looking at the computer.

"Krys?" Gem said. Krys ignored her and looked at Hermione.

"You should register, so that you can get magazines and shit sent to you." she said.

"We know that you hear us, Krys." Gem said. Krys and Hermione looked up.

"Gemini… Krys isn't his girlfriend, because Krys isn't his girlfriend." Krys said. "Is that good?"

"Sorry. No need to get all testy and touchy." Gem said.

"I apologize, but do you hear me asking if you're gonna put out on your date with Ares?" Krys asked. Gem grinned.

"That's 'cause you know me well enough." Krys, Hermione and Nic laughed.

"Oh, we know you." Hermione said. Gem winked and flipped her hair.

"You need Jesus." Krys said.

"Do you know that my mother almost had a heart attack, when she found out that I'm a witch." Gem said.

"How so?" Hermione asked.

"I'm catholic. She almost burned my rosary beads."

"I still wear mine." Krys said.

"And she's a sinner. I was shocked as hell when she showed them to me." Hermione said. "I half expected them to melt in her presence."

"Excuse me, but I'm a crusader. Of course they didn't burn in my presence. I fought for my sins." Krys said.

"Just because you watch Kingdom of Heaven everyday, it doesn't make you a crusader."

"But Saladin and the Saracens were cool."

"You're not a crusader."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Josephs asked.

"The movie Kingdom of Heaven." Hermione said. "With Orlando Bloom… and the _other_ people." Krys laughed.

"Dude, there was no one else worth mentioning in that movie." she said. Hermione nodded.

"Just like in Mel Gibson's Hamlet. Horatio was the best looking man in that movie. I almost cried when he got on camera."

"Oh, he was sexy." Krys said.

"Okay, I'm right here." Josephs said. Krys looked at him.

"And…?" she teased. He pouted, and Krys pointedly turned back to Hermione. "But now Horatio is old and doesn't look as good."

"I was watching A Few Good Men-" Hermione said.

"How good did Tom Cruise look in it? I told you." Krys said.

"You did."

"He looked really good. That uniform… my question is, why do they always have to get old on you?" Hermione laughed. "I was in love with Corey Haim when he was younger. I loved him in Lucas… License to Drive and those other movies with him as a teen. Oh- and I loved him as him, when he was a teen. And River Phoenix."

"You have no particular taste, do you?" Josephs asked. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"I prefer good-looking guys. Like I said, when I picked you up, I was in a giving mood." she said.

"Yeah, whatever." Eric said.

"Ooh- I have the perfect top to wear tonight." Gem said. Krys looked at her.

"If it's the top you're thinking about, please don't." Hermione said.

"How do you know what I'm talking about?"

"We went to get it with you, psycho." Krys said.

"Well- what are you gonna wear tonight?" Gem asked Krys. "Not those ratty pants?"

"Who cares?" Krys said.

"I do." Josephs said.

"Why?"

"Well, because I like the view."

"_Now_ I'm gonna wear the ratty pants." Krys said. Hermione laughed. "What about you, Bon-bon?"

"I'm not looking for a guy… Krys, can I borrow a pair of your pants?" Hermione asked.

"You may not be looking for a guy, but in Krys' pants, you'll find a girl." Ares teased. Krys playfully glared at him.

"See- you guys were so damn talkative that you made me miss Kat Williams." she whined.

"Krys, what are you really gonna wear?" Gem asked.

"Well… I don't know." Krys said. "Its not that important." Gem and Nic gasped like they'd been burned. "Weren't you smart back in school? What happened?"

"An unidentified pill and some Absinthe." Nic said.

"Are you serious?" Krys asked. "Because if you are, I'll have to tell you how stupid it is to take unidentified pills and-"

"It had a pretty symbol on it." Gem said.

"Oh… well, I'll have to tell you how stupid it is to take _ecstasy_, with a drink that has such a high toxicity rate. Toxicity, in case you didn't know, meaning its poisonousness." Krys said.

"I was joking, Mother." Gem said sarcastically.

"Well, don't." Krys said sardonically.

"I'm thinking about my True Religion jeans." Gem said.

"Lot 29 all the way." Hermione said, referring to Krys' jeans. Krys laughed.

"I have some spray painted… they have a graffiti print." she said.

"I'm thinking about Sylvester."

"That's cool." Krys said, as she got up.

"Okay… well, as fun as this was… we have to go check on Delores." Gem said. She and Nic got up and looked around. "What time tonight?" They all looked at Krys and Hermione.

"Why are you guys looking at us?" Hermione asked. "Krys, which club?"

"I have passes and a standing invitation. Just meet us here, fully dressed, at ten." Krys said.

"Okay. Ten it is." Gem said, before she and Nic disapparated.

"Well- I have to go make sure everything is going well at the office. Delgado, it looks like you have the day off, today. Take care of my lady." Josephs said.

"I'm no-" Krys started.

"Whatever." Josephs said, before he kissed her. He waved to Hermione, then disapparated.

"Why, why, why, why, _why_ would you do that to me?" Ares asked Krys. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"I mean, Merlin's Beard- _Jesus Christ_… what ever happened to the fun of the chase?" Ares said.

"Oh- Gem-"

"There was no chase, Krys. It was like, I had to ask her out, or she would _hurt_ me." Hermione bust out laughing.

"You might wanna be backed up by a lot of Trojan men, when you go on your date tonight." she said.

"And don't let her meet Jason." Krys said.

"Oh shit, _that_ Gemini?" Ares said. Krys and Hermione looked at each other then started to laugh again. "Its not funny, I don't want to go."

"Well, you're gonna. Nobody told you to start messing with my boss." Ares looked at her pointedly. "Nobody told you to be like me." They all laughed.

"Krys, I'm sorry, but- I'm about to break the date." Ares said. "She left the whole place smelling like Violet candy."

"So, what? You might like her." Krys said.

"Yeah, she's really cool, when you get her away. Around people, she's an ass, and you have to put her in her place. Alone, she's great… and smart." Hermione said.

"Krys-" Ares started.

"No, she's really smart. I guess, she always wanted to be popular, so she changed her whole demeanor. You know, to fit what she saw as popular. She's harmless." Krys said.

"Her one fault is that she might throw herself at you." Hermione said. Ares looked at her. "Don't do anything."

"So- I'm supposed to put up with her, then not get any? What kind of sick _joke_ is this?" Ares asked. They all laughed.

"You don't want it anyway." Krys said. "Mostly because you like the chase… which is why I always said you'd find someone better. Just don't get her open."

"What, why would he?" Hermione said. "She's not a pickle jar."

"Well, she should be. By the first date, she'll be telling you that she loves you." Krys told Ares. "Kiss her too long and she'll give it up."

"Girls are mean. Ten minutes ago, you were smiling in her fa-" Ares said.

"Krys has told her all of this before." Hermione said. "Then Gem got her heart broken by a guy in Healer Training. She told him that she loved him within the week."

"Then, why the hell are you making me go out with her?" Ares asked in outrage.

"Nobody told you to ask her out." Hermione said. "Just play your cards right. She seems to radiate towards guys that she can't have. Guys that she can't make fall in love with her. I always said it was in her DNA coding."

"She's looking for a dude to treat her like shit." Krys agreed. "Then you should just be you." Ares visually relaxed. "Yeah, Ares. Of course, she'll probably notice how sweet you are… and-"

"With your luck, she'll want to settle down with you." Hermione finished. Ares looked at the two. "But its okay."

"How is it okay, Hermione?" Ares asked. She and Krys laughed.

"I don't know. I was just trying to help you feel better." Hermione laughed.

"Okay… so- serious time." Krys said. Hermione and Ares looked at her. "Hermione, we have to help Ares become Section 2 leader."

"Ooh." Hermione set the laptop aside and nodded. "Yeah, fun."

"I know, man." Krys said. Ares looked at the two of them.

"I hang out with nerds." he said.

"Nerds that will help you." Krys said.

"Exactly, man." Hermione said. "Plus, we're cool on our own." Krys nodded.

"True." she said. "Okay… lets go to Harry's house. He said that we could." They all looked at her. "Well- Potter Manor has a dueling cage. We need to practice when dueling. We need a place that has magical boundaries."

When they were all ready, they went to Potter Manor. Krys gambled and took them to see the portraits of Sirius, James, Lily and E.J. As soon as they walked in the room, all of the portraits greeted her and Hermione. Ares looked at Krys in shock and awe.

"Well- aren't you gonna introduce us to your friend?" E.J asked. Krys looked at Ares.

"This is Ares." she said. E.J smiled.

"**Oh- he's so grown up. And he's not fat anymore.**" she said. Krys laughed and they all looked at the two weirdly. "Hello. I'm E.J, Thali's- Krys' mum."

"Hi." Ares said nervously and cutely, with a shy wave.

"Hi." Lily said. Ares waved at her as well. James and Sirius glared at him.

"So this is the guy." Sirius said, before Krys looked at him.

"Hmm." James said, as he looked Ares up and down, sizing him up.

"Sirius, James, I have a garage full of turpentine." she said. E.J and Lily laughed.

"But-" James started.

"I just came here to say hi."

"How's Harry?" Lily asked. Krys nodded.

"He's good. He'll probably be stopping by to talk to you guys later-"

"About the fulltime job." James said.

"Yeah, _he_ shows up and talks to us." Sirius said. Krys looked at him.

"I was helping Moony teach a class, I had shit to do- I apologize." she said, realizing her slip of the tongue instantly. "I was helping Moony teach a class. He wanted to show students what they could accomplish with hard work or something like that."

"Well- how did it go?" James asked.

"No one got hurt. I paired up with this dude that was asking for me to hurt him, and Harry got this girl who couldn't stop fawning over him."

"Let me guess;" Hermione started. "He was trying to show people that there's no time to be sexist and chivalrous when it comes to dueling."

"You still are the brightest witch of your age." Sirius said. Krys nodded.

"The girl is. She really is." she said.

"Thank you." Hermione said.

"Okay- well, see you later, guys." Krys said, before she kissed James, Lily and E.J's cheeks. She looked at Sirius for a minute and glared at him.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" he said.

"You didn't think that when I was helping you get E.J."

"I helped you, too." Sirius said. "I'm one of the reasons you're here." Krys yawned mockingly, making Sirius smile, before she kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"As well you should." Krys said. "I love you, too." She moved back and waved to all of them.

"It was nice meeting you." Ares said to each of them nervously. "Um… bye."

"Oh shi-oot. Hermione's getting married." Krys said.

"I wanted to tell them." Hermione whined.

"Well then do it." Krys said. Hermione looked at them.

"I'm getting married." she said.

"To who?" Sirius asked. "Ron?" Krys nodded behind Hermione's back.

"Yes." Hermione said excitedly. "So happy."

"So are we invited?" James asked.

"How woul-" Hermione asked awkwardly.

"You'd ask your best friend to duplicate their portraits and put one up in the place where the reception would be." Krys said. "Smartest witch of her age my ass. Sorry- oy vey."

"We knew you had a potty mouth when we met you." Lily said. "When you cursed Sirius out."

"He deserved it." Krys said teasingly. They all nodded. "Love you all. See you all later."

"Bye." they all said back.

When they got to the dueling cage, Krys shed her jacket and looked at Ares.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"What are we doing?" Ares asked.

"Dueling." Krys said.

"I'm not-"

"Spare me the egocentricity." Krys said. "What- you're afraid to hurt me?"

"No, I'm afraid that you're gonna take out your built up frustrations on me. Which results in you hurting me." Ares said. Hermione laughed, as she got into the cage.

"Its really hard for me to observe while you guys aren't doing anything." she said. "In order to figure out where you need help, we have to do this, Ares."

"Why don't you two duel and we'll-" Krys started.

"I'm not dueling him." Hermione said.

"Why not?"

"He's on auror fight team. The only way to actually test him is to have you duel with him." They both looked at Ares.

"Fine." he said.

"Okay. Good." Hermione said, as she ran out of the cage. Krys looked at Ares.

"Now, because you don't do wandless, I'm gonna be strictly about my wand." she said.

"Alright."

"Formal or free?"

"Free." Ares said. Krys nodded, and tried to disarmed him, but as soon as she made to do this, he already disarmed her.

"Cool." she said. "Okay… now- what can we do?"

"Um, here." Ares said, tossing her wand back to her. "Krys, stop holding back. I know that you can hurt me. That's the reality of it." Krys laughed.

"Maybe we should teach you wandless." Krys said.

"Maybe after we duel." Ares said.

"Okay… now, lets go." Krys said, pointing her wand at him. As soon as she did this, he ducked, and tried to disarm her. Krys dodged it, and tried to stupefy him, but he rolled out of the way. Krys held her hand up and looked at him.

"What?" Ares asked.

"What the hell are you doing?" Krys asked. "Is this how you duel- this isn't how you duel."

"Krys-"

"Ares, hit me." Krys said, as she moved closer to him.

"Krys-"

"Ares, hit me." Krys said, before she smacked him on the face. She got pushed back a little by the charm that surrounded him when he's angry, but she pushed through and punched him in the eye. She got pushed back more by the charm, but she moved forward again. "Now. Hit me." Krys was about to punch him again, but he held her wrists.

"I'm not gonna hit you." Ares said calmly. Krys twisted out of his grasp, and tripped him.

"Hit me." she said, as she stood over him.

"Krys-" Krys got on top of him and started to choke him. Ares pried her hands off of his neck. He then cleared his throat. "Krys, I'm not gonna hit you." he said in a raspy voice, as he held her by her waist.

"Not only are you not hitting me, but you're not even angry." Krys said. "Oh my God, we have a big problem. Hermione!" Hermione walked into the cage.

"Why were you abusing him?" Hermione asked.

"We have a problem." Krys said.

"What is it?"

"He can't hit a woman."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Ares asked.

"Do you know that you're sitting on him?" Hermione asked Krys. Krys looked down and rolled off of him. Ares glared at Hermione, who laughed and mouthed 'sorry'.

"He can't hit a woman." Krys repeated. "I mean, he can play wrestle, but he can't _hit_ a woman." Krys pounded her fist on his chest over his heart, and they both looked at her. She shook her head dismissively and motioned for them to get the conversation back on track.

"Well- that's actually a problem." Hermione said. "I'm not saying to be like Mike and Ike, but… women are threats." Ares groaned. "Okay, Ares…" Hermione stood up, and pulled Krys up. "She's a threat to you. She can kill you."

"That's not helping me." Ares said, as he got up. Krys looked at him.

"Okay." she said.

"You know what you're doing, Cookie?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded, and Hermione ran out of the cage. Krys looked at him, and all of a sudden, the cage ground started to shake violently. Ares looked at Krys, as light started to shoot out of her wand. Ares dodged it, and disarmed her. Krys stomped and the floor waved, sending Ares flying. He landed with a large clattering thump on the ground. Krys pushed her hands in front of her, and silver light shot out of her hands, but Ares dodged it. Krys walked in the direction where he was, and put her hands in front of her in the thrusting motion. A mass of fire shot out of her hands, but Ares shot water out of his wand, causing smoke to fill the entire cage. Krys expelled a small puff of air, and the entire cage was cleared of smoke. She looked at Ares, who was in the corner sitting down, and yelled,

"Expelliaratis!" The wand shot out of his hands. Krys looked at him. "Avada Kedavra!!" she screamed. As she screamed this, Ares pushed his hands out in front of him, and she was pushed back as the harmful green light shot through him.


	32. Not Another Surprise

All of a sudden, the energy in the room shifted and it was bright again. Krys stood up and Hermione ran into the cage.

"What the hell did you just do?!" she asked. Krys looked at her and looked at Ares' body. He stood up and looked at her like she was crazy and she smiled. "You just tried to kill him."

"Of course I didn't." Krys said. Ares looked at her.

"The Killing curse? You were about to hit me with an Unforgivable Curse?" he asked. Krys walked over to him and kissed him on the lips. When she pulled back, she spit something out and dangled it in front of him. He cleared his throat, and looked at it. "What is that?"

"Okay… well- the constellation chains from fifth year. Whenever I wore the three together, I felt invincible. Your mother gave me the other two on my birthday. When I wear them, I feel like a goddess." Krys said.

"So, nothing would've happened to me." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"But now, I hurt, because you believed that I'd try to kill you." she said.

"Krys, you're crazy." Ares said with a smile. Krys laughed.

"And I still hurt because you hit me, with wandless magic." she said with a smile.

"Yeah, I saw that. His energy level raise a considerable amount." Hermione said. "Now, to control the ascendance. Okay- lets go discuss the rest at your house, I'm pretty sure you guys have dueled enough." They all nodded, and Krys grabbed Ares and Hermione's arms, before disapparating. They sat around the dining room table, and looked at each other. Krys put a bunch of small items on the table.

"Okay… Hermione, you can explain wandless better than I can." Krys said.

"No, I did it with books." Hermione said. "You did it when you were bored one day. Explain." Krys groaned.

"Okay- wandless magic is basically putting your magic somewhere besides your wand." Krys looked at him and showed him an example, by stomping on the floor and making the ground shake. "Okay- how do you hold your wand?" Ares held his wand. "Exactly, that's your wandless hand. So… I want you to push your magic into that hand. Push the magic into lifting the coffee mug. You can use an incantation, just don't use your wand." Krys looked at the mug. "Like this. Wingardium Leviosa. Its Levi_o_sa, not Levios_a._" Krys teased. Hermione looked at her. "Just kidding. Anyway- its like this. Wingardium Levi_o_sa." Krys waved her hand while saying it, making the cup move as her hand did. She made it do little loops, then she placed it back on the table. "Now try. Remember, don't rely on the wand to take the magic from you, push the magic into your hand. Let your hand be the wand." Ares nodded.

"Wingardium Leviosa." he said, as he moved his hand. Nothing happened. On his third attempt, the cup shook a lot. On his fifth attempt, the cup lifted off of the table and crashed back down. On his ninth attempt, he had it hover in the air, before it crashed. After twelve attempts, Ares finally moved the cup fully and had it soaring through the air, before he placed it back on the table. Krys and Hermione applauded.

"Very nice." Krys said. Hermione laughed, knowing that on the inside Krys was jumping up and down.

"Okay- now this is just a test run, but move the penny." Hermione said. Ares put his hand out.

"Wingardium Leviosa." he said, as the penny shot up in the air and hit the ceiling before landing back on the table.

"That was just a test." Krys said. "Smaller objects require less strength and less concentration. Tone it down." Ares nodded.

"Wingardium Leviosa." he said, as he moved his hand. The penny did little loops in the air.

"Good." Krys said.

"Now, move Krys." Hermione said.

"Don't touch me." Krys said.

"Oh- but he wouldn't be touching you, per se." The three of them laughed. "Okay, move the plate." Ares looked at the plate.

"Wingardium Leviosa." he said, before he moved his hand. The plate lifted and shook a bit as it was in the air.

"Ares." Krys said. The plate started to drop out of the air, before it stood and lifted again. "Good, keep the concentration."

"I'm trying." Ares said, as he made the plate loop slowly.

"That's good. It took me three days to be able to speak while lifting." Hermione said.

"Thank you." Ares said, as he set the late back down.

"The penny while talking." Hermione said. Ares looked at the penny.

"Wingardium Leviosa." he said, while moving his hand. "Krys, I don't want to go out with Gem." He started to make the penny loop and move smoothly.

"Well, I didn't tell you to ask her out." Krys said.

"It was in the rules. I know the rules, if I didn't ask her out, she would've been liable to hate me." Ares said. He set the penny down and made it slide across the table.

"Show off." Krys and Hermione said at the same time.

"I'm not." Ares said, before he made the penny flip over. Krys laughed.

"Okay." she said. "Now, without the incantation. Its pretty much double concentration, because there's no spell and there's no wand. But don't put all your energy into your hand. Relax. Breathe and just concentrate." Ares nodded and looked at the penny. He held his hand out, and made the penny lift for a second, before it shook and fell.

"Its okay. Do it again, and remember to relax, breathe and concentrate." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but remember that once you have it in the air, it's the same concentration as it is with the incantation. Even less, because it takes more energy for the brain to send information to the mouth, than to just think." Ares nodded, and held his hand out and made the penny lift smoothly, before it started to do little loops. "Right on, dude." Krys said. Ares looked at her and laughed.

"You need help." he said.

"You both need help." Hermione said.

"Hey- hey." Krys said. "Back to work."

"Penny, without incantation, while talking." Hermione said. Ares looked at the penny and held his hand out. The penny lifted easily and smoothly as he moved it around. "Okay, so about Gem… why don't you like her?" The penny started to shake, but then it smoothed out and he made it loop.

"Because, she's too pushy." he said, as he continued to make it loop.

"But pushy can be a good thing. You might get some." Krys said. Ares laughed and continued to make the penny loop.

"Okay Krys- stop taking your shirt off." Hermione said realistically. Sure enough, then penny dropped and Ares looked at Krys, who was laughing next to Hermione.

"You're terrible." Krys said to her.

"It was a test of concentration and how well he could hold it." Hermione said. Ares glared at her, and she put her hands up in mock defense.

"Women are mean." Ares pouted.

"Its okay, Ares." Krys said. "Start again."

"Okay." Ares said, as he looked at the penny. The penny lifted smoothly.

"So, why don't you want to be exclusive with Josephs?" Hermione asked. The penny dropped until an inch before the table, when Ares held it in place then lifted it again. He made it loop.

"Because I don't want to put any faith into anything." Krys said. "_Relationship_ would mean looking for seriousness. I'm not looking for seriousness. I mean- I'm not, but I am. Its just that I don't want to put faith into it, and be let down."

"Well- do you intend to see someone else?" Hermione asked. Ares almost dropped the penny out of the air, but lifted it back at the last second.

"I don't know. No one else has asked me." Krys said.

"Are you saying that you'd go with someone if they asked you?"

"I don't know. Josephs has someone else."

"You must be pissed."

"That's the bad part. I like him and all, but I'm not. Not even remotely pissed. I was more pissed that Lucas and Peyton wouldn't get together in One Tree Hill. Oh- and Ned's Declassified with Moze and Ned." Krys said, Ares and Hermione laughed. Ares continued to keep the penny in the air.

"Krys, you wanna go out with me?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"Are you serious?" she asked. Ares looked at her and laughed.

"Um- no." he said nervously. Krys smiled.

"You're a jackass." she said. Ares made the penny loop, then land in her hand.

"Penny, for your thoughts." he said. Krys laughed, and threw it at him. Halfway through the air, he held it in place.

"Good." Hermione said, as Krys started to throw a cup at him. Ares looked at her like she was crazy, after he dropped the penny and held the cup in place, then set it down.

"Crazy ass." Ares said. Krys winked.

"Dude, I think that's enough for today. It usually takes people weeks to learn wandless. You might want to pace yourself." Hermione said.

"Okay… lets go take naps." Krys said, as they all left the dining room. Ares jogged up the stairs and started to walk backwards.

"I get to sleep in the middle." he said. Krys and Hermione looked at him.

"You get the couch." Hermione said. "Actually, you can both have the couch. I get the bed."

"Its my bed." Krys said, as she jumped up the stairs, so that's he was on the same level as Ares.

"But I'm the oddball." Hermione said. "I haven't had sex with either of you. You guys have had sex with each other."

"So then _you_ get the couch." Ares said, as he slung his arm over Krys' shoulder.

"I don't want the couch. Everybody's had their asses on that couch." Hermione said.

"But Krys and I had sex on the bed." Ares pointed out.

"Okay- ill." Hermione said.

"Don't be disgusted, it was nice- actually, it was staggering, mind-blowing, amazing. The girl's an animal- a _tigress_ in bed." Ares said. "Good times." Krys looked at him.

"That was uncomfortable." she said, as she sat on her bed. Ares sat down next to her and another bed plopped down next to Krys' bed. Hermione sat on that bed.

"So- I've got a question. Was Krys better than Emily- or was Emily better than Krys?" she asked.

"Ill." Krys said. "I don't want to know how bad I was in bed. I was a virgin… and Ares was the experienced _virgin_. The virgin that I still doubt he was."

"Okay- I was and I wasn't a virgin." Ares said.

"And how exactly does that work?" Krys asked.

"Um… do you really want to know?"

"No."

"Okay."

"I do." Hermione said. They both looked at her, before they all laughed.

"See- I told you. She needs help." Krys said.

"Okay- when I was- I lied to you." Ares said. "When I said that I kissed Olivia… that wasn't so much the case."

"She kissed you." Krys said. Ares laughed. "But not on the mouth."

"Exactly." Ares said.

"Wow. You really are a slut." Hermione said. "But a good slut."

"But I never actually… until I was with Krys. And Ailen was my first kiss- well Krys was my first kiss, but Ailen stuck her tongue down my throat and- jeez." Ares said.

"So- you were as slutty as Jason." Krys said.

"Kind of."

"Wow. Is it weird that I'm actually kind of proud?" Ares nodded.

"Yes." he said. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." Krys said.

"Are you pissed, livid, or enraged?"

"No. Actually, I'm happy you didn't tell me back then. I wouldn't've went out with you. I would've lost all self confidence and wouldn't've thought I could've competed."

"Does that mean that there's no hope of us ever again, because I've had sex with a lot of girls?" Ares asked, as he lied back. Krys shook her head.

"No. That's not what it means." she said, as she lied her head down on his chest.

"So, back to my question." Hermione said. "Who was better? Krys or Emily?"

"Krys." Ares said. "Emily was la- why are we talking about this?" Hermione laughed.

"Oh please. Like Krys didn't talk about this with me. And the only reason that you don't talk about this is because of how the guys see Krys." Hermione said. Ares looked at her.

"Emily was lazy and expected me to do all the work. Krys is crazy flexible. I mean contortionist flexible and when she's in the zone, she's sexy as hell about it."

"Can we measure my embarrassment?" Krys asked. Ares took her hand and kissed it.

"Why are you embarrassed?" he asked, as he continued to kiss her hand. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Because, I was a sexual amateur."

"But you were the best." Ares said, before he kissed her hand again.

"I'm feeling very out of place, right now. But you guys are cute." Hermione said. Ares and Krys looked at her.

"Sorry." Krys said. Hermione shook her head, and started to look at dresses on Krys' laptop.

"So… how many girls have you slept with?" Krys asked. He looked at her.

"You and Emily." he said. Krys looked at him. "Well- I actually wanted to wake up to you. You told me that it doesn't matter who you have sex with, but who you sleep with. Its not who you sleep with that matter. Its who you wake up to that counts? Was that it?" Krys laughed.

"How many women have you had sex with?" she asked. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just asking."

"How many guys have you had sex with?"

"One."

"I was-" Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "What time is it?"

"I don't know." Ares said, as he looked at his watch.

"Its three o'clock." Hermione said.

"What have we don-" Krys stopped and started to sniff around. "Jason, we're up here!!" A few minutes later, Jason opened her door, and plopped on the couch.

"Didn't get the job." he said. "They said that people will think that I got it because of who my father was, and that they didn't need to be strictly biased."

"What about Ares, and who his mother and father were?" Hermione said.

"His dad used to run the entire auror department for the NA Ministry. And his mum is head of all international affairs." Krys said.

"Yeah, well… being the Late Minister Eirson's son is a lot more powerful, supposedly." Jason said. "I mean-"

"Apply for a different ministry." Krys said.

"I don't want to work for a different ministry."

"I didn't say that you should work for them." Krys said.

"Yeah." Hermione said. "Apply for different ministries and show them that different ministries want you, and that you're more than Jeremy Eirson's son. Then maybe they'll be begging you. Who rejected you?"

"Your boyfriend." Jason said to Krys. Krys looked at him pointedly. "I'm sorry. Your _buddy_."

"Well-" Krys started.

"Dude, lets go look at wedding dresses." Hermione said. Krys hopped up.

"Alright." she said. "Jason, start applying, and ask Moody for help. You come highly recommended."

"You're gonna leave me?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"I thought you were coming." she said. "Hermione, is he coming?"

"I don't know. Ares, are you coming?" Hermione asked.

"I'm coming." Ares said.

"Good. I have to go take a shower. For some reason my clothes are sticking to me." Krys said, as she walked into her closet. Hermione and Jason looked at Ares.

"Her clothes are sticking to her." Hermione teased.

"And she'll be _what_? In the shower, is it? Just imagine Krys drenched in water." Jason teased. He and Hermione looked at each other and gave high fives as Ares glared at them.

"You both need help." Ares said. "When you gonna tell A.J about the job thing?"

"I'm not." Jason said. "I don't want her thinking I'm a deadbeat that can't get a job."

"She won't- she probably _will_ think that." Ares said. Jason glared at him. "You said it, not me."

"Whatever. I'm going home. Have fun with the planning. And Ice, grow a sack and tell her the truth." Jason said, before he looked at Hermione. "See you, Hermione." Then he disapparated. Hermione lied down on her bed, and stared at the ceiling.

"You really thought she was trying to kill you, didn't you?" she asked. Ares nodded.

"Scared as hell, too." he said. Hermione laughed.

"Me too. I was wondering if I was next. I mean… what do you think the necklace does?" she asked.

"When my mom told me to give it to Krys, she said it was something she'd definitely want. And I knew about Krys and he constellations and stars- so I decided that it was one of the best gifts that I could give the girl who has everything." Ares said. "I don't know exactly what it does, but I do know that my mother was always wondering how Krys acted, and she would always ask about the chains. Whenever the chains would get together, they'd form this mega chain thing. It would become one, constellation. I don't know exactly what it was, but it was a nice cluster."

"But what do you think it _really_ does?" Hermione said.

"I don't know. Something that her mother said. She said that I wasn't as fat as I used to be." Ares said. "I haven't been fat since I was a three. Something's making me think that our mothers knew each other or something."

"Yeah. Krys and her mum were in hiding here, after all. And… your mother is head of international affairs?" Hermione said. Ares nodded. "I wonder what Krys' mum did for a living. I mean… she died when she was twenty-one."

"And… whenever we're at my house… whenever we walked by this old house in my neighborhood, she gets weird." Ares said. "Like its familiar, or something. I wonder if that's where they were in hiding."

"But, that's the first place people look, when someone's in hiding."

"No. That's the first place that they cross out." Ares said. "When you're looking for someone who went into hiding, you think that a magical neighborhood is too obvious, so you cross it out and look among muggles. Plus- they were here in California. Krys' mom was born and raised in Puerto Rico, until she was five. Then she had a house, from _her_ mother in the Dominican Republic. And the farm that she had in Puerto Rico."

"Man." Hermione said. "I wonder if she was an Unmentionable."

"Well- if she was big in the Order… then she was most likely an auror, a healer- she was something big. And she was brilliant, from what Moody told me. And what Professor Lupin told me is that you and Krys are exactly like Lily and E.J, so- they worked together, most likely. And she got paid a lot."

"How do you know that?"

"Um- I don't know if its my business to tell you." Ares said.

"Okay." Hermione said. "Its because of the seven different Gringotts accounts, right?"

"I didn't know if you knew or not."

"I know. All the accounts were transferred into Krys' name, all before August 10th, when they went into hiding. They all knew that there was a possibility for them to die."

"Are you in detective?" Hermione asked. Ares nodded. "You're good."

"Thanks. But- there's money from her parents together, and money from her parents apart. I'm guessing that's their money from work. Then the money from Lily and James. That's four accounts. One of the accounts is from Krys' dad. That's five. Who is the sixth from?"

"Nemonora." Hermione said.

"And the seventh?"

"No idea. But how did we get from the bracelets to the money?"

"We're wondering what she did for a living."

"I do know that neither Sirius or James became legal aurors. They both had money, so they both started running errands for Moody and Dumbledore as soon as they got out of school. That's what they talked about whenever I was there with Krys." Hermione said. "Once, when Krys had a dream… she did something and I had the same dream."

"What happened?"

"The whole dream was blurry, all that was clear was the dialogue. There was a man, and he was telling her to hand something over. E.J said no… and then he killed her. I have no idea what to think of, or what I- this is just confusing me. Lets stop thinking about it." Hermione said.

"I know. Its scary as hell to think about, isn't it? Everything I see her, she's so innocent." Ares said.

"She's pretty innocent. You're right. Sometimes you wonder why it had to happen to she and Harry in the first place. I mean- it also makes you think about why she is the way that she is. Why they are the way that they are."

"Secretive?" Ares asked. Hermione nodded.

"Pretty much. But- knowing what they know, not knowing what they don't know… I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"She's amazing. She takes everything in stride. And it makes her so much more attractive." Ares said. "I- I love her so much that… I hate that I can't give her the world." Hermione looked at him and smiled.

"I want you for her." she said. "You're very good for her. And she loves you."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"So… you're gonna help me?" Hermione nodded.

"As long as you admit it. I was right. You were wrong." she said. Ares looked at her. "Do it for Krys."

"You were right. I was wrong." Ares said dully. 

"Krys!" Hermione yelled. Krys walked out of the closet with tight light blue bootleg jeans, with rips in the knees and a towel around her top.

"What?" she asked.

"Um… not that I mind, but- why don't you have a shirt on?" Ares asked. Krys laughed and walked back into her closet.

"Ares loves Krys. Ares loves Krys." Hermione sang lightly. Ares nodded, and looked at the closet door with a pout. Krys came out a minute later, with a plain white halter top on. On her feet were white Adidas and she had her hair out and silky straight, with her bangs pulled back by a plastic white headband. Krys picked up her white hoodie, and put it around her waist before she walked to her mirror. She did her hair in a middle ponytail with her bangs held back by the white headband. She looked at Ares and Hermione after applying lip gloss.

"Are we going, people?" she asked. Ares hopped up.

"I have to get dressed." he said. Krys laughed and snapped. Ares was dressed in a pair of baggy black pants, with a Bob Marley t-shirt and black Adidas.

"You look good." Krys said.

"You look better." Ares said. Krys smiled.

"That's usually the case, isn't it?" she teased. Ares laughed and hugged her. "Oh, so affectionate." Ares kissed her forehead, and gently massaged her shoulder. Krys lightly moaned into his chest. Hermione beamed, and made left the room, after giving Ares a thumbs up. Krys pulled back slightly and looked up at Ares. Ares leaned down and pecked her on the lips six times, each kiss going a bit farther than suitable for friends. On the fourth kiss, he opened his mouth. On the fifth kiss, he trailed his tongue over her lip. On the sixth kiss, he pushed his tongue into her mouth, the came to his senses, pulling back completely. Krys looked at him, smudging her lip gloss. "What was that for?"

"I was just helping you clean off some lip gloss." Ares said. Krys laughed and pulled back.

"Lets go." she said. "Hey, you wanna go back to massaging my shoulder?" Ares nodded and continued to massage her shoulder.

"Is this better?" he asked. Krys nodded, before her phone started vibrating, causing her to writhe.

"Shit." she muttered, as she found it. '_Josephs_' the LCD read. Krys picked it up. "Hello… okay… to look at wedding dresses. You know, to determine who you'll give the recommendation to, you should have an obstacle course… you like that idea? Really? Okay… see you tonight. Alright… see you." She laughed. "I'll see you, Eric." Then she hung up. She looked up at Ares and raised her eyebrows.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have perfect lips?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"You." she said, before she kissed the corner of his lips. "Lets go." She started to drag him out of the room. "Now where the hell is Bon-bon?"

"I'm right here, dammit." Hermione said, as she pushed Krys slightly.

"Push me down the stairs, why don't you?" Krys said. "I'm just sure you'd love to know what you get in my will."

"What do I get in your will?" Hermione asked.

"Like I'd give you reason to push me down these stairs." Krys started to pull Ares down the stairs. She dragged him to the Jaguar, and hopped in. Ares hopped into the front seat, and Hermione took the back. "Okay, where are we going?"

"Rodeo Drive?"

"I don't know. You choose." Krys said.

"We should look at flowers." Hermione said. Krys looked at her, then looked in the glove compartment.

"In that case, you need to drive. I'll be too hopped-up on allergy medicine." she said.

"Bridesmaid dresses?" Hermione said.

"Then we can make a list of stores with the best dresses, so we'll go back to them with the other girls." Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"Good idea. And I'll go look at flowers with someone else." she said. "Or online."

"Okay." Krys said, as she pulled out of the gate. "Do you guys really wanna go to the club? When Gem and them come, we can just turn off all the lights and act like we're not home."

"Krys, we can't do that. Lets give Ares the 411, so that he doesn't end up… con-_gem_-ned. You know, like con_dem_ned." Hermione said. Krys and Ares laughed.

"You're an ass." Krys said. "But- Hermione's right, Ares. You just got out of a serious relationship _type_ _thing_, and I don't want to see you get hurt, or attached, or… screwed royally, waking up with no money and all your shit gone." Ares looked at her questioningly. "Yeah. He didn't ask for her number, after he thought the date was over, so she slept with him and stole all of his shit." They all looked at each other before they started to crack up in the car.

"She honestly did that?" Ares asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "But she sent it back after a week. She's just- I don't want you to think that I don't love her. I mean, I love Gem… we're cool and everything, but when she acts like an ass, that's how I'm gonna treat her. And… I don't want you to think I'm some bitch because I'm telling you this, but- I figured warning you about her is better than telling you to stay away from her. She is really smart, and she is fucking crazy, so… watch out for her. Hermione, anything to add?"

"Does Gem know about you guys?" Hermione asked knowingly.

"What about us?" Ares asked.

"That you two used to play _dirty_." Hermione said casually. Krys and Ares burst out into laughter. "Told you I was funny."

"No, Gem doesn't know." Krys said. "Not like it would matter to her, anyway. Do I seem two-faced?"

"Krys, you talk about Gem the way you're talking about her now. You're always mean." Hermione said.

Two hours later, they had a list of all the stores that Hermione wanted to revisit with the others.

"Can we get something to eat now?" Ares asked. "I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry, too." Hermione said.

"I'm up to half a slice of pizza, before throwing up." Krys said. "Soon- I'll be able to eat the whole thing. And- I had an order of French fries. Lets go." They all walked to a Kennedy's. Krys looked around and laughed.

"Its clean." Hermione said. "Right?" She started to sit down, but Krys stopped her. Krys pulled out her baby wipes and alcohol pads and started to wipe the seats, then the table.

"The food and cooks are clean, yes." she said. "I'm just-"

"You sit." Hermione said. "Ares and I, will get the food." Krys nodded and sat down, as Hermione dragged Ares to the line. "Why exactly did you ask Gem out?"

"I don't know. Krys and Josephs were kissing- I heard him say girlfriend. I- I was feeling rebellious." Ares said.

"You know that since you're dating one of her friends, its gonna be harder to get her now, right?"

"Shit- I wasn't even thinking about that." Ares said.

"I want you to think about something." Hermione said. "Do you honestly think that she's gonna look at you and say 'no, I don't want to be with you'?"

"Yes." Ares said.

"Why?"

"Because the last time I saw he-"

"Forget about that." Hermione said. "Do you honestly think she's gonna look at you and say it?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, Josephs is better." Ares said. "He's going to Class 1, and I might not even get leader of Class 2."

"He might not get to go to Class 1-" Hermione turned to order. She ordered all of their food and looked at him.

"He's gonna ge-" Ares started.

"Then you're gonna get Class 2 leader." Hermione said. "I think you are so good for her… I mean- we'll talk about this later." She skipped over to the table, with Krys. Ares sat down a moment later.

"Dude, did you ever notice how vegans criticize what anyone that's not a vegan eats, yet- they're selective hypocrites." Krys said. Ares and Hermione looked at her.

"Why do you say that?" Ares asked.

"Yeah. I think being a vegan is respectable, and I would be… if I had any willpower, which I don't." Hermione said. Krys laughed.

"Because… okay vegetarians don't eat meat or fish, or animal byproducts… I get that. But a lot of vegans usually delve into saving the earth and loving nature." Krys said.

"What's wrong with that?" Ares asked.

"Nothing. I just think that they're selective hypocrites, because they'll eat tofu. Tofu is processed from something living. Sure, they have different cell structures, but no one knows if a plant hurts, just as much as an animal. Just because they don't have faces, doesn't mean that they're a nonentity that deserves to get eaten. I think that plants have just as much personality and character as animals… and in accordance to this, why don't meat eaters just become cannibals, too? Why is it that there's a different code for certain creatures. People can hunt ducks. Why is it illegal to be an assassin? If you can kill a duck, why can't you kill a person? I don't see the difference. If you can use a monkey and kill them for lab research, why can't you do that for and with a person? Monkeys are smart and cute as hell."

"Krys, where are you going with this rant?" Hermione asked.

"Nowhere really, it was just a thought. About two hundred years ago a bunch of men got together and came up with the Articles of confederation and they screwed up so badly that they had to rewrite the whole damn thing. And they came up with the US, and who can say that people then knew what the world would be like today. I mean, back then, black people were underappreciated, women were underappreciated- some of the most productive people were premeditatedly underappreciated. How can they say that animals are the lesser species, and not considered, just because they look and think differently from humans? Back then, black men were considered less than human. How can we say the same thing about- oh Jesus, I'm crazy. I'm just wondering if back then people knew that the world would be so damn… well, like this." Krys said.

"I know what you mean." Ares said.

"Yeah, even though I'm pretty close to being Euro trash-" Hermione started.

"You're not Euro trash. You're respectably English." Krys said. Hermione and Ares laughed. "And I'm pretty much misdirected. My great grandmother and great grandfather were Puerto Rican and Dominican. My mom was half white and I'm more Puerto Rican than Ares." Ares and Hermione laughed.

"But, you're pretty tan, so… you can be." Hermione said.

"Yeah, my grandmother was pretty tan, and my mom… and now me." Krys said. "So- how the hell did the conversation end up here?"

"You." Ares and Hermione said simultaneously, pointing at Krys.

"I don't like where this relationship is going." Krys said, pointing at Ares and Hermione. "Hermione is here so that we can gang up on you, Ares. Not the other way around." They all laughed. "So- what are you gonna do for your wedding?" Krys started to pull her wallet out for Hermione. "Here." she said, as she handed her a twenty.

"Food is ready?" Hermione asked her.

"In about thirty-one more seconds." Hermione looked at her and laughed.

"Did you ever think you'd be working for Gem?" she asked. Krys shrugged.

"I thought I'd be working for you." she said. "Miss. I-give-speeches-to-every-single-event." Hermione laughed, as Ares got the food.

"So- what's going on with you and Ares?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. He kissed me." Krys said. "We're friends, what else?"

"I don't kiss my friends." Hermione said.

"So what? I do."

"Do you kiss Jason?"

"No- ill. Jason has a girlfriend, and- ill."

"Ares had a fiancé and a girlfriend, and you still kissed him." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"Why are we talking about me? I'm not important. Lets talk about you and Ro-" she said.

"No, we already got me and Ron together, what about you and Ares?" Hermione asked.

"What _about_ me and Ares? We're friends. Case closed."

"You guys can't be friends."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, any relationship that either of you attempt to have will pale in comparison to 'Krys and Ares'."

"So, my whole romantic history or future is defined as 'Krys and Ares'?" Krys asked skeptically.

"Try having a normal relationship and tell me." Hermione said. "Nobody will do everything just right, the way that Ares does, and same thing with his relationships. 'He left Emily to save the friendship'. Bull. He left Emily because while he stared at her walking down that aisle, he fully expected you to be under that veil."

"Speaking of veils, are you gonna wear one?" Krys asked.

"Yes, but we're not talking about veils." Hermione said. "We're talking about your happiness and how you can get it."

"You're saying that I won't be happy unless I'm with him?"

"Exactly."

"You're wrong." Krys said.

"Why are you running away from the truth?"

"Because he told me that it was over. He shot out of the bed, like I was a leper, and he told me that he wasn't gonna let me manipul-"

"I thought you forgot." Hermione said.

"I said I did."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm trying to forgive."

"Krys, he-"

"Told me that it was over. He told me that he didn't want to be with me anymore and I'm over it. I don't remember everything from that night but I remember that. _That_, I remember. I'm manipulative and he's not gonn-" Krys immediately stopped talking, when Ares got to the table and set her fries in front of her. She looked at him and smiled after he grinned at her. "Thank you."

"You can finally say it?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him questioningly. "Shank you." Krys laughed. "So- what'd you guys talk about while I was gone?"

"Nosey."

"I'm not nosey, I'm curious."

"That's what nosey people say." Hermione said. Ares glared at both of them.

"I see you've switched sides again." he said.

"She's my tattoo buddy. What kind of friend would I be?"

"Hey- what kind of veil do you want?" Krys asked. "I want a mantilla if I get married."

"What do you mean 'if'?" Ares asked, pointing at the ring on her ring finger. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"I don't play 'rebound girl', Ares." she said.

"You know. Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship - never." Hermione said. "What does that quote mean to you?"

"Bullshit. Look at me and Ares." Krys said. Hermione gave her the look, and Krys ate a French fry quietly.

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. What does that quote mean for you?"

"I don't know." Krys said. "But I have one for you. Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. That is you and Ronald. You are one. You complete each other in the weirdest ways. I hear that Ron used to be hardheaded. Now you are and he's calm and wonderful."

"What are you trying to say about me?" Hermione asked, before she ate a french-fry.

"You tell me." Krys said. Hermione laughed and threw a fry at Krys. "See- that's why."

"You're horrible." Hermione said.

"I am wonderful." Krys said.

"She truly is." Ares said.

"See- he thinks your wonderful." Hermione said. "He has to be the only one." Krys looked at Ares.

"No one will ever believe that a person is as wonderful, as I believe of you. You are perfect, in the most imperfect ways possible." she said, before Ares stole her French-fry. Krys glared at him and Ares laughed. "Hermione, Ron is-" Krys groaned, and started to writhe as her phone vibrated. She looked at it and picked it up. "What?" She laughed. "Josephs, we're already gonna see each other tonight, can you not get enough?… Well- I never told you to get hooked on Krys… Don't worry, it happens a lot. I don't blame you, really… Lunch? Lunch was about three hours ago… Sorry, I can't. Well- I'm with Ares and Hermione… so?… I'll see you tonight… alright… ask the ot-… no… I'm sure you can find someone else to have a 'mid meal' meal with. Sure… no, it doesn't bother me… see ya. Have fun… and don't give her any bing-bing on the first date. Well- mostly because that's slutty- hold out… and wait like real men do." Krys laughed. "Bye." She laughed and hung up her phone. She looked at Ares and Hermione, who were staring at her. "What?"

"Is bing-bing the same as nookie?" Ares asked. Krys and Hermione laughed while nodding. "You two are weird."

"Hey- hey. Why didn't you invite Josephs to hang out with us?" Hermione asked.

"I don't- that's weird." Krys said. "Oh- and he and Ares don't like each other."

"Really?" Hermione said. She looked at Ares. "You two don't like each other?"

"We're okay when we're at work. I don't like him as a person. At work, I respect him, because he's my boss, but otherwise, I don't." Ares said.

"Yeah, well- he's never said anything about not liking you, but he grills you, a lot." Krys said.

"Maybe he's jealous of you two's relationship." Hermione said. Krys and Ares looked at her.

"What's to be jealous about? Ares and I are friends. Ares is my best friend, and he's hopeless without me." Krys teased.

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." Hermione said. "So- what's tonight anyway? Is it like a double date with Gem and Ares, you and Josephs?"

"I don't know." Krys said. "Honestly, I think that a club was their way of getting close." Hermione laughed.

"You mean Josephs wants to grind." she said.

"I don't see the point of grinding, anyway. You might as well go and do the bing-bing." Ares and Hermione both broke out into laughter. "What? Its true."

"Krys, you grind too." Ares said.

"But some people can only grind. And when some of them do, some of them look bad. I remember seeing some girl dance like a dog humping someone's leg. She looked like a vibrating toothbrush." Krys said. Neither Ares or Hermione could contain their laughter. "Its true. I'm only dancing with Hermione and Nic tonight."

"What about me?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"No way." she said. "You can't keep up." Ares glared at her playfully. "I don't know who I'll dance with. I just know that I'm not dancing with Gemini."

"Why?" Ares asked.

"Because Gem grinds on _everyone_." Hermione said. "We all went out… and Gem was grinding on this strange man- it was so weird. And ultra creepy."

"Yeah, and I have the perfect outfit for you tonight, Hermione." Krys said.

"What?"

"My Granny pants." Hermione looked at her weirdly. "Loony Tune Granny, don't worry." Krys assured.

"I don't wanna go." Ares whined.

"Well- you're going. Its all your fault we're stuck with them."

"One of them is your boyfrien-"

"We're hanging out." Krys said.

"Whatever."

"Anyway- I don't care what I wear. I might wear Tweety pants." Krys said. Hermione laughed.

"You won't. You're gonna wear something really nice, and Gem is gonna say that that's the Krys she likes to hang out with. Its gonna be Hell all over again." she said.

"Hell?" Ares asked.

"Krys' first real nightclub. Summer of first year, we got some time off. Right before the beginning fall semester. We stayed at one of Krys' houses. Gem dragged us to this Nightclub. She and got pissed at Krys, bec-" Hermione started.

"You don't wanna know." Krys said. "In fact, you'll hate the story."

"If you don't want me to know, that's all you have to say." Ares said.

"I _really_ don't want you to know."

"Okay." Ares said, before he looked at Hermione. She mouthed 'I'll tell you later'. "So- is it the same club we went to?"

"Yeah, we didn't even get to go to the VIP lounge." Krys said. "But- I hate VIP lounges."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because its superficial- actually, no. That's not true. Its just that, I don't see the point in going clubbing, then being held away from the other people. I could've stayed my ass home for that." Krys said. Ares and Hermione laughed.

"You're a piece of work, you know that?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and stuck her tongue out. "You didn't have too good of a time, the last time we were at the club, did you?"

"Forget about that. I have fully and absolutely forgive you. And when I really forgive, I'm gonna forget. Remember what I told you… 'I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note- torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.' I live by this. I have fully forgiven you."

"And what is it that I did to deserve you?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"I have no idea." she said. Ares grinned.

"You guys are cute." Hermione said.

"We should get the hell out of here." Krys said. "Did you know that its 6:55?"

"Wow… to think that we only have a while to get ready." Hermione said.

"I know. What on earth are we going to do? We only have a while to get ready." Krys mocked. Ares looked at them.

"Gem used to try and make us start getting ready _four_ hours, before we had to be somewhere." Hermione said.

"You know, she asked about you when you were unconscious." Krys said. Ares and Hermione looked at her. "She asked if you were single."

"Are you kidding me?" Hermione asked. Krys shook her head. "His leg was eating away." Krys nodded. "His leg was partially gone."

"So what? This is Ares Delgado that we're talking about. The boy is a twenty on the Richter scale." Krys teased, as she pinched Ares' cheek. Hermione laughed, and skipped to the car. Krys looked at her and laughed, as she got into the front seat. Ares sat in the back, while Hermione got shotgun. When they got back to Krys' house, no one was there. Hermione looked around the house and laughed.

"You must be the only person with a mansion and no maid." she said. Krys shrugged.

"I'd rather clean it myself, and know that its getting done the way I like." she said.

"Only you're that weird." Ares said.

"Hey- maids like to clean their way."

"What time is it?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her watch.

"Its seven fifty." she said. "Why?"

"No reason. I have a fiancé, I need to look good for no one."

"Back to making me feel lonely." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"You got me." she whined. Ares smiled.

"And you have me." he said. "We're gonna live-"

"Off the fatta the land." Krys finished for him, before the two broke out into fits of laughter. Hermione looked at them weirdly.

"You two are weird. But that book makes me cry." she said.

"I know. Lennie." Krys said, before she looked at Ares. "Don't you have a date to get ready for?"

"Don't you?" Ares retorted.

"No, we're hanging out."

"Then so are we." Krys laughed, as Ares got up and walked to the stairs. She laughed until Hermione flicked her.

"What?" she asked, before she flicked Hermione back.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her questioningly. "I want you to clear your mind."

"Okay." Krys said.

"If there's one person that you could spend the rest of your life with, who is it?"

"Ares."

"Okay." Hermione said. "I rest my case."

"What case? He's my bestest friend."

"I thought _I_ was your bestest friend."

"No." Krys said. "You're my Bon-bon. There are similarities, but very big differences. Ares can calm me down and rile me up at the same time, with the same movement. You can't." Hermione laughed.

"You're such a slut." she said.

"Hey- hey."

"Anyway, that's enough. The fact that you're in love with your best frie-"

"Who told me that he didn't want to be with me. I'm forgetting it, but I'm living by it. I've learned to live with it… and I'm okay with it." Krys said. Hermione laughed on the inside, because she knew that Krys was lying her ass off.

"I hate that you're such a good liar." she said. Krys laughed and got up.

"Come on, lets go get ready. We don't know what we're wearing, so- we need time." she said.

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When Hermione was done taking a shower, she put on a robe and went to Krys' room. Krys was in there, in a robe, sitting on her bed.

"I don't want to go." she said. Hermione laughed.

"Its gonna be fun." she said. "Good music, you said it yourself."

"Good enough. Mostly Hip-Hop and R&B. Some Pop, mostly Fergie, Pink and Christina Aguilera. Reggaeton and some Salsa, sometimes. Then there's Reggae." Krys said. "I don't want to go."

"We're going." Hermione said.

"But, I don't wanna."

"Well, you're gonna." Krys groaned, and got up. She walked to her closet and in a minute came out with two full outfits on hangers. Hermione accepted the black Sylvester jeans, matching shirt, hat, hoodie and belt. "I'll give this back."

"I know. If you want it, you can keep it." Krys said.

"I know that you love this outfit." said Hermione.

"You know me too well. I would honestly give it to you, if you wanted it."

"I know. But I don't want it."

"Okay. Whatever."

"You know what? Just give me a regular pair of pants, please." Hermione said.

"Big, small, or fitted?"

"Fitted. And a nice shirt. Nothing too…"

"I know. Not like I'd let you, anyway. You'd better not let anything ruin my wedding." Krys said. Hermione looked at her. "Okay- _our_ wedding." Hermione rolled her eyes and walked into Krys' closet.

"Did you buy more stuff?" she asked. Krys walked in and nodded.

"Yeah. Just a few more things." she said. Hermione looked at her pants and chose a pair of comfortable black Gap jeans.

"These should work." she said. She walked over to the shirts. "Sylvester." Hermione picked up a shirt with Sylvester eating Tweety. "This is cruel, but cute." Krys laughed and shooed her out of the closet. When Krys walked out, she was holding black suede Jordans and a black jeans jacket.

"Here." she said. "Use this and the belt." Hermione nodded and walked into the closet to get dressed. When she walked out, she shrugged and Krys nodded. "Yeah, I like it." Hermione put her hair in a low ponytail and groaned.

"I want to be with my Ron." she whined. Krys looked at her and laughed.

"Its okay." she said, before she got up.

"What time is it?"

"Its about nine thirty." Krys groaned and walked into her closet with a hanger full of clothes. A minute later, she walked out with a from black form fitting long sleeved fishnet like top. The top curved with Krys' torso perfectly. The sleeves were long and covered some of her hand and hooked her thumb. The top of the shirt were completely black and covered, while the arms and the lower parts of the torso were seen through the fishnet-like material. The shirt stopped and was hemmed with black as soon as it got to her black pleated miniskirt with the attached belt. The miniskirt hit mid-thigh. On her feet were zip up knee high suede boots, with no heel, just a platform rising. "Do I look like a slut?"

"Yes, but you wear it well." Hermione teased. Krys looked at her and laughed.

"I hate you." she said. Hermione shrugged, as Krys walked to her vanity. She opened the second drawer and Hermione's eyes widened.

"How many bellybutton rings do you have?" she asked.

"A lot." Krys said, as she looked through the stone coordinated navel rings. Krys pulled out an onyx studded yellow gold navel ring and took out her plain white gold one. She put it in, then cleaned the white gold one.

"You have too much shit." Hermione said. Krys nodded, then looked in her gigantic jewelry case. She pulled out her yellow gold and onyx name chain. Hermione laughed, as Krys changed her cartilage bar to black and yellow gold. Krys put in all yellow gold studs and looked at Hermione.

"Bon-bon, none of you guys have to ask me for anything. Anything I have, its yours. Except for the stuff that was a gift. You see something you like, and just- if its clean and new, take it. Standing over my shoulder is weird." Hermione laughed.

"Is it time?" she asked.

"About."

"You're not gonna leave me, are you?"

"Do I ever?"

"No."

"Then?"

"No."

"Okay." Krys said. "A bunch of horny men from LA isn't something to be dealt with lightly." Hermione laughed and stopped, when someone knocked on Krys' door. "Come in." Ares walked in and his eyes widened. Krys gave him the once over and smiled. Ares was wearing baggy black antique jeans with blue and white stitching on the back pockets. His t-shirt was black, with blue and white stitching. The hoodie matched his shirt perfectly, as did his Mitchell and Ness fitted cap and his Air Force Ones. Hermione looked at the two and rolled her eyes, before muttering,

"So damn clueless." He held his hand out towards Krys, and she took it, before they both pulled her body up. Krys hopped back over to her vanity and straightened her hair, before holding it up with two chopsticks. The chopsticks were black, with spiraled snakes coming out of the top. Her bangs slanted to the side and the ends of her hair sprouted neatly. Krys looked in the mirror and shook her head, before she took the chopsticks and did the same thing in a looser way. This time, more hair sprouted, and it didn't look too spiky, because it hung longer. She looked at herself again and shrugged, before putting on lip gloss. She looked back up and took the chopsticks out and shook her head. Her hair went back to its curly ringlets, before Krys side parted her hair and put her bangs over her eyes. She then picked up a plastic black headband put it behind her side part. She looked at Hermione who nodded and gave her a thumbs up. Krys looked back in the mirror and snapped. Her hair went back to the style it was in before. Her hair was straight and held up by chopsticks.

"Hold on… heat. I need heat. Its fucking cold out there." Krys said. Ares laughed and gave her his hoodie. "Thank you. But what about you?"

"Well- you can pay me back by dancing with me." Ares said.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay- Gem." Krys said, before she handed his hoodie back. She walked to her closet and Hermione looked at Ares.

"That's what you get." Hermione said. Krys walked out with a short fitted hoodie.

"Is this good, or does it mess the whole thing up?" she asked, as she hopped in a circle. She shook her head and walked back to her closet. When she walked out, she was wearing a black suede blazer. It was a bit longer than her shirt and it matched perfectly with her boots. Krys looked at herself in the mirror and shrugged.

"I like that." Hermione said.

"Thanks." Krys said. "What's today?"

"Um… tenth of October." Hermione said.

"You have two months to plan your wedding. Two months and a half, Hermione. We'd better pick up." Krys said, as they all started to leave her room. The doorbell rang and Krys hopped down the rest of the stairs. She opened the door, and Gem and Nic walked in. Gem was wearing a red top with a plunging neckline. The only reason that her top didn't give half frontal nudity, was because of the large butterfly clip holding the cut together. Her pants were extra tight, and her hair was up in a messy loopy bun, with her bangs gelled down to the sides. Nic was wearing a black bustier and leather pants with matching boots. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and she actually looked very nice, with her short leather jacket top. They all did, just in very different ways. Hermione looked nice in a casual way. Krys looked nice in a slutty/sexy way. Gem looked nice in a slutty and revealing way. And Nic looked nice in a tight way.

"Is this the top you were talking about?" Gem asked. Krys and Hermione nodded.

"Yeah." they said. Gem laughed and looked at Hermione.

"What are you wearing?" she asked.

"Clothes, unlike someone I know." Hermione replied. "You look like you belong in the Cathouse."

"Hey- this isn't slutty." Gem said. "What Krys is wearing is slutty."

"Yes." Krys said. "And somehow, I managed to look classier than you, in a slutty outfit. I don't know about you, but I call it a gift."

"To tell you the truth, I like what Krys is wearing." Nic said.

"Yeah, me too." Gem said. She looked at Ares and grinned. "Hey."

"Hey." Ares replied.

"Okay… I'm hungry." Krys said, before she started walking and dragging Hermione towards the kitchen.

"You dragged?" Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"Sorry." she said, before she started to rummage through the cabinets. She finally pulled out a gigantic bag of lollipops. She opened the bag and gestured it towards Hermione. Hermione pulled out a Sour Apple Blowpop. Krys pulled out a bunch of Sour Apple and handed them to Hermione.

"You believe in bulk and excess, don't you?" Hermione said. "What's wrong with you?" Krys shook her head and stared at the Strawberry Blowpop. She started to eat it after she peeled the wrapper off. "Krys, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about your flowers." Krys said. "Orchids and what, for bouquets?"

"I don't know. Orange Tulips. I mean, I don't want to steal your flower." Hermione said. Krys shook her head.

"No. No, they'll all be different anyway, because… scenery and time." she said. "If you want Lilies, get Lilies."

"If I do have Lilies, they'd be orangey." Hermione said. "Really, what's wrong with you? This wouldn't have anything to do with con-Gem-nation and Loverboy, would it?" Krys put her lollipop in her mouth and shook her head frantically. She took the lollipop out and looked at it, before she looked at Hermione.

"I mean, a _fiancé_. He went through a fiancé, and now he's going through Hurricane Twin. I mean, I love her and all. She's my homey… she really is. But, he doesn't _need_ someone like her. She'll get him into trouble. He needs someone who has his best interest at heart. I mean, no offence to her and all, but she's- I'm selfish, aren't I?" Hermione nodded, making Krys laugh. "I just want him to be happy. And I won't accept anything less, even if he will. You know what I mean?"

"Yes." Hermione said. "But… that's no longer your say, now is it?"

"You wanna get punched in the face, don't you?" Krys asked jokingly.

"Hey- no violence." Krys laughed and hopped off of the stool.

"Lets go, lady." she said, as she dragged Hermione back to the foyer. Gem was sitting on the couch and all over Ares, while Nic sat with her legs crossed and staring straight ahead. It was then that the doorbell rang. Krys walked to the door and opened it, revealing Josephs and Mike. "Now he knows where I live."

"Hey- are your parents ever home?" Josephs asked. The question shocked Ares and Hermione to the point that they both looked at him.

"Um… lets g-"

"Krys." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Um… nothing. Can we all go?"

"Hey, Hermione." Mike said, as he started to walk over to her. Krys shook her head and held him from getting in the house.

"No." she said.

"What's the problem, Krys?" Josephs asked.

"Lets go." Krys said, as she started to walk out the door.

"Can't we sit for a minute?" Josephs asked. Krys looked at her watch.

"Um… no." she said.

"Yeah, I think we should get there, too." Gem said.

"Yeah, lets go." Ares said.

"How are we getting there?" Nic asked, as they walked out of the house. Krys and Hermione literally skipped along, arm in arm, like idiots. Krys hopped over to the Escalade and looked at Hermione questioningly. Mike and Josephs looked at her.

"Whose car is this?" Mike asked, as he touched the Beemer. The alarm went off and Krys glared at him before shutting it off.

"Mine." she said.

"What about the Jaguar?" Josephs asked. She looked at him.

"Mine." He furrowed his eyebrows and looked around the parking lot. The parked stretch limo, the Porsche, the Benz, the Lexus, the Esprit, the Escalade, the Nissan, the Toyota, and the Lamborghini.

"The Lamborghini?"

"Mine."

"All of the cars here?"

"Mine." Krys said finally, before she looked at the cars and thought for a minute. "Which car?" The question was directed towards Ares and Hermione. They both pointed at the Escalade. Krys nodded and hopped in the drivers seat, as Hermione walked around to the passenger side. "Get in." The rest of them then filed into the car. The drive to the club was almost silent, except for the chat between Mike and Nic.

"So… you're rich." Josephs said. Krys looked at him in the backseat, then looked back at the road.

"Honestly, how rich are you?" Gem asked. "Why didn't you tell us? I mean, I saw the house, but the cars too? So- who's got the money? Your mom or your dad?" Hermione looked at Krys. Krys looked at the radio and turned it on. A minute later, the music shut off. "Come on, Krys. How rich are you? Why aren't you telling us?" Krys sped up, then pulled into a parking space. They weren't at the club yet, so Hermione looked at her questioningly. Krys turned around and looked at all of them in the backseat.

"Listen closely, because I'm going to say this quickly and I _won't_ repeat myself. Mother; dead. Father; dead. Adoptive father; dead. Adoptive mother; incarcerated, or dead. Adoptive father's money. Now its mine. Done." she said quickly and deadpan. She then turned around and continued to drive, as they all looked around at each other with nothing to say. When they were near the club, Krys turned to Hermione and gave a small cheesy smile. Hermione laughed.

"You're crazy and weird, you know that?" she said.

"I'm eccentric." Krys said. "I'm odd without a pattern, okay?"

"Odd doesn't begin to describe it." Ares said.

"Quiet down back there." Krys said to him. "Gemini…. You had better not grind on me tonight."

"Okay, but Nic can't dance Salsa or do the Bachata… so you're the first one I'm calling." Gem said. Krys laughed sardonically.

"I'm not dancing."

"Um- yes you are." Hermione said.

"Hey- hey, I am not dancing." Krys said.

"Yes, you are." Hermione repeated.

"I can't dance." Krys said.

"Krys, you are such a liar-" Gem started.

"I can't dance. And I'm not going to."

"We'll see about that." Gem said. "All I have to do is play some Cuban Link or Pun, and your Boricua ass is gonna be all over that dance floor." They all laughed.

"Hey- hey, I don't dance to just anything Pun. I need something danceable. I can only _vibe_ to Toe to Toe." Krys said. "And I'll be a Boricua, you fucking Platano."

"That's racist." Gem said.

"It is not, you Frikitona."

"I am n-… _yeah_, I am." Gem said. Hermione looked at Krys questioningly.

"A Frikitona is a girl who's active in bed. You know, like the song. Gem looks like she belongs in the Cathouse, because she _does_." Krys said. They all laughed.

"Hey!" Gem exclaimed. "Hermione, if anyone's a Frikitona, it's Krys." Hermione laughed, because Ares had been saying the same thing about Krys earlier. "I heard the rumors around Levebons." Krys laughed.

"So did I." she said, as she pulled up to the club. (AN: Doesn't that sound like a line in a song?) She looked around and winked. As soon as she did this, a spot cleared and she took it. She hopped out, and she and Hermione skipped arm in arm, again.

"You're not gonna leave me, are you?" Hermione asked.

"No, I won't leave you." Krys said. 

"Good." Krys looked at the line and rolled her eyes, before walking up to the bouncer. Burger was working again. He looked at Krys and Hermione, then laughed.

"How you doin', baby?" he asked Krys. She looked at him and smiled.

"I'm good. How about you?" she asked.

"Always good to see you."

"I know." Krys joked. "I'm a prize. Yo Burger, this is Hermione." Burger smiled and shook Hermione's hand.

"Hi." she said.

"Hey ma." he greeted.

"Hey- hands off. She's engaged." Krys said. Burger laughed. Krys looked at the other that were standing behind her. "You remember Ares. This is Gem, Nic, Eric and Mike." Burger greeted all of them. "So you gonna let me and my _entourage_ in?" Burger laughed and took out his 21 and over stamp.

"You got a entourage now?" Burger asked her, as he stamped all of their hands. Krys smiled and shook her head, as Burger unlatched the velvet rope.

"Nah- these are just my homies." she said.

"This is the only girl from BH that actually sounds hood." Burger told the others, as he pointed at Krys. Krys laughed along with all of them.

"See you, Burger." she said, as she and the others walked in. Josephs walked behind Krys, helping her with her jacket, even before they got into the club completely. The glowing lights were on again, and as soon as Krys fully got in, her tattoos were glowing. Hermione looked at her and they all started to walk in. They all instinctively walked to the bar. Krys hopped on a stool and Hermione sat next to her. Hermione laughed as Mike walked onto the floor and started to dance behind some woman. Mike looked like a spastic chicken, as he shook and gyrated against her. She turned to Krys, who was also shaking with laughter.

"He's disgusting." Hermione said. Krys laughed and nodded. All of a sudden, Frikitona started to play. Gem squealed and hopped off of her seat, before she walked over to Krys with her hand out. Krys shook her head and laughed.

"Come on. Its our song, Boricua." Gem said. Hermione laughed and nudged Krys off the stool.

"Go, Cookie. Its your song." she said. Krys scowled at Hermione, as Gem pulled her off of the stool. Ares laughed and sat next to Hermione. The two watched Gem and Krys dance. "She's good." Ares nodded. "You're still a punk."

"I'm not a punk." Ares said.

"Yes, you are. You're sitting here talking to me, when you should be out there… doing something." Hermione said.

"The last time I was at this club, before the other night… I met about thirty women, and had sex with about… all of them." Ares said. Hermione looked at him and shook her head in shame.

"You need to learn to keep it in your pants." she said. Ares laughed.

"After she dumped me, I thought that the best thing to do was have sex with women that she didn't like… and girls that she knew, hoping that it would get back to her. It didn't. I figured that she would come back to me and she'd be begging me to take her back." he said. "I didn't know that I was the asshole who missed all of the signs."

"Don't worry. You two are gonna get back together and be the couple that we all love so much. You're perfect for each other." Hermione said, before she looked at him. "You're pissed."

"She never took so long to get ready for a date with me." Ares whined. "I'm out of my league, huh?" Hermione looked at him and laughed.

"How badly did you screw up, when you two broke up?" she asked.

"Worse than you can imagine." Ares said guiltily. "That's why I don't drink, now. I almost flunked out of auror training."

"How _badly_ were you torn up?"

"Well- Moody almost killed me. And he gave me a crazy talk, about how my father busted his ass for me, and even if I don't know it… he does." Ares said. "Then he told my mother, who froze my assets, that if I didn't shape up, I would be kicked out. And I was in Moody's on a Scholarship… so- I had to shape up, or I would've been assed out."

"See- you have a lot of self control. A lot of people would've done whatever to get their _booze_." Hermione said. "Does Krys know?" Ares nodded.

"Yeah, I told her all of this the week of the wedding." he said. "She apologized, like she had something to apologize for. The part that makes me feel guiltiest is that her apologies are actually sincere."

"Don't. Krys has made her mistakes and she's paid for them. You've made your dumb-ass mistakes, and you're paying for them." Hermione said. "Lets just hope that the madness ends soon." Ares laughed, as he pointed to the dance floor. Hermione looked and laughed too. Krys was trying to get away from Gem, but Gem kept pulling her back to dance. It was another reggaeton song, and a man started to dance behind Krys, as one started to dance behind Gem. Krys took Gem's hand and spun herself out of the group, before running to Hermione and Ares. The two were still laughing.

"Its not funny." Krys said. Hermione and Ares nodded.

"It is funny." Ares said.

"It really is." Hermione agreed. Krys sat next to Hermione, letting her be in the middle. Ares switched his seat and held Krys in the middle. A moment later, Gem walked off the dance floor and looked at Ares.

"Now, I believe that this is a date. And… I came here for you." she said. Ares laughed as Gem held her hand out. "Come on." Krys pushed him off the stool gently and Gem dragged him to the dance floor, occasionally grinding on him each with step taken. Hermione looked at Krys with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't give me that look." Krys said.

"Why exactly did it take you so long to get dressed?" Hermione asked.

"Wanted to look good for Josephs." Hermione laughed. "What?" Krys asked indignantly.

"Nothing." Hermione said. "Nothing at all." Krys looked at her and was surprised when Josephs walked up to her.

"So you come on a date with me and you ignore me?" he asked.

"I'm not ignoring you." Krys said. Josephs looked at her.

"How many tattoos do you have?" he asked, referring to the glowing tattoos going up her side. There was one of Jesus Christ on the cross. There was another that said 'In God We Trust', then under it said 'I Store Faith In Merlin'. Under and around the words, were ties and barriers. On her other side, it said 'In Deus Nos Fides' and 'Ego Sacire Fides In Merlin' .

"One for every sin." Krys teased. He looked at her and smiled.

"You wanna dance?" he asked. Krys turned her nose up jokingly, then looked at Hermione.

"Sorry- I can't. I dragged my homey here… I'm not about to leave her." she said.

"She can dance with M-"

"Don't even start." Hermione said. Krys and Josephs laughed.

"She's not having it." Krys said. "You should go dance with Nic."

"I want to dance with you." Josephs said, as he pouted Hermione's way. Hermione rolled her eyes emphatically.

"Go already." Hermione said. "Before I change my mind." Krys looked at her.

"You're sure?" she asked.

"Go." All of the music in the club was from years ago. The song that was playing was 'So Excited' by Janet Jackson and Khia. Josephs took Krys to the dance floor, and Krys was nervous at first. So nervous that she was horrible. Hermione almost laughed, but then she stopped, remembering that this was her best friend. Then Krys started to get good again, and she started laughing, so she started to get even better. When the song was done, Krys was about to walk back to Hermione, when Josephs pulled her back and held onto her. She laughed and pulled back a bit, before she continued to dance with him. Every so often, she would turn around and look at Gem and Ares. When Josephs and Krys were done dancing, Krys kissed Josephs, then showed him a girl that was staring at him since they got there. He looked at her weirdly, then said something that made her laugh and kiss him again, before she pointed to the girl again. Then she skipped over to Hermione. "You're weird." Hermione said to her.

"How so?"

"He's _hot_. And-"

"And what?"

"You don't even like him." Hermione said.

"Actually, I do like him. He's cool." Krys said truthfully.

"Not enough to want to be with him."

"Which is why I'm with him now?" Krys pointed out sarcastically.

"You know what I mean." Hermione said. She stopped talking when Nic and Gem walked over.

"We gotta dance." Gem said. Krys and Hermione looked at her.

"Why?"

"'Cause London Bridge is on." Nic said. Krys and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged, before being dragged to the dance floor by Gem and Nic. Hermione stood in between all of them with her arms folded across her chest. Krys started doing weird dances, making her laugh.

"You don't actually have to dance." Krys said. "All you have to do are the confident head bops and move side to side." Hermione laughed and loosened, as she and Krys did just that. The head bops and the side to side. "Just like in White Chicks." Gem made it her job to grind on Hermione and Krys. Then the song changed and the DJ mixed in 'Glamorous' another Fergie song. Krys took Hermione's hand and they started to jump around like idiots as they sang the lyrics. When that song was done, they all danced to 'More Than a Woman' by Aaliyah. When the two finished dancing, Krys felt someone put their hand on the small of her back. She turned around and stood face to shoulder with Ares.

"Are you gonna dance with me?" Ares asked. Krys smiled and looked thoughtful. The song that was now playing was 'Wanna Ride' by Wisin and Yandel featuring Bone Thugs and Harmony. She took Ares' hand and they started to dance. She started to grind on him. There was one point where she teased him and danced around him, which resulted in them laughing. When that song was done, 'Scandalous' with Cuban Link featuring Don Omar came on. They danced playfully with each other. During this dance, there was no particular grinding, they stayed safe at arms length and every so often Ares would spin her. The next song that they danced to was 'Dale' by Don Omar. Krys got close and started to grind on him at the appropriate parts, while they laughed whenever the other did something weird or funny. Once, she joked and moved close to him with a shoulder shimmy. Ares cracked up and they held onto each other for support. Ares looked at her and smiled as she danced a foot away from him. When the song was done, Gem tapped Krys on the shoulder. Krys looked at her, then turned to Ares.

"I'm leaving you now." she told him, before she walked off to find Hermione. Hermione was at the bar when Krys found her.

"Gem's not happy with you." she said.

"What?" Krys asked.

"Gem thinks you like Ares. Actually- she thinks its hell all over again." Nic said. Krys looked at her.

"Wow." she said. She laughed and looked at Hermione. "Listen, I'm not about to fight with Gem about my friend, like I had to fight with Gem about a deadbeat that wanted to fuck me, instead of her." Krys rolled her eyes when 'Breathe, Stretch, Shake' by Mase started to play. She hopped off the stool. "Come on, I can't sit here anymore." Gem and Hermione hopped off the stools walked with her to the dance floor. Krys looked at a rigid Hermione and laughed. "Come on. Shaking your head. Forget it." Krys started to do the robot, and the snorkel. Then she started to do the twist. Hermione laughed, and Krys did the cabbage patch. She, Nic and Hermione laughed and danced around like idiots. Then 'Lose Control' by Missy and Ciara, started to play. Krys and Hermione did the bump playfully and danced with Nic. They danced through most of the songs, until they were tired.

"Oh man. For someone who can't dance, you dance too damn much." Hermione said, as they sat at the bar.

"What are you drinking?" Krys asked her.

"Cosmo." Hermione said. Krys looked at the bartender and asked for three waters. She held it out to Hermione.

"Water." Krys said.

"I'm twenty one." Hermione said. Krys showed her the stamp on her hand.

"So am I." she said. Hermione rolled her eyes and took the water.

"Gem is coming." Nic said. Krys looked at her and shrugged. Gem walked over and looked at Krys, before she ordered two Coronas. Ares walked over and sat next to Krys.

"Hey." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Hey." she said.

"Here." Gem said, handing Ares the Corona, after she opened her own. Hermione looked at Krys, then Ares, then Gem.

"Whoa." she said. Krys looked at her and laughed.

"You're a crack head." she said. Hermione shrugged, and Ares looked at the Corona, before Krys took it from him. She turned to the bartender. "Can I have a water?" He nodded, and handed her one, before she paid him. Krys handed Ares the water.

"Thanks." Ares said, before he drank the water.

"No problem." Krys said. 'Rompe' by Daddy Yankee started to play. Ares looked at Gem, then at Krys.

"Aren't you guys Bachata partners? How you dance Bachata without Bachata music is beyond me. You're supposed to dance each Reggaeton song together." he said to Gem. Gem hopped off her stool and held her hand out to Krys. Krys shook her head.

"I'm good." she said before she got up and walked over to Nic. "Come on, Nikki. You have to learn some time." Nikki laughed and walked with her to the dance floor. Krys showed Gem the foot movements slowly, and the two did the dance. Nic wasn't that good, so Krys did some weird danced and acted like an idiot, making her laugh before she did the dance better. Then they danced regularly to the song. Hermione looked at Gem.

"Why are you mad at her?" she asked.

"Who's mad at who?" Ares asked.

"I'm not mad at anybody." Gem said. "She just- she _always_ does this. Like in Hell."

"What happened in Hell?" Ares asked her.

"I really liked this guy. We were in Florida, and we went to a nightclub. The nightclub was called 'Hell'. Well- anyway, he didn't have a place to stay, so I asked Krys if he could, and the next morning, I saw the two kissing." Gem said. Ares nodded, then looked at Hermione, who shook her head.

"Okay." Ares said.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." Gem said, before she got up and left. Ares looked at Hermione.

"What happened at 'Hell'?" he asked.

"We were staying in a house that we all rented together. First off, the trip started shitty." Hermione said.

"Why?"

"Well, because the house was _really_ expensive at first. But Krys lied to them and said we all paid an equal amount, when realistically she paid about five times more than anyone else. So- we started off. And moving day Gem wanted the big room. Krys already called the big room. Gem made a fuss and Krys just let her have the room. Anyway, in Hell- the first night, Gem met this guy. Now, Gem wanted to go clubbing, but no one else did. So she made a big ass fuss, until we all went with her. When we did she wanted to stay all night, but we left at one. Krys and I shared a room, and Nic and Gem got their own. Well- our room connected to Gem's through a bathroom. When Krys woke up, she went straight to the bathroom. She left the door open, so- I saw what happened. The guy walked in through Gem's room and looked at Krys. She was staring him down, and he was talking to her. She said something witty and he laughed, then he kissed her. She pulled back and pushed him off. He moved back to her and grabbed her waist, before he kissed her again. That's when I got my wand, and Gem walked in on them, as Krys was pushing him away." Hermione said. "Gem was mad at her, and had the guy living there for the next two weeks." Hermione looked at him. "You're gonna laugh when you hear the outcome. That was the guy that stole all of her money and jewelry before we left. And it turns out that Krys didn't rent the place."

"She owned it." Ares said.

"It was her dad and Ms. Bane's timeshare. She was using our money to buy groceries, and ended up giving it all back to us at the end of the trip." Hermione said. Krys was skipping back to her seats, because Nic was dancing with Mike. He was holding onto her waist and they were grinding pretty intensely. Krys looked like she was gonna throw up. Hermione laughed.

"That's nasty." Krys said, as she sat down between Ares and Hermione. "I question her judgment, now." Hermione and Ares laughed.

"Hey- why aren't you two dancing?" Hermione asked Krys and Ares. The two looked at her.

"Because we're not. Ares' date is somewhere and mine is living it up over there somewhere." Krys said. That was when Gem came back and "accidentally" pushed past Krys. Krys tripped Gem "accidentally" as she walked past. Krys looked down at her and gasped.

"**Oh, I'm sorry**." she said. Gem glared at her and got up, before looking at Ares. She touched his shoulder and leaned into him.

"Oh- I'm not feeling well." she said. "Can you take me home?" Ares nodded.

"Sure." he said. "Where do you live?"

"I live close. In Torrance." Gem said.

"Okay." Ares said, before he hopped off his stool.

"Ares, gimme your wallet." Krys said.

"What happened?" Ares asked, as he handed her the wallet.

"I wanna make sure you have a condom." Krys said, as she looked through his wallet. She looked through it, and sure enough a Magnum XL, in his wallet. She looked at him and he was looking at her. "Just like a man." He laughed and Gem glared at her. Krys looked at her and raised her eyebrow. Gem rolled her eyes and looked the other way. Krys looked at Ares. "See you."

"See you." he said, before he and Gem walked away. Krys groaned, and looked like she was about to pull her own hair out. Hermione laughed and Krys glared at her.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Don't be mad at me. You kept denying it. _Stop_ denying it."

"Denying _what_?"

"That you want him more than Gem does."

"She was gonna give him beer. He can't drink. She knows nothing about him. And she gives it out like _treats_ on Halloween." Krys said. Hermione laughed.

"Stop. If its anyone's fault, its yours." she said. Krys crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. Ten minutes later, Nic ran up to them and said that she was leaving with Mike. Krys and Hermione looked at each other. "Nic, just be careful with him, okay?"

"Yeah." Krys said. "He's a bit… have a good time." Nic smiled and waved to the two, before leaving.

"And then there were three." Hermione said. "You wanna leave?" Krys nodded frantically. The two set off to find Josephs. He was dancing with a girl, but when he saw Krys he moved away like he'd been burned. "I'm ready." He nodded, then walked away from the girl without so much as a word. They all drove back to Krys' place in silence. When they got there, Hermione immediately went straight inside, while Josephs and Krys stood at the front door.

"Are you going to invite me in?" Josephs asked. Krys shook her head.

"No." she said. "But I was thinking."

"Oh no." Josephs joked. Krys laughed.

"I don't like you." she said. Josephs nodded.

"Yes, you do." he said, before he kissed her. He hooked his index finger into the button belt of her skirt and his other hand went under her skirt. Krys pulled back and shook her head. "Okay." He leaned in and kissed her again. His hands went to her waist as she bit his bottom lip. She pulled back again.

"See ya." she said finally.

"Hold up." Josephs said. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"We've been _hanging out_ for a while, right?" Krys nodded. "What time do you work tomorrow?"

"Early day."

"So- you'll be off during the nigh." Krys nodded. "Come out with me." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. Josephs leaned in and kissed her again. Krys pulled back, and opened her door. "See ya." When she got inside, Hermione was looking at her.

"Ill." she teased. Krys laughed. "I should've flickered the lights."

"So, Dude… what are we gonna do about your wedding?"

"We're gonna have it." Hermione said. Krys laughed.

"I mean about who's gonna marry you." she said.

"Oh- Ares said that he'd ask his mommy to talk to Harriet."

"Where's Ron?"

"He's working the double shift again tonight, remember?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"Just us here?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah." she said.

"Okay." Krys said.

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The next night, when Krys got off of work, she took a shower and got dressed immediately. She got dressed in a pair of tight light blue jeans and a black halter top. On her feet were black Uptowns and her hair was in regular ringlets. She put a black hoodie around her waist and applied lip gloss. As soon as she was done getting dressed, her doorbell rang. She hopped down the stairs, but Ron already answered the door. He looked at her.

"Oh." he said. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. Josephs was at the door. Krys grabbed his arm and left the house. "Where are we going?"

"My place." Josephs said. Krys nodded.

"Okay." They hopped in his Toyota and rode on the way. As soon as they got in the door, he started to kiss her fiercely. Krys didn't complain, she just reciprocated. He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He pulled back and started to kiss her neck and fondle her. Krys moaned, and he licked his lips and kissed her again, as he carried her to his bedroom. He set Krys down on the bed and got on top of her, before he took her shirt off. Krys moaned as he kissed her neck and caressed her breasts. He pulled back and smiled, before he started to undo her pants. Krys was looking up at him. She lifted her hips as he peeled her jeans off of her. He instantly laughed as he saw her Pokemon underwear. Then he saw the Ares shield. He didn't know what it was but he kissed her navel.

"You are so sexy." he whispered against her skin. Krys looked at him, then helped him out of his shirt, before she flipped him over and got on top of him. He laughed and looked at her. "You like it rough?" Krys raised her eyebrow, and undid his pants. He mimicked her actions from before and flipped her over before getting back on top of her. He undid her bra and smiled, before he bit her. Krys moaned and began to breathe faster. He leaned down again and kissed her.

"Do you- condom?" she asked between kisses. He kissed her neck.

"I ran out." he said in the crook of her neck. "We'll just use the contraceptive." Krys pulled back and re-hooked her bra. "What's the problem?"

"Condom." Krys said.

"Krys, what the fuck? You've been teasing me for four months." Josephs said. "You know what? You're too damn prissy."

"Because I want a condom?" Krys said. "Ha."

"I've been working so hard to be with you. You know what? You don't even like me. I thought I could fall in love with you, but you're not willing to trust me. If you don't want to be with me-"

"You know what, Josephs? I apologize; and note, I'm being sarcastic and sardonic when I say this, but I'm sorry that I values and common fucking sense! I'm not one of those little asshole girls that's gonna apologize over your 'baby this, baby that' bullshit. You're not gonna guilt me into fucking you! I don't need anyone that bad! Number one; I'm not dumb enough, and even if you are hurting and blasé blah, use your goddamn hand, because I'm not doing it. And I don't care what you say, or if you see someone else. Goodbye!" she said, before she walked out the door. She stormed out of the apartment and went straight home. When she got there, she found a letter in her fireplace. It said 'Krystathaili Potter-Black' on the envelope. Krys opened it and muttered, "Shit", as soon as she read it. The letter in her hand read,

'I hope you're ready to die. Because I'm waiting.

Imogene Marianne Reddy-ToCaedare'

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Two weeks had passed by since the girls had passed since the club incident. Krys and Hermione had just gotten their lunch break and walked to Krys' office, when they saw Ares talking to Gem. Hermione nudged Krys.

"Looks like you have competition." she said. Krys looked at her.

"Ares is free to date whoever he wants to date." she said. "And I don't expect Gem to back off, because we have history. She doesn't even know about the history. Plus, she's already given him some."

"Krys, Hermione- hey." Ares said, as he strolled over to Krys and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, Loverboy." Krys said.

"Ares. Gem." Hermione greeted.

"Well- I'm going to lunch. Do you wanna come, Ares?" Gem said.

"Oh- I'm here to have lunch with Krys." Ares said. Gem nodded and kissed his cheek. "Later."

"Yeah." Gem said, as she walked past. Krys walked up to Ares, and took his hand.

"Come on." she said. "When was the last time you saw a doctor?"

"Well… there was that time we played doctor in bed. Does that count?" Ares asked. Krys laughed and took his hand.

"Hermione, I'll meet you at my place for lunch, okay?" she asked. Hermione smiled and nodded.

"I have to look some things over for the wedding, anyway." she said, before she disapparated. Krys nodded and dragged Ares into her office. "Okay. Take off your pants and shirt."

"Was this some attempt to get some on the side?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"Don't question me, little boy. In this office, I am the law… and the punishment." she said. "Take it off. And you're lucky that I'm letting you keep your underwear on." Ares looked at her and groaned, before he took off his jacket, shirts and pants. He was left standing in his boxers and socks. "Okay… I'm gonna ask you some questions, because looking at your weight loss is worrying me enough. But first, get on the scale." After the two finished the routine checkup, Krys looked at him.

"What's wrong, Krys?" Ares asked. She shook her head.

"Nothing really." she said. "So far. Um… are you under any stress? Are you having any problems sexually?" Ares looked at her.

"Well- a few days ago, when we went to the club Gem and I… And… she… tried to get some. Its just… captain wouldn't salute." he said shyly. "God, why am I telling you this? You're probably laughing your ass off on the inside." Krys shook her head.

"If I was laughing at you, you'd know." she said. "Okay. Anything else? Nocturnal emissions- wet dreams?" Ares looked at her and nodded. "How many a week?" Ares' leg started swinging.

"Seven." he said. This time, Krys laughed, earning herself a look from Ares.

"I'm sorry. Its just… you're panicking. Don't. Its completely normal, and abnormal at the same time." she said.

"What?"

"Well… you usually think that guys like you don't have wet dreams. It seems natural for them to be getting some on a regular basis. You don't have to be ashamed of it. I mean, two months ago, I had a dream that I was doing it with Homer Simpson. The worst part is that it wasn't the weirdest dream that I ever had." Ares laughed. "See… its nothing to be ashamed of. Especially when you're talking to the girl that used to inhabit those dreams." Krys teased. Ares looked at her and smiled.

"You need help." he said.

"Well… what happens in the dreams? Who's the girl? Is it a girl?" Ares looked at her pointedly. "No, I don't mean like that. I just mean, is it a doughnut? People have weird dreams."

"It's a girl. Woman."

"Oh- you don't want to tell me."

"Exactly."

"Well… I think its all psychological."

"You're not gonna give me anything prescription?"

"No. You just… you want what you want. And I guess the captain isn't like any other man. You're more selective, and you want a certain thing… and you're not settling for less."

"How does that explain the wet dreams?"

"Well… you're gonna laugh when I tell you this." Ares shook his head. "Guys _need_ to have sex. They need it. It is completely true. Their body produces semen forever and they need to release it. They need to release it so much that… if a guy doesn't release regularly, they can get blue balls or they'll start to have wet dreams to release. A guy that doesn't have sex and jack it- oh sorry, _masturbate_ regularly can start to prematurely ejaculation, and come- _ejaculate_ just by being kissed. Its actually quite fascinating. So… wet dreams are just the captain's way of telling you the sailors need to be drained."

"You are the most inappropriate healer, ever." Ares said. Krys laughed. "But… how do I…?"

"Relax." Krys said, as she started to take off her jacket. "Okay… clear your mind and think of the girl." Ares nodded and looked at her. "Picture her undressing." Ares visually gulped as his eyes traveled down Krys' body. "Okay… just picture her at her sexiest and imagine her moving closer and imagine…" She left the scenario open and laughed. "Captain is saluting… and I'm now very uncomfortable, because I can see it." Ares immediately covered himself, as Krys tossed him a big towel.

"What am I supposed to do now, Krys?" he asked.

"What do you think the towel is for, Ares? There's a shower back there. All the cold water you need." Ares glared at her, before he walked to the next partition of Krys' office. "Hurry up. We have to go have lunch." Ten minutes later, Ares walked out completely wet and clad in a towel. Krys smirked.

"This reminds you of Levebons days, doesn't it?"

"No, because in Levebons days, I could get it whenever I wanted." Krys laughed.

"Come on. I'm not sure your girlfriend would appreciate you talking to me. Oh- or being in a towel around me." she said.

"What's going on with you two?" Ares asked. "And she's not my girlfriend."

"She thinks I want you."

"Do you?" Krys looked at him.

"Are you serious?" she asked him. He nodded. "Are you asking this because I don't talk to Josephs anymore, or because you want to know."

"Do you?" Krys shook her head.

"No, not really." Ares rolled his eyes. "Come on. Hermione's waiting for us."

"I have to get dressed." Ares said. Krys nodded then sat on her couch.

"Do it slowly." she teased. Ares looked at her and laughed.

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When Hermione got to Krys' house, Ron was there. She looked at him and ran to him. He laughed, before he kissed her.

"It seems like I haven't seen you in a year." she whined. Ron nodded.

"You're gonna hate me." he said. Hermione closed her eyes. "I have a double shift. I'm only here for my lunch break. I came to see you." Hermione nodded. She looked at the table and waved her hand. A piece of paper set itself in front of her. She left Krys a note, then disapparated with Ron. As soon as they got to the house, Hermione started to kiss him. Ron smiled against the kisses and laughed, when Hermione pushed him on the bed. "I thought we were supposed to wait until we're married." Hermione gave a dismissive wave of her hand and kissed him again. While she kissed him, she carefully took off his robe. When she pulled back, she tossed his robe on a chair, and Ron laughed.

"I didn't know how hard it would be to give up sex." Hermione said, before she took off his shirt. Ron laughed and helped her out of her clothes. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Ron said. "I'm only doing this so I can have more time for our honeymoon." Hermione laughed as Ron smiled, then placed her lips on his softly. Hermione moaned, as Ron's hands roamed under her shirt. "You know that we don't have time to actually…" Hermione nodded.

"I know." she said. "We haven't seen each other in so long." Ron nodded.

"I know." he said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. We-" Hermione groaned when her beeper went off. She looked at it and almost threw it at the wall. Ron laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes. "I have to go." she said. "I have to go." She kissed him, and groaned when she pulled back.

"I should go too." Ron said. Hermione nodded.

"Why? Why? Why?" she groaned.

"I love you." Ron said.

"I love you too." Hermione said as she looked for her shoes. When she found them, she fixed her shirt. She looked at him and kissed him again, before she disapparated. She got back to the hospital and looked around. "Someone paged me?" Hermione walked to the receptionist. "Hi, Delores. I got paged."

"Madam Estevez wants you." Delores said. Hermione nodded and ran to Gem's office. She knocked and the door opened. Gem asked her in.

"Hey, what happened?" Hermione asked.

"Has Ares said anything about me?" Gem asked. Hermione looked at her.

"What? Someone paged me." she said. "What happened? It was a 911."

"Are Krys and Ares together? Has he said anything about me?" Gem asked.

"_This_ was the 911?" Hermione asked through clenched teeth.

"I wanted to talk."

"I just ran out on my very sexy, and willing fiancé to answer your slumber party questions?!!" Hermione screamed.

"Fine." Gem said. "Go back." Hermione almost growled before she disapparated back to her apartment. Ron was gone.

"No." Hermione whined. "Why?" She sadly disapparated to Krys' house and almost cried. Ares and Krys looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Krys asked.

"I hate Gemini." Hermione said viciously.

"That's normal." Krys said.

"I haven't had sex in over three weeks." Hermione cried. "I miss him, so much." Krys laughed. "Its not funny."

"Yes, it is. You wondered why I was so cranky when me and Ares broke up. This is why." Krys said. "Getting some, then not getting some isn't fun." Ares looked at the two and laughed.

"Aren't women supposed to be able to hold out?" he said.

"I can hold out." Krys said. "I have."

"Me too. Twenty years. And now… I'm am livid." Hermione said.

"That's because you're a fruity little English Crumpet." Krys teased. Hermione glared at her.

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"Moony, I need to talk to you." Harry said, as he walked into McGonagall's office. Professor Lupin, McGonagall, and Moody were in the office.

"What happened Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked.

"Padfoot's in trouble." Harry said. They all looked at him.

"What kind of trouble?" Moody asked. McGonagall was staring at him, and they all looked anxious.

"Guys, she's getting threatening letters, and she's not telling anyone." Harry said.

"Do you have one on you?" Moody asked. Harry nodded and pulled one out of thin air. The letter was short and straight to the point.

It simply read,

Its ours, and we're going to get it.

Imogene Marianne Reddy-ToCaedare

"What- what does this mean? What kind of bloody rubbish is this?" Moody asked.

"Read the initials of the first two names and then read the last names." Harry said.

"I M Reddy ToCaedare." Moody read.

"I am ready to kill." Moony said, deep in thought. "It means 'I am ready to kill.'"

"Yeah. Padfoot knows Latin. She figured it out instantly." Harry said. "Here's the next one." He handed them another letter. It simply had a name on it.

It read,

Rachel Ursula Reddy-ToMori.

"What does that mean?" Moody asked. "R U Ready ToMori."

"'Are you ready to die.'" Moony, Harry and McGonagall said, all deep in thought.

"Lets go get her." McGonagall said, as she picked up a bottle of butterbeer. She handed it to Harry.

"Portus." he said as he blew on it. They all touched the bottle and got to Krys' house. Krys was sitting down with Hermione, they were reading wedding catalogues. Ares was next to Krys playing with a Gameboy. Krys looked up and smiled.

"Hey." she said. Then she looked at their faces, before she glared at Harry. "You talk too much." Ares and Hermione looked up, before they smiled.

"Hey, Professors." Ares said.

"Hi." Hermione said.

"Lets go." McGonagall said. "All of you." They all sat up and looked at her. Harry blew on a Frisbee and they all touched it before they were at Potter Manor. They looked around and walked to the portraits. As soon as they all of them they all looked at Krys.

"What did she do this time?" Sirius asked. Krys looked at him and rolled her eyes, before she sat down.

"Eri-" McGonagall started.

"E. Jasmathes." E.J whined. "All that work to have it changed and it doesn't even get acknowledged."

"Eris." McGonagall said once more. "Tell her."

"Minnie, that's my de-"

"Tell her." McGonagall said more forcefully. She lips were pursed and she had her glasses lowered.

"E.J, she's getting threatening letters. And they're sending them about the-…" Remus trailed off. E.J nodded, and looked at Krys.

"The person that killed me was Eric Potter." she said simply.

"But that would mea-" Krys started.

"Yeah." E.J said. "My father."


	33. The Genocide Wipeout

"Okay. So, your father killed you." Krys said after a minute. They were all too stunned to speak. Ares, Hermione and Harry looked at her. Krys nodded. "Why?"

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Always." she said. "Why?" 

"Well, because-"

"Not that, daddy. Why did he kill you?" Krys asked E.J.

"He was a Death Eater." E.J said. "He wanted me to do something that I couldn't do for him."

"What?"

"He wanted you. And he wanted me to give him a part of you."

"What are you saying?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, E.J. You never did tell us all the story. You just told us that Eric killed you. You never did tell us why." Lily said. James looked guilty. "You knew?"

"Its Krys' turn to hear." James said.

"You told _him_, but you didn't tell _me_?" Sirius said. "What ever happened to 'till death do us part'?"

"And I still can't escape you." E.J teased. That made Sirius smile and forget about everything else. The living people cleared their throats, and the portraits looked at them. "I was born a child prodigy. Born Occlumens and I was born able to do all six stages of magic. When I first got to Hogwarts, I couldn't even do magic with my wand in my hand."

"What do you mean?" Krys asked.

"I am- _was_ the only person of my age and time to be able to do _Drop Magic_. I couldn't hold my wand and do magic. The only way that I could was by the other six stages. It took me a week to learn. But- my- the magic that's easiest for me is Drop Magic. When I was eight, I created a spell. I don't know how… I just dropped the wand. Me and Jamie were in a field and we got mad at each other, so we ran our separate ways. Anyway… I'd stolen my mummy's wand earlier in the day. I dropped it and a green light waved out on the grass. All of the grass in its path started to die. The only reason that it didn't hit me was because I jumped on the dead grass… well anyway, it killed our house elf, Jaggy."

"Mommy, what are you saying?" Krys asked.

"My father killed me because he wanted the shield for Voldemort. Voldemort was going to give all purebloods and his followers a shield and he was going to kill all muggles and muggleborns. He was gonna take me and make me drop my wand, killing all the others that weren't elevated or didn't have a shield." E.J said. "But I wouldn't do it, and I only created one shield, so I wasn't giving it to him."

"So- what happened?"

"I gave you the shield and I dropped my wand." E.J said in a final tone.

"But- wouldn't that have killed everyone?" Moody asked. They were all watching E.J with immense interest.

"Drop Magic is measured by the height of the drop."

"What happened?" Krys asked. "I mean- I know the result, but… what happened?"

"Well- at first, it was only five men. And I killed them. Then, I escaped, and there were more outside. We were surrounded and they were going to kill us. Eric pulled off his hood and I almost broke down. He told me that if I gave him the shield, he would let us live. I was going to give it to him, until one man touched me and my father laughed. Then he started to monologue and I found out that he was the one who killed Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Harry. I also found out that he and his wife gave Voldemort me and my mummy's location, when I was seventeen years old. They're the reason she died and I had to watch. That was when I realized that I wanted to kill him the slowest and the most painfully. I had twenty-five Death Eaters on me, and Eric didn't think that I would do it. He said that Uncle Harry wouldn't kill him, because they were family, and he called me weak. He said that I wouldn't do it because he was my father. And he didn't think I would do it, especially because I only had one shield." E.J stopped talking. She looked at Ares. "Two weeks earlier, I told your mother that I knew I was gonna die, and when I did, she should call Dumbledore and keep Krys out of the spotlight. I also told her that she should take the constellation necklaces that Sirius gave me, and hide them. Keep her in California and watch over her when she got to Levebons or West Coast Witch Academy. When you were old enough or the two re-met, she was to give them to Krys. She helped me get my drop just right." E.J took a deep breath. "When I was seventeen, I learned to use my wand as a staff. Instead of dropping my wand, I stuck it in the ground, faking a surrender, and bent down to kiss you and told you that I loved you. Then we did our bit. I asked you what you were to me, and you responded 'the air that you breathe, mummy'. Once I kissed you, my step mom shot you with the Avada on the inside of your thigh, and my dad shot me with it, straight to the heart. But I already got the spell brewing in my wand. I already had them all. They were all gonna die, whether I was alive or not. Jules told me that she knew you were out there, because of your Legilimency. You sent her a danger message, when you were one year old." E.J said.

"So- what the hell did you do for a living? Were you like an assassin or something?" Krys asked. E.J shook her head then nodded.

"I was one of the highest paid spell creators in Europe. Lily and I worked together, and we created spells. Yes, I've killed people… all for good enough reasons. All in attempts to save you, myself or someone who couldn't save themselves." E.J said. "I ended up the highest paid and youngest spell maker in England… and people wanted them. The one spell that I wasn't willing to give outside of the Order was the most famous kept secret in Europe. The spell that I created when I was eight was what got me my job, my money, my reputation, and my death. When I was eight I was given the opportunity to go to Hogwarts three years earlier because of the spell. I didn't take it, but when I graduated from Hogwarts, I already had a license to kill. That's how interested they were in the spell. The minister didn't care what I had to do to get the shield right, but he was gonna let me do it. The spell was called the Avada Zenith Excel. Also known as the Genocide Wipeout."

"So- what's going on now?" Hermione asked.

"What we all knew would happen." E.J said. "Imogene and Rachel believe that I killed their father. Those are the women that are sending these letter, correct?"

"How'd you know?"

"Legilimens." E.J said. "And perfect vision. I see the letters. You guys are kind of close."

"Did you kill their father?" Harry asked. E.J nodded.

"Yes. And their mother. And I enjoyed it. _A lot_." she said. They all looked at her.

"_Okay_. So why do they want to kill _me_?" Krys asked.

"Inheritance."

"What the hell does that have to do with me?" E.J looked at James.

"You explain, Jamie." she said. James looked at Krys.

"Okay- you and Harry are heirs to the 'Potter Throne'" he said. "William Potter, me and E.J's grandfather. We have old money. Grampy left half to my fathe- _our_ father. And the other half to E.J."

"Why?" Krys asked.

"Because he loved her, a lot. I mean, when he met E.J… he was- it was annoying. So- half of the money was hers. Now its yours."

"So- what am I going to do?" Krys asked.

"You're going into hiding." E.J said.

"No, I'm not."

"You won't be able to kill these women." E.J said. Krys looked at her.

"Are you saying that I'm weak?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Krys looked at her. "Not weak physically or mentally, but… you have a conscience, you have a heart. They don't. These women are _crazy_. They believe that I ruined their whole lives. And they want you to pay for it."

"What the hell does my conscience- better yet, what the hell do these women have to do with _me_? Okay- you killed their parents. Big goddamn deal. They need to get the hell over it, because I had to. What do _I_ have to do with this?" Krys asked.

"Yeah, why should Rachel and Imogene care?" Hermione asked.

"The good part. Rachel and Imogene are family." E.J said.

"So what?" Krys asked.

"Rachel and Imogene- or Erica Potter and Erin Potter, are my sisters. Erica is older- she's fifty. And Erin is twenty-four." E.J said.

"Eric, Erica, Eris, and Erin?" Krys said. E.J nodded.

"My name is E. Jasmathes, thank you very much." she said. "Anyway, Grampy didn't like Erica, and he never met Erin. He died before she was born. And he and Eric never got along. Grampy was- he was nice to us, but he was miserable as hell. And Eric once told him to burn in hell… so Grampy got the last laugh by not leaving Eric anything and leaving me his half. Now, another part. All of my father's other money, his 'self made' money, its all mine and my mother's. My father didn't make a cent without me- he couldn't make a cent without me and my mother. All of his work money was made by me. So- its all _yours_." Krys pointed to herself and E.J and James nodded. "That _includes_ Potter Mansion."

"Isn't this Harry's house?" Hermione asked.

"Potter Manor is Harry's. Potter Mansion is Krys'." James said.

"So- Potter Mansion, St. Eris Hospital, and the vault." E.J said.

"They can have it. I have more money than I know what to do with." Krys said. They all looked at her and nodded.

"Unfortunately, you can't do that." James said.

"Why not?"

"Because, its yours. St Eris Hospital was my mother's dream. My mother's things are also in that vault and in that will. Erica hated my mother, and Erin was the result of my mother's heartbreak. Now, because I made him all of his money, it all belongs to me. Half of Potter and all of Santos history." E.J said.

"So- what are we going to do?" Krys asked.

"You're going into hiding." E.J said.

"What does that accomplish?"

"You'll live to see tomorrow."

"And you just said that you wanted me to-"

"You're going into hiding."

"I'm not going into hiding. It didn't matter to me when I had to kill Pettigrew. It doesn't matter to me now." Krys said.

"You're going into hiding."

"No, I'm not. What was the point of you giving your life for me, if you just intend to pack me away?" E.J closed her eyes painfully, and inhaled. She let the breath out, then looked at Krys.

"You are going into hiding. Do you think that you want another life on your conscience? Do you think _I_ want another life on your conscience?"

"I'm sorry. I'm supposed to act like a fu-… a punk while two women are sending me death threats? I don't think so." Krys said.

"I don't care what _you think_ that you're going to do. _I'm_ _telling_ you what to do." E.J said. "And even if you don't listen to what I say, I will get you into hiding."

"No."

"These women are crazy." E.J said. "When I was three years old, my sister tried to drown me in the bathtub. She is psychotic. And Erin? Since she was four, she's been led to believe that I killed her mother and father out of malice-"

"Didn't you?"

"Anything that I do out of malice ends up planned. I could've found a much better way to kill my father, stepmother, and father's ex-wife. I've never killed anyone that has never done me any harm. They tried to kill you, so I killed them. Its just that simple. Do you know what you are to me?" Krys didn't say anything. "_Do you know what you are to me_?"

"The air that you breathe, mommy." Krys said.

"You are the air that I breathe. Their minds revolve around that money. What exactly was it that you did to the man that led us to our deaths? They will not stop until they kill you. And it doesn't matter if I'm welded to a wall, but I will not let that happen. And it doesn't matter if I have to get people killed from this portrait. You're not gong to die as a result of my problems with someone else. And it doesn't matter if I have to leave this portrait to kill someone for you, you will not die because of what _I've_ done. I promised you that the day you were born and the day that I died. I knew what I was doing, and I know what I'm doing now." E.J said.

"Girl Potter, your kid is ready. She's an auror mind." Moody said. E.J looked at him.

"Her heart is going to get in the way." she said. She looked at Krys. "You're going into hiding."

"Both of you." Lily said, looking at Harry.

"They don't know about the kindred spirit thing. They don't even know that she and Harry know about each other. They only know where she is. And they only want Krys." James said. "She's the only one that stands in the way of them and the money."

"Okay- so you intend to put me in hiding. Against my will, I might add. Who's to say that I won't leave anyway?" Krys asked.

"The ministries." E.J said. "House arrest. Daisy!!" A minute later, an old little house elf walked up the stairs. She wore a bright smile. "Hello, Daisy. I'm sorry to bother you, but- I need you to send seven letters to all of the ministries, keeping Krystathaili Potter-Black under meticulously stringent house arrest/hiding. But- instead of sending them by owl, can you get Felix to deliver them?" Daisy smiled and nodded, before snapping. E.J started to dictate the letter, and a quill started to write it on beautiful stationary. The letters multiplied and E.J let out a small sound and a phoenix flamed to the room. He looked at E.J, and she started to talk to it. He nodded, and took the letters, then flamed.

"Why didn't you just flame?" Krys asked. E.J looked at her.

"What?"

"Why didn't you flame?"

"I wouldn't've been able to flame with you. Thalia, you have to understand that… there was no point in life for me, if you weren't in it. There wasn't any point in life for me, if you weren't happy. You had more life to live, and that's how I made my decision." Krys looked at Sirius, then looked away.

"You're gonna make me stay by myself? For how long? A year? Two? For money?" Krys said. The way she said it wasn't really questioning. She was speaking in a skeptical tone. "You know, to put me and keep me away for a long ass time, just so I can continue breathing, isn't the same as putting me away so that I can live." E.J looked at her.

"And as much as I agree with that, _you're going_. This is real life, this isn't some goddamn book, or movie. Don't feed me those corny ass lines and those little quips. I don't want it. You're going, because I said so. I am your mother, and I said so. That's it."

"E.J, don't put her in hiding." Sirius said. E.J looked at him.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Um- I said… I do-… I don't think that-… you look lovely, dear." Sirius said. E.J looked ahead. "She can handle Erica and Erin."

"How do you know?"

"Because- even if she wasn't a twin, she'd still be our daughter. And even before she had the power, she was still powerful."

"How do you know?"

"I- I went to visit you once, before I went to look after Harry." Sirius said to Krys.

"What are we going to do?" McGonagall asked.

"She's going into hiding." E.J said.

"E.J-" Sirius started.

"No, Sirius." E.J said, before she looked at Krys. "You're going into hiding. I don't want to hear anything else about it." Then she went further into her portrait room. Sirius looked at Krys and shook his head.

"I know." Krys said. She then turned to Hermione. "You should go through with your wedding."

"I can't do that without you." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"Of course you can. I want you to." she said. "Your wedding is important to you. Your wedding is important to me. You should do it."

"Only because you want me to." Hermione said. Krys looked at her and laughed.

"Do it." she said. She looked at Sirius, then McGonagall and Remus. "I have to go to the hospital first. I need injections, and I have to refill my pump. I also have a brew of Ferrous Sulfate guck that I need. Or I could stop taking them all, die, then I'll finally be free." She said it in her witty and sarcastic voice. E.J walked back up so they could all see her. She looked at Krys and then around the room.

"Who'll take her and bring her back?" she asked. "Who won't she hit?" E.J looked at Remus. Remus smiled and nodded.

"Sure." he said, before he walked over to Krys. He extended his arm, and Krys took it, before they both disapparated.

"You did the right thing, Harry." Ares said. Harry looked around and they all nodded.

"You really did." they all said.

"Don't try it, Harry." E.J said. "She can't do it."

"Well- why not?" Harry asked. "She manhandles _me_."

"When you two are _playing_. She can't hurt you- she can't physically harm you, because her conscience won't allow it. Erin looks _just like me_. She- except for small, minor details… she could be my twin. Meaning, she looks just like Krys. The way Krys thinks, what she's been through… she won't want to hurt her. And I'm not gonna let anyone do anything to my baby. _**The air that I breathe**_." E.J said the last part in Spanish. "She has too good a heart." She looked around. "Shouldn't they be here by now?" A minute later, a big group of auror men and women from each ministry walked into the room. They looked around. "She'll be back in a minute." One of the aurors that caught their eyes was Josephs. He was looking around, and he looked over Hermione, Harry and Ares.

"What's going on?" he asked them. "We were told we'd need to protect some girl… Potter-Black." It was then that Remus and Krys got back. Krys looked around and rolled her eyes.

"Well, lets go, boys." she said. "I need clothes." She looked at Josephs, then rolled her eyes again.

"Give her fifteen minutes to get clothes, and then take her to the spot we discussed." E.J said. "Mad Eye, can I talk to you?" Moody walked over to her portrait and the couldn't be heard speaking. Moody just nodded, and walked over to Krys with his wand. Krys took hers out too. He pointed his wand to her heart and she pointed hers to his heart. Krys then looked around to the rest of them, and waved. She looked at Ares the longest, before she smiled slightly.

"I'll see you on the outside." she joked. They laughed slightly. She looked at Sirius. "Thank you, daddy. Someone believes in me." She looked at Lily and James, then waved. She looked at E.J, then looked at McGonagall. "See you, Minnie, Moody, Lupin." Then she looked at the aurors.

"Guard her with your strongest men. And have the rest of them look out. All of you, go with her. Don't let her out of your sight, and have someone with her at all times." E.J said. "She's tricky." She looked at Krys. "The air that I breathe. So stop pouting, and get over it." Then she walked deeper into portrait her room. Ares looked at Krys, then waved her over. She walked over to him, before he handed her something. He handed her the constellation necklace.

"Take care of you." Ares whispered in her ear, as he hugged her. "I love you. And you look very sexy with that evil look on your face." Krys chuckled slightly and kissed his ear.

"Take care of you. I love you, too. And you always look sexy." Krys whispered. Two big aurors and a small one walked over to her.

"Are you ready?" the smallest one asked. Krys looked at him. Then she got up without a word, before punching Harry on the arm.

"You talk too much." she said. Harry nodded. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Harry said, before the two hugged. Krys hopped over to Hermione.

"You think I can do it, don't you?" she asked her. Hermione shrugged.

"You have too good a heart for this, Cookie. Maybe you should listen to your mother." she said.

"Oh Jesus. The words no twenty year old wants to hear." Krys said. "Plan your wedding. Harry knows where the house is… and we probably won't see each other anymore, so you should definitely get the lilies." Hermione wore a terrified look. "I was joking." Hermione laughed, before the two did their special handshake.

"I love you, Cookie."

"Love you, too, Bon-bon." Krys walked over to McGonagall.

"Listen to your mother." McGonagall said. "She may be overprotective, but she loves you." Krys rolled her eyes and nodded. "We all do."

"Yeah, I know. I love you too, Minnie." Krys walked over to Moony. He shook his head.

"Listen to your mother." he said. "We need you here." Krys looked at him pointedly. "On earth. Not hanging up on a wall." She laughed.

"See you, Lupin." Krys looked at Moody. "See you, Old man." He nodded. Krys walked over to the portraits. Lily was first. She smiled sadly and softly.

"She loves you." she said. Krys nodded.

"Yeah, whatever." she said in exaggerated offhandedness. Lily laughed and gave her a salute. Krys laughed and returned the salute, before walking to James. He picked up his Marauder chain and looked at her with a glint, before nodding. "Yeah, whatever." The two laughed, and Krys saluted him. She moved on to Sirius. "See you later."

"I love you." Sirius said. "And so does E.J. She's just- you're her baby. You're our baby. I love you."

"I know. I love you too, dad." Krys said. One of the auror men walked up to Krys and touched her arm. She looked at him, then his hand.

"I'm sorry- is there a reason that you're touching my daughter?" Sirius asked him. He backed off.

"I apologize, sir. I apologize, Ms. Bl-" he started.

"Potter-Black." Krys said. She looked at E.J's portrait. "These are the men who'll feed me breadcrumbs under the door. I might starve to death with them. But, whatever." She turned back to the auror.

"I apologize, Ms. Potter-Black. Are you ready?"

"Are you?" He nodded. "Then lets go." Krys walked with him as they all surrounded a piece of paper. Then they all disappeared. Harry looked around. Everyone was looking at their hands. E.J walked back into line of vision.

"She's gone?" she asked. They all nodded silently. "She hates me, doesn't she?"

"Of course not." McGonagall said. "She really doesn't _like_ you, but she _loves_ you."

"You guys think I was overreacting, don't you?" E.J asked them all. No one said anything. "Mad Eye, can you go see if she's alright?" Moody nodded, then disapparated.

"E.J, she can do it." James said. "Not only can she duel, but she's smart."

"Do you remember how you escaped Voldemort, when he killed your mum?" Sirius asked her. E.J nodded. "She's just like you. And in this case, she knows how to do the Genocide Wipeout, and she has the shield. Why can't you let her do it?"

"Because I couldn't." E.J said. "When it came down to it, I couldn't even bring myself to hit Erica too hard. She can't do it. She is too magnanimous- she's merciful, she's compassionate. Erica is crazy and so is Erin." They all stood around silently. It was true, some of them thought. Krys was compassionate. They all just sat around for what felt like an eternity, but was probably an hour. All of their thoughts were interrupted, when Moody came back laughing. "So- everything is alright?"

"Hermione, get the clinic on call." Moody said. Hermione looked at him.

"Is everything okay?" Moony asked. Moody laughed again.

"She- she gave them all a bloody beating. Some of them need tending to." he said. "Others are just befuddled. Underestimated the subject. Constant Vigilance." He laughed again, and soon all of them were snickering. E.J's lip almost twitched, before she crossed her arms over her chest.

"So- they don't know where she is." she said.

"They don't know where they are. She wiped their memories." Moody said.

"What exactly did she do?" E.J asked. Moody pulled something out his back pocket. E.J's nunchakus. Now she was smiling.

"So- she basically pulled a Beatrix?" Hermione said. "She beat them all up?" Moody nodded.

"She just dodged all of their spells. I mean- there was one man that she threw into a wall, so bloody forceful and brilliant."

"Wait- you _saw_ her do it?" McGonagall said. Moody nodded.

"And you didn't say anything? You didn't help them?" E.J asked.

"And have her mad at me? No." Moody said. They all laughed. "She would've made an amazing auror." he said. "I'll go talk to the ministries, and have her pardoned."

"You think she can do this, Mad Eye?" E.J asked him. Moody laughed.

"Even better than you could." he said. "And that's saying something." E.J nodded, then walked into Sirius's portrait. E.J kissed him and Remus cleared his throat, but was ignored by the two.

"Well- I think its time we all leave." Remus said.

"You can all go back to her house now." Moody said. "The clinic will need all the help they can get."

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When Krys and the aurors landed in her house, Josephs and another man she didn't recognize followed her to her bedroom. She walked into her closet and got a suitcase. Josephs was watching her intently, as she put sweats and t-shirts in the suitcase.

"So." he said. "Your mom is E.J Potter." Krys nodded and continued to pack things. "Who are you?" She looked at him.

"What?"

"Well- you're obviously not the average healer. Who are you? What's going on? Why are you in hiding?"

"Someone wants to kill me." Krys said. "Its pretty simple. How you guys will prevent that, I don't know. If someone wanted to kill me since I was born, and want to kill me today and tomorrow, they'll probably want to kill me next year, and I don't intend to be with you guys for a year."

"So, is Krys your real name?"

"Yes." Krys continued to pack underwear and toiletries. She got her toothbrushes, toothpastes, soaps, shampoos and conditioners. She looked at Josephs and picked up a box from her closet. "Lets go." she said. They walked downstairs and all the lights in the house shut off, making it pitch black. All of the aurors' wands lit up, and they all started to shout for Krys. When the lights were back on, she was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants and gloves.

"Are you ready?" one of the auror women asked her. Her robe said 'Elliot'. Krys nodded, then pulled her wand out of her sleeve. A spell shot out of Elliot's wand, and Krys dodged it, before shooting a sting ray out of her wand, straight at Elliot's knee. Elliot's knee buckled and she fell to the ground, before all of the aurors started shooting calming spells at Krys. Krys dodged each spell, before she pulled nunchakus out of her sweatshirt. She hit one of the aurors in his knee, before he fell to the ground. She froze him, then they all surrounded her. Krys dropped her wand, and it stood on its point, before all aurors dropped. She picked up her wand and Elliot stood up and looked at her. She had her wand out and she wasn't limping. Krys looked at her. "You're asking for it."

"No, trust me. You are." Krys said, before she rushed toward Elliot and tackled her. Elliot tried to shake Krys off with a spell, but Krys punched her in the face, then snapped her wand in half. She then froze her. Krys looked around. Josephs was advancing on her.

"Krys, just come with me. We're only trying to help you." he said. He put his hands out. "Come on. Give me your wand." Krys laughed and Josephs tried to stupefy her. Krys didn't move. The spell shot from Josephs' wand in a straight line. Krys grabbed the straight line with her hand, and pulled his wand from him. He stared at her in shock and awe, as she cracked it like a whip, before snapping his wand in half. Krys looked behind her and caught the spell coming from another auror's wand, before she pulled him to her. Krys grabbed him by his robes and threw him into the wall. She then looked at Josephs and tackled him, taking him down by his knees. She got on top of him and punched him five times, before she stunned him. She looked behind her and dodged a woman's spell, before she grabbed the next spell from her wand. Krys snapped her wand, punched the woman in the face, then froze her. Krys looked around. One big auror was about to rush her, before she took out her nunchakus and whipped them around his neck. She used all of force to pull him to the ground. She stomped on the floor and they all bounced in the air, before all dropping to the ground with a big thud. She looked around and unfroze them all before wiping the event from their memories. She looked up at her stairs.

"See you, Mad Eye." she said, before she picked up her bag and broom.

"Constant Vigilance." Moody shouted. Krys nodded, then she flamed away.

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When they got to the house, they laughed. All of the aurors were still looking around in awe asking where they were. A minute later, Gem and a bunch of other healers were in the house with a bunch of stretchers. Josephs looked at Gem and waved. Ares hid from Gem, behind Harry. Then Harry, Hermione and Ares looked at them then they all walked out of the room. Hermione looked at Harry and showed him a dress.

"Do you think Ron would like that?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"Sure, why not." he said.

"I can't believe she fought them all, then escaped."

"We all knew she was gonna do it." Ares said. "That's why I gave her constellation chain back."

"You think she can do it, right?" Hermione asked. Harry and Ares looked at her.

"She's crazy too. She's smart, and she's trying to prove something. I wouldn't be surprised if she came back in the next two days." Ares said.

"Won't the fact that she dumped Josephs affect you getting Section 2 Leader?" Hermione asked him. He shrugged.

"It doesn't matter." Ares said. "I just- I hope she's okay."

"She's always okay." Harry said. It was then that Ron popped in. Hermione looked at him and hopped up. The two started to publicly snog, while Ares and Harry groaned and cleared their throats, attempting to get their attention. When the two pulled back, Ron sat down, and looked around at them.

"Something happened in the Ministry today. A bunch of men in the fight team got called in for a top secret assignment. Something about Potter-Black. What happened?" he asked.

"Padfoot's been getting death threats. E.J sent her into hiding. A group of aurors from each ministry were assigned to protect her and keep her safe. She beat the crap out of all of them, then she escaped." Harry said.

"How didn't she know who was sending her threats?" Ron asked, as he pulled Hermione to lean on his shoulder.

"Mental block. The people who want to kill her are her aunts." Harry said.

"Shit." Ron muttered. "For what?"

"Potter money. There's more money that Krys is supposed to get. They think its theirs. It turns out that its all E.J's, so Krys should get it."

"Wow." Ron said. "That's heavy. What the hell are we supposed to do without her?"

"I have no idea. The glue is gone again. She was only here for two weeks and two days." Hermione said.

"So- what about the wedding? Are we waiting until she comes back?" Ron asked.

"No. She said that we shouldn't." Hermione said.

"You don't have any more friends." Ron teased. Hermione pinched him. "Ow."

"I guess I can get Nic to be one of my bridesmai- no. You don't exactly have a groomsman for Thai. So- I don't need another bridesmaid. Gin can be my maid of honor. And you can pair Thai with Ares." Hermione said. Hermione looked at Ares. "What happened with you and Gem?"

"She wanted some. I haven't given her any. I don't like her. She's not interesting. You and Krys lied to me." Ares said.

"Hold on. I told you that she was okay when you got to know her." Hermione said. "Wasn't she funny?"

"No. She was aggressive, and not in the good way." They all laughed. "And she gave me the speech."

"Aw man." Harry and Ron said. Hermione looked at them.

"What speech?" she asked.

"I want to know everything about you. I want to know your secrets. I want you to know mine." Ares said.

"What's wrong with that?" Hermione asked.

"That's how you know the relationship isn't gonna work, or that it is gonna work." Ron said.

"Yeah. Its not gonna work." Ares said.

"I get it." Hermione said. "A guy that has girls falling over him, likes a girl who doesn't fall over him. He likes the girl that makes him want to give the speech."

"See- I got the smart one." Ron said, before he kissed Hermione's cheek.

"Yeah, that's how it is." Ares said. "Krys made me want to give the speech."

"Only you guys weren't dating when you did." Hermione said.

"Okay… _technicality_." They all laughed.

"I can't believe she's gone again." Harry said.

"I know." Ron said, before an envelope appeared in front of him. He looked at it. "Its from Krys."

"What does it say?" Harry asked. Ron looked at the paper.

"Bon-bon, plan your damn wedding and tell your fiancé to take time off from work to help you, or he's next on my list. Pumpkin, stay red. Brownie, stay brown. J.J, stay cool. Ping-Prongsie, you talk too damn much. Kingie, your interview is in two days. Remember what we taught you. The obstacle course is nothing that you can't handle. Don't make any noise about the chain. Its my immortality, and I'll do with it what I want. Loves ya all." he read. He looked at the envelope and emptied it. The constellation chain dropped out. He handed them both to Ares.

"I don't want it." Ares said.

"Well- you have to wear it. Otherwise, she'll have given it to you for nothing." Hermione said.

"Jesus." Ares murmured as he put it on. "One day, I'm gonna marry that girl."

"Nobody told you to not listen to us." Ron said.

"Okay- even I can't see how you chose Emily over Krys." Harry said.

"Same." Ron said. Ares glared at them.

"You guys know how to kick someone when they're down, don't you?" he said.

"Well- at least she's not dating Josephs anymore." Hermione said.

"Yeah, there's that. I just don't know how to tell her." Ares said.

"'Cause you're a punk." she said.

"You're not filling in the job as Krys again, are you?" Ron asked.

"No. I can't do it anymore."

"Knowing you two, you'll propose to her before you guys get back together." Harry said. Ares glared at him.

"Then Ginny will be on your ass." he said. "That's one of the major perks." Ron and Hermione laughed.

"When are you going to propose to Ginny, anyway?" Hermione asked.

"Why is everything about marriage?" Harry asked. "I'm only twenty." Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry held his hand up. "Don't mention that my parents got married at seventeen."

"Well, they _did_." Hermione said. "You and Gin have been together for four years."

"And she's only nineteen." Harry said. "She has-"

"That would only be remedied by living life some more. She wants you. Unexplainably, yes." Hermione said. "If she was gonna get tired of you, it would've happened already."

"What the hell is this? In five months, we go though two weddings and a soon-to-be proposal?"

"I'm quite uncomfortable here." Ron said. "Mainly because I don't want to hear about you and my baby sister's relationship." Hermione looked at him and laughed. Ron then looked at Ares. "How exactly did you get tough-ass Krys to fall in love with you? Weren't you supposed to be the popular boy?" They all laughed. "No- I'm serious. Aren't Krys types supposed to hate the popular guys because she's a rebel or something?"

"Krys was one of the most popular girls in school. She just didn't know it." Ares said. "Everyone knew who she was, because she punched the richest girl in the sch- the second richest girl. She punched her as a first year. When we were in fourth year, she was still known as the smart girl that punched Olivia and wasn't afraid to admit it." They all looked around. "Lets go out. The house has her presence and its scaring me and making me miss her at the same time."

"What about Jason, A.J and Gin?" Hermione asked. They all looked at Harry.

"Oh- Jason is… at our apartment and A.J and Gin are at theirs." Harry said. "They're talking, and not coming here."

"Okay… how about we go look at flowers for the wedding?" Hermione suggested. Harry looked at her and yawned suddenly.

"Oh- wow. You know what? I'm tired. I'll see you later." he said, before he disapparated. Ares looked at Ron and Hermione, before he realized that he would be the third wheel.

"You know what? Hermione's been complaining about work and Gem being a cock-blocker, so you guys can go by yourselves. But don't worry about me, because Krys has had that ultimate affect on me. She changed me from ever being like previous Jason. So I'll probably just sleep in her bed and smell her pillow." Ares said.

"Why do I have a feeling that you're not joking?" Ron asked, as he slung his arm over Hermione's shoulder.

"Because I'm not." Ares said. "The girl smells incredible." Ron and Hermione looked at him. "I've said too much." he said in a creepy joking voice. The three laughed, and Ares waved them off. After Ron and Hermione got to their house, she looked at him.

"Oh, what a sacrifice made on his part." she said.

"I'll have to remember to thank him." Ron said. Hermione nodded.

"Mm-hmm." she sounded.

"So- what happened at work today? What was the 911 about?" Hermione's eyelids lowered and she growled.

"Gem wanted to know if Krys liked Ares. She also wanted to know if he said anything about her." she said.

"You two have been spending a lot of time lately." Ron said. Hermione instantly laughed, and she looked at him.

"You're jealous." she said. Ron shook his head.

"Yes." he said.

"Ask me why that's turning me on." Ron laughed. "No, seriously. Ask me."

"Hermione Granger, why is my being jealous turning you on?" Ron asked seriously.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I would love to know."

"Because it's coming from you. _You_ are being jealous, therefore I am turned on. If _you_ had big disgusting pus bumps, I'd be turned on… not as much, but turned on, nonetheless. Although I find him _painfully attractive_, he's like a different version of Harry. And he's desperately in love with my best friend. Plus- he's no Ronald Bilius Weasley. Those are five strikes right there."

"Why?"

"Well, the fact that he's not you rules him out completely." Hermione said.

"You love me." Ron teased. "You love me bad."

"I have got to stop letting you handle the remote." Hermione said, before she flicked him.

"So- what else happened with Krys?"

"You won't believe who it was that killed her mother."

"Who?"

"Her grandfather."

"Shit."

"So- she's been getting threatening letters for a while, and she didn't tell us. Her aunts want to kill her for the money. They also want to kill her because E.J killed their parents before she died."

"Whoa." Ron said. Hermione looked at him.

"You don't want to talk, do you." she said. It wasn't even a question, she just stated it, simple as day. Ron shook his head. "Good… because, I'm sick of talking." Ron wiggled his eyebrows and pulled her down to the bed with him. Hermione shrieked and planted her lips on his.

"Oh- I've missed this." Ron murmured against her lips, as they impatiently took each others clothes off.

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Krys found herself in Wales, watching the enemy. Even with the risk of seeming like a cliché, she watched only by night, wearing all black. She looked like someone out of X-men. She cut her hair short and now straight and dark red, and her eyes were solid brown. Her face was covered with a whole black ski mask. It had been six weeks since she left home, and she already knew the enemy like she knew the back of her hand. Soon it would be time to attack. Krys didn't put a limit on her magic. She let herself know everything about the targets, including all connections they had with her life. She knew whatever thoughts Erin was having, and she knew that since she left they'd sent her six more death threats. She also knew that it was time for her to attack. She had to. Not just to save her life and prove herself, but to get back for her best friends wedding.


	34. Does this always happen?

If you guys will still read the story after the seventh book comes out, then I'll gladly continue writing. But, if you wont, then I wont waste any time. If you'll still write, let me no. If not, let me know.

AlexzAndi


	35. A Warm Welcome Home

December 1st.

"Hermione." Gem said, barging into Hermione's office. Hermione looked at her.

"Yes?" she asked, trying her best to keep patient.

"Its been six weeks since your friend has showed up for work. She's fired." Gem said. Hermione looked at her.

"You can't fire Krys." she said.

"Oh yeah?" Gem said. "Well guess what, Honey? I just did."

"No- you don't understand. She's one of the best healers that you have here. And its because of her that the hospital's been doing so well."

"She's fired." Gem repeated. Then she did the finger wiggling wave. "Tootles."

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As soon as she got off work, Hermione apparated to Krys' mansion, looking for an update. There was nothing. Hermione groaned and looked around, before going upstairs to Krys' room. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw a girl with short dark red hair in the bed.

"Jesus!" Hermione screamed as she hopped back.

"Cookie, relax." the girl said.

"Krys?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded and shook her head so that her hair went back to black. Bur her hair was still just above her shoulder, even straightened. "You did it already?" Krys sighed and nodded. "Tell me about it."

"I don't wanna." Krys said.

"Was it hard?"

"She looked just like my mother, it wasn't that hard." Krys joked. Hermione laughed and looked at her.

"Ares got the promotion." she said. "You're just in time. He only got it yesterday. And he's supposed to move into the office today."

"Ooh- lets go." Krys said, jumping off the bed. Hermione looked at her.

"Why are you wearing a catsuit?" she asked.

"So I could move easier." Krys said, before she ran to her bathroom. Hermione sat down and took out her cell phone. But as soon as she started to dial, Harry appeared in the middle of the room.

"She's here." he said. Hermione looked at him and nodded. "Did she do it?" Hermione nodded. "Is she okay?" Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know. I just hope that we can get her dress fitted for the wedding." she said. Harry looked at her. "She _said_ she was okay."

"What about Gin?"

"Gin told me that she didn't want to be my maid of honor when she saw the dress." Hermione told him.

"I wouldn't want to either." Harry said. Hermione laughed and the two sat down. After a few minutes of comfortable friendly silence, Harry turned to her. "So- um, who's gonna give you away?" Hermione looked up at him so quick, it looked like she'd get whiplash. Then it occurred to Harry that she hadn't thought about it. "Hermione, I-" Then she started to weep. Harry moved closer to her and tried to comfort her, but she just continued to sob. A few minutes later, Krys walked out and looked at Harry.

"Prongsie." she said.

"Padsy." Harry greeted, pointing at Hermione.

"What did you do?" Krys asked him, as she walked over to Hermione. "Bon-bon?" Hermione sat up and looked at her.

"Who's- who- w- w- who's gonna give me away? I have no one." she said. Krys looked at her pointedly.

"Dude, I'm actually a bit hurt that you haven't figured it out already." she said. "You actually have a selection. Then again, it'd only be really appropriate for Harry to give you away." Hermione looked at her, then at Harry.

"Would you?" she asked. Harry gave her the look, before he nodded.

"Of course." he said. Then he looked at his watch. "I'll tell the others that you're here. Dinner tonight. All of us." Krys nodded and they hugged. "Glad you're back."

"I know." Krys said. Harry laughed and disapparated. Krys looked at Hermione. "What's new?"

"You don't have a job." Hermione said. She seemed completely happy again. Krys inhaled.

"Wow." she said. "Its better this way. I was gonna quit anyway. I'm gonna reopen St. Eris Clinic." Hermione nodded.

"Cool." she said. Krys twirled.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Like a guy." Krys shrugged and took Hermione's arm before disapparating.

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Krys and Hermione walked through the ministry without any problems whatsoever. The only times that they were questioned about identification was when people asked for their autographs. The girls were only stopped when they got to the auror's department. The same young guy that hit on Krys before was there. He looked at Hermione and grinned.

"Hello." he said. Hermione nodded and gave a small wave.

"Hi." she said.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Ares Delgado."

"And who is coming for him?"

"Ailen and Array." Krys said. The man nodded and let the girls pass. When they got to Section 2, there were boxes all over, and guys congratulating Ares, who was at his old desk. The two girls looked around before Gemini and Josephs walked out of the office. Krys burst out laughing. Hermione looked at her and knew that it was real laughter. She wasn't laughing because she was angry, she was laughing because it was actually funny. Then she stopped laughing and walked past to Ares' desk. Ares looked at Hermione and waved, then stared at Krys. 'Is that her?' he mouthed. Hermione nodded and pulled Krys' hat off of her head. Ares enveloped Krys in a gigantic bear hug, before he lifted her off the ground. Krys laughed and bit his cheek. When he let her down he touched her hair.

"Shorter." he said. Then he looked in her eyes. "Brown." Krys blinked and her eyes went back to the natural colors. "The way I like it." She laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes playfully.

"What's this about you and a promotion?" Krys asked him. Ares grinned and nodded.

"You should go see the new office." he said. "I'll be there in a minute." Krys and Hermione walked off and started to go to the new office, before someone slung their arm around Krys' shoulder. Krys looked up and saw Mike.

"Why are you touching me?" she asked him. He smiled and leaned into her ear.

"Don't worry, baby. I'm not like Eric. I won't pop your cherry, then dump you." he whispered. Krys looked at him, then shook her head. She then looked at Hermione, before huffing. Mike's arm caught on fire instantly. Krys and Hermione started to walk farther away, before they sat down and watched. Everybody tried to do something to help him, until Ares looked at Krys pleadingly. Krys nodded and walked over to him, tapping his arm with her wand. All of the aurors gave her a standing ovation. Krys shook her head, and turned around to walk back to Hermione, before Gem and Josephs walked over to her. Hermione instantly got up and stood by Krys' side. The four of them seemed to be the center of attention, because everyone was watching.

"Hi, Krys." Gem said, with a smirk. "Oh- you look so great. You lost weight. You've been fucking the baby fat off, huh?" There were a bunch of 'ooh's' and 'ahs', while some people laughed. One of those people was Krys.

"I'll give you that one, Gemini. It was funny." she said.

"Oh- no smart remarks?" Gem said mockingly. Krys shook her head. "I told you that I'd embarrass you."

"I'm just uncomfortable." Krys said, before she shoved a box of tissues into Gem's hand. "But, do me a favor, babe."

"And what would that be, _Hon_?"

"The next time you're gonna go to your fuck buddy's job, make sure you wipe your mouth after you give him head. Otherwise you look like a dirty whore. Something's on your mouth and I'm sure its not ice cream, dick lips." Krys said. Laughter, 'ooh's' and 'ahs' flooded through the room. Gem's eyes went wide and she stared at Krys with hate.

"Fuck you." Gem said. "Better yet, fuck him. Then he can pop the cherry and dump your stupid ass." More 'ooh's' and 'ahs' along with the laughter.

"You are so fucking stupid." Krys said, before she stood on someone's desk. "Number one, I have never had sex with Eric Josephs. I'm smarter than that. The reason that we stopped seeing each other was because I wouldn't have sex with him."

"Its okay to be embarrassed, Kryssie. I'd say the same thing if I got dumped." Gem said in mock sympathy. "I'm the better woman, and he fell for me. You should've known it'd happen from the get-go." Krys hopped down from the table and went back to facing Gem.

"Baby, he didn't fall for you. He fell for the fact that you never close your legs, you give head, and even after he dumps your ass, you'll still fuck him, because you're a pathetic whore." The laughter was high and crazy.

"No. He liked what was between my legs. You didn't want a man, baby." Gem retorted. Krys smiled. "If it dresses like a man, thinks like a man, acts like a man, and talks like a man… what is it? Its Krys." Krys laughed with everyone else.

"Gem, you need to get over it, honey. Every man that you want, wants me. And its okay. I dress like this in front of you, because I don't want to skim your chances with the guys. I mean, except for the fact that you persuade men to take you, by under table face-to-crotch persuasion, you have nothing on me. At first glance, I'm wanted. You have to get under the table and give head to even be considered, whereas I'm first choice. And by the way, sweetens, your fat is hanging out of your clothes." The surrounding crowd was hysterical.

"I gotta go. I'm about to smack the taste out of this bitch's mouth." Gem said to Josephs.

"Gemini, if you wanted to fight me, you would've done it already. And you're right, you might wanna go. I'm about to smack the taste of Eric's little swimmers out of your mouth." That was when Gem swung at Krys, who dodged it. Krys stood up and jabbed Gem in the face. Gem grabbed a handful of Krys' hair and dropped her to the floor. Gem got on top of Krys and tried to smack her, but Krys grabbed her hands and got her foot up high enough to kick Gem off of her. Krys got up and pulled Gem with her, by her hair. She punched Gem twice. Gem pushed Krys into the table and held her eye. Krys got up and backslapped Gem, before she grabbed and ripped out a handful of Gem's hair. Krys took Gem's face in her hands and let her hair fall off her fingers. "Talk shit. Smack the taste out of my mouth." Krys pushed Gem back lightly. "I told you that I didn't want to fuck you up." Gem rushed Krys and tackled her to the ground. Then she started to choke Krys, who head butted her. Krys got up and got on top of Gem, jabbing her in the face four times. Then Krys copied Gem's previous actions and started to choke her. Ares finally pulled Krys off of Gem, but Krys didn't release that easily. Krys held onto Gem's neck for dear life. Ares finally got Krys' hands off of Gem's neck, but Krys' feet were flailing. Ares laughed as he set Krys down and she glared at him. Josephs and another guy were helping Gem up. Krys gave her the finger wiggling wave and blew kisses to her, then she turned to Hermione and Ares.

"You're terrible." Hermione said. Krys started to fix her hair.

"I wouldn't've touched her. She threw the first punch. That's my rule. Sometimes I need more hype, but I got hyped." Krys said.

"You're doing all of this over my boyfriend, you stupid bitch!! He comes to _my_ house every night!!" Gem shouted. Krys started to walk through the crowd back to Gem, but Ares held her back. Krys looked at him.

"No fighting." she said innocently.

"Promise?" Ares asked her.

"Scouts honor." Krys walked back through the crowd.

"He wants _me_ anyway, you trifling Boricua bitch!" Gem shouted. Krys inhaled, then sat on the desk with her legs crossed.

"I'm not fighting over Josephs. It doesn't matter to me who he fucks. It's the fact that you had the nerve to beg me to set you up with Ares, and now you're fucking with a motherfucker that you met in my house. What's wrong with you?" Krys said. Gem walked closer.

"He's wanted me before he wanted you, and he'll want me after." Gem said. "I saw him when I graduated, and we talked. He wants me now, Krys. How does it feel?"

"How does what feel?"

"I stole your man." Gem said, with a smug smile.

"Gemini, he wasn't my boyfriend. Plus, he's fucking other girls anyway. Go ahead, you were welcome to him. Every other girl in this office is. I didn't fuck you up because Josephs and I were hanging out. I fucked you up because you and Ares were, you slut!" Krys said.

"You're gonna stop calling me a slut!" Gem shouted, before she clocked Krys right in the side of her eye, with a heavy smack. Krys immediately started to hold her eye. When she pulled her hand off, they all looked at Krys and gasped. Hermione walked over to her.

"Krys, your eye is bleeding a lot." she said. Krys' eye looked like the side and lid had been sliced viciously. Krys nodded, then covered her eye with her hand. A minute later, her eyes was back to normal, but Krys got up and walked to Gem, who was smiling. Krys laughed and smacked her hard with the bottom of a stapler. Then Krys put Ares' ring back on her finger, before repeatedly punching Gem in the mouth. Nobody could actually get Krys off of her, whenever they tried to grab her, she held on for dear life. There was one point where someone finally got Krys off, but only before she kicked Gem in the face, and grabbed her neck with her feet. Someone finally decided to be smart and take the magical approach, retracting Krys and Gem from each other, (Actually, more like keeping Krys from Gem. Gem wasn't going back near Krys.) and putting them to different sides of the room. Krys was in the corner and every auror woman was tending to Gem, who was crying and talking about what an animal Krys was. A few of the guys were talking to her also, but a majority of them were trying to talk to Krys. Ares was sitting next to her, massaging her 'Iron Fist' and teasing her about being a trouble maker. Hermione was on her cell phone getting Krys' maid of honor dress delivered to Krys' house, while sitting next to Krys. When Hermione got off the phone, she looked at Krys. "Do all women hate you?"

"No. Actually all women with common sense like me. The rest of them don't." Krys said. "Its probably because they've all had sex with Josephs."

"Then why would they hate you, instead of Gem?" Hermione asked.

"While he was going out with Krys, he didn't need the women to stay later hours. Now he still does." Ares said. Hermione looked at him.

"You mean, he's having sex with all of them here?"

"Not at the same time." Krys and Hermione laughed, but stopped abruptly when Josephs walked over to them and sat down right across from Krys. She looked at him.

"Um… Krys, can I talk to you for a second?" Eric asked. Krys looked at her watch and shook her head.

"See, by the time you actually get the first syllable out, your millisecond will be over. I suggest you just save your breath." she said.

"Krys, come on. I'm trying. Look- put yourself in my position-" Josephs started.

"Missionary or doggy style? Oh- you were probably the upside down horsy." Krys said. They all held down their laughter.

"Krys, come on… it was only one strike. Don't I get three, before I'm completely thrown into the dirt?"

"Not with me."

"Listen, I'm gonna go… my office is calling me." Ares said, before he got up and left.

"Krys, come on. I was just trying to piss you off." Josephs said. "You know how much I like you. I can't even stop thinking about you. I was just trying to get you mad, so I'd know that you really liked me. I don't care if we never have sex… I just- I-… say something."

"I'm not just a challenge? You don't wanna find out if I'm a freak in the sheets, with pent up frustration, or if I'm just a virgin?" Krys asked mocking, reminding him of the conversation he had with Williams weeks before. "And… you didn't just pop my cherry and dump me?"

"Krys, come on. I never said all of that. I just didn't want the guys to think I was weak, because we'd spent so many nights talking. I'm sorry." Krys looked at him, and before she knew it, he took her hand and pulled her to the center of the room. "I didn't dump Krys after being her first! I didn't dump her! She dumped me! I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said no! We've never had sex! Each time that we spent the night together, we hung out and talked! I don't care if I ever have sex with her, because that's how much more she has to offer!" Josephs looked at Krys, who was covering her face with her hand. "This girl has me sprung, and I can't stop thinking about her, let alone move on to someone else! I want to be Krys' boyfriend!" Josephs took off this solid gold chain with vertical Greek letters. "Krys, will you be my girlfriend?" He held the chain out to her.

"Huh?" Krys asked.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Josephs repeated. He had this insecure look on his face, and he was giving her the puppy dog eyes. Krys listened to the wails and sobs in the background, as she looked around. Her eyes set on Gem and the other women in the office. Krys turned back to him and took the chain from his hands, before nodding. As soon as she nodded, she heard a big slam.

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"What the fuck is she even doing with him?!" Ares yelled. As he paced around his office. He had his hand on his head, and he was livid.

"Ares, calm down." Hermione said, from her seat in front of his desk. Ares picked up his mini basketball and shot it in the mini basket.

"I can't believe that she's going out with- making a commitment to him, when he treated her the way that he did." he said, before he punched a hold through the wall. Hermione cleared her throat.

"Ares, you're the one who decided to leave them alone. Maybe you should've said something for the _two weeks _that they weren't dating." she said. "Now, you're in your office and you're pacing, pissed at yourself because you didn't say something sooner. Well- its your fault. From what she knows, you _don't_ want to be with her. And that's probably because you told her that a while ago. Ares, you can't expect her to put herself out there again, after the way she got shot down the last time, do you?"

"Hermione, she doesn't even remember it." Ares said, before he looked at Hermione. She was giving him the look that said 'doesn't she?' "She remembers? Why the hell is she even still friends with me?! I was a jackass! I called her manipulative and I-… I yelled at her, and I made her cry… and she remembers all of that. Yet she still got me this job, and she's still talking to me. Hermione, why didn't you tell me to go after her?!" Hermione looked at him.

"I told you only about a _thousand times_!" she said. "And I said that when you were ready it'd be too late. You didn't listen to me, _jackass_. I told you." Ares sat at his desk with his head in his hands.

"I was gonna tell her today." he said.

"Well- you have to jump fast, when it comes to the pretty ones." Hermione teased. Ares looked up and glared at her.

"Hermione, do you know what it feels like to be turned on by someone's ankles?" he asked. "I look at most girls and- nothing! I look at Krys' ankles and its time to turn on the cold shower. I can't take it- I'm gonna go crazy. I mean- there was a reason that I wanted to marry Emily. If Emily cheated on- when Emily cheated, I didn't give a fuck. I didn't even like Emily. But with Krys, every time I see her with another guy, I want to hang myself. I mean, back then… when I was with Emily- am I gonna die? She's gonna kill me. I swear- this is worse than when we were younger, because- I had her. I was with her- and I screwed it up. I'm gonna die. Oh my God- is it getting smoky in here?" Ares was looking around with a delirious look in his eyes. Hermione was sitting in the corner, holding down her laughter behind her bridal magazine. Ares heard her snickers and looked up, before going back to his desk. A moment later, someone knocked on the door. "Come in!!" Ares yelled, his voice muffled. Krys walked in with her hands behind her back. She looked around the office.

"Pretty pulchritudinous." she said. Ares and Hermione looked at her.

"Pulchra from Latin, meaning beautiful." they both said.

"And yet, neither of you can get Spanish." Krys said, pulling something from behind her back. It was a dartboard. She held it out to Ares. "I don't want you to be mad at me for causing a ruckus on your first day of work."

"Oh, that was nothing. You're always causing a _ruckus_." Ares said. Krys pouted and looked at Hermione, who nodded.

"Thank you for backing me up, _buddy_." she said to Hermione. Hermione nodded.

"No problem, pal." she replied. The three of them looked at each other and broke out laughing.

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Later that night, they all got together in Potter Manor and ate takeout. Moody, McGonagall and the whole crew was there. Harry looked at Krys and groaned.

"Aren't you gonna tell us?" he asked. Krys looked at him and shook her head.

"No." she said.

"Why not?"

"Because, it was difficult enough. It took precision. It took me six weeks to learn their every move and… it was weird. Plotting to kill someone."

"Why was it weird?" James asked.

"Yeah, Krys. Why was it weird?" Ron asked.

"Because, I _liked_ it." Krys said, as she looked down. They all stood silent for a while, before E.J cleared her throat.

"Its okay. No, its perfectly natural. And healthy, considering where and who you come from. Nobody here is going to judge you for how you feel. Its how you act and what you do that matters, in this situation at least." she said. E.J looked thoughtful.

E.J Flashback

E.J was sitting at her desk, completing the map of her new house, when she saw three skull and crossbones dots pop up on the map. One dot was completely black, meaning high danger. The other two dots were a light gray, meaning a fair fight to a minimal threat. Without thinking twice, E.J picked up her wand, and ran across the house at her top speed, to her mothers room. Her mother was sitting on her bed, looking at a picture. It was the wedding photo. The picture was of the couples' first married kiss. E.J tapped her mother.

"Mummy, we have to go." she said. Mrs. Potter looked up at her.

"Honey, what's wrong?" she asked, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. E.J shook her head, before she heard the door bust down.

"Mummy, lets go." E.J said in a low whisper. Her mother nodded her head, and pointed in the direction of the closet attic.

"Go first, Jazzy." she said. E.J nodded, pulled down at the ladder stairs, and hopped up. Without another word, Mrs. Potter pointed her wand at E.J, then pushed up the attic steps, as the door bust down. Three men in black robes walked into the room in synch.

"Aye, the legendary April Potter." the hooded person in front of the other two said. E.J's mom nodded.

"Yeah." she said, with a light Hispanic accent. "And you're Voldemort."

"How dare you speak his name?" one of the other hooded men hissed.

"My followers and I will spare your life." Voldemort started. "Just give up the girl." Mrs. Potter shook her head. "Then die."

"No, no!" E.J screamed, as the attic ladder dropped down, and she hopped out. "No, I'm here. Just please, just- just leave her alone."

"Jazzy, go back up! Now!" Mrs. Potter shouted.

"Come with me, Eris." Voldemort hissed. "And I'll let your mother live." One of the hooded men advanced on April Potter, and put his wand to her head. E.J nodded.

"No! Do whatever you want to me, just- don't hurt her. Please, just don't hurt my baby!" Mrs. Potter shouted. E.J shook her head.

"Come with me, Eris." Voldemort repeated. E.J nodded.

"Okay." she said. "I heard you before. Just let her go." Voldemort nodded, and the man took his wand from her mother's head. E.J walked to him. As soon as she reached Voldemort, the man pointed at her mother and hissed,

"Avada Kedavra." E.J saw the green rush of light expel from the tip of his wand. No tears fell from her eyes. She watched the body hit the floor with a thump. E.J walked to her mother's body and knelt to the floor. She looked at her mother's dead body, and suddenly choked down a sob.

"Where's the spell's shield?" Voldemort hissed. E.J didn't say anything, she just took each breath at a time. She could feel her heart thumping in her ears, and she was aware that she probably wouldn't live past that day. Suddenly, she stood up.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked.

"Not if you join me. Not until I have what I need. Not if you're a _good little girl_." Voldemort said, touching her chin with his long bony finger.

"And what is it that you need from me?" E.J asked. Voldemort laughed, and looked at one of his cronies.

"Don't play coy." he said. "Where is the shield for the spell?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Where is the shield?!"

"YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST KILL ME NOW, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!" E.J shouted with as much attitude, and courage that she could muster.

"Check her." Voldemort hissed. His crony pointed a wand at E.J's forehead. She stood her ground, and held her wand.

"Legilimens!" the man hissed. Nothing happened. "Legilimens!!" Still, nothing happened. "LEGILIMENS!!" E.J stepped back once.

"Tom." she started. Voldemort looked at her in shock, then laughed. "There's something that you don't know about me."

"Oh yeah? And what is that?" Voldemort asked, as he gave an evil smile.

"Born Occlumens." E.J said, before her wand slipped from her hand, and onto the floor. She bent down to her wand, which was still standing on its point.

"If you touch that wand, you'll be joining your dear, sweet, attractive mother." E.J looked at him.

"Tommy, you're forgetting something this time." Voldemort looked at her with a sadistic smile.

"It'll be worth killing you." he said. "Dear Eris- what is it that I'm forgetting?" E.J's wand stood on its point, and she smiled up to Voldemort.

"Child prodigy.' she said. Just as he was yelling his second Unforgivable Curse for the night, E.J and her wand slipped right through the floor. E.J went all the way down to the basement where her broom was. She ran out of the basement and got tripped by a hooded figure. It wasn't Voldemort. She saw through the window, that he was tearing through her mother's room. E.J groaned, as the man grabbed her up, and started to drag her through the mud by her hair. Then he dragged her back towards the direction of the basement door, where E.J summonsed a shovel and stabbed the blade into his midsection. The man instantly let her go, and held his stomach, as E.J got up and stomped hard on the floor. The soil gobbled him up and buried him alive. E.J stood there and looked around trying to devise a plan, before she was knocked down by her ankles. In a quick second, the man stood and stomped hard on E.J's stomach, making her scream in pain. He once again started to drag her through the dirt in attempt to get to her front door. She stared up at him, as tears slid down out of the corners of her eyes. As she concentrated on breathing, she saw the man's wand move in a wrist holster. As her breathing became more concentrated, his wand moved more violently, until it finally flew into her hand. E.J chopped through the back of his knee with the side of her hand, and he buckled at his knees, before E.J pointed the wand to his temple. Her hand was shaky, until she heard screaming in her mind. Her first thoughts went to dropping her wand. Ending everything for both of them. "Sirius." his name stood on her lips, as her hand continued to shake and her vision got blurry from the tears. "Avada Kedavra." she said in a strained scream. As soon as the green light rushed from the wand, E.J began to crawl to the basement. When she got there, she touched her wand to her broom and disapparated to Potter Manor.

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Later that week, her mother's funeral was held at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore asked E.J if she needed to say a few words, and E.J wasted no time standing at the podium with her wand in front of her mouth. She took a deep breath and almost laughed, as she saw her father and his new wife 'crying'. His new wife, who was also her mother's childhood friend, was pregnant. E.J's eyes went straight to her sister Erica's. Erica was sitting next to Eric, with a look of pure delight on her face. She smirked up at E.J, then mouthed 'one down, three to go', while she pointed at Aphrodite and her pregnant stomach. E.J looked around and saw Lily sitting next to James. They were staring straight ahead at her. James was nodding, knowing what she was about to do and obviously approving. Sirius and Remus were copying his actions, while Peter looked around. E.J then looked at Moody. He was way in the back, but staring straight ahead at her. E.J chuckled slightly, then looked back at her father and his new wife, before she spoke.

"First of all, I'd like to thank all of the people that showed up. Um… I know that everyone is so happy that I got away safely. But…I'm not. Not really. I…I'm actually most disappointed that I'm witnessing the desecration- sorry, _adulteration_ of my mum's memory. I'm looking around… and I see some phony people that didn't give a fuck about her." The crowd gasped, but some people nodded, encouraging her. "And I see some people who do. I mean- some of you just care about my mum's funeral, because of who she was. Yeah- she was Healer of the Year for twelve out of seventeen years. Some of you just care about her status. But- I really just want to talk about how she died." E.J cleared her throat. No one could get her to speak about what happened, but she was finally going to. The only bet that they had was the Dark Mark over the house. They all stared at her. "Well- its simple. Death Eaters invaded my house. How they found it, I don't know, but they found us. And Lord Voldemort-" Gasps from the crowd. "started to monologue, and talked, and talked, and would not stop talking. Finally, he got one of his little followers to lift the wand and kill her. She did nothing. She had her wand in her hand, but she did nothing. She didn't even try- she didn't- she didn't even lift her wand. Everyone knows that one of Lord Voldemort's cronies raised the wand, but- _and I'm gambling when I call him this_- but my _father_ killed her a _long_ time ago. Him and his new wife, who also happened to be her best friend, killed her a long time ago. My father and his cheating ways, his neglectful behavior towards me _and_ her, it all killed her a long time ago. He was a predator when he met her, and my nineteen year old, fresh out of school mother was his prey- but back to the story at hand. Him and his new pregnant wife are what hurt her, so much in fact, so much that she didn't even look scared- regretful- she didn't blink twice at the thought and reality that she'd never see me again. She actually looked happy, when she knew what was coming. I mean- they hurt her so much, that she didn't even want to live for me. They hurt her so bad, that she didn't even fight back. She just stood there… and I got to see my mother die, _because_ of my father. I got to watch my mother die, because…-" E.J chuckled a bit.

"Because, the man that she gave everything to, he didn't give her anything in return. _He killed her_. My father killed my mother. I mean- yeah, pointing blame, isn't a noble thing to do… but this is the man who has the nerve to show up, and let his crocodile tears fall. Actually no- because, I don't see any moisture… on either one of them, for that matter. I loved my mother. She was amazing. She was smart, and beautiful, and she was funny. But I hadn't seen that woman since my father became someone important, and I blame him. I hadn't seen that woman since she let her best friend- her disowned, poor, unemployed best friend move in and leech off of us. That's probably because she was sleeping with my father. And I must say, she had to have been doing a lovely job, because why my father would choose that _cow_ over my mother, I'll _never_ know. See… they had the nerve to ask how I could bring my… boy-b-boyfriend, Sirius Black, to her funeral. They had to nerve to request a private ceremony for my mother's funeral. Probably so that we could handle the financial shit fast, and go on about his business. I ruled against it, because like it or not, Eric, she was _my_ mother, and at the time, she was no longer anything to you. Like it or not Aphrodite, she was no longer anything to you. I mean- a million questions run through my head about how you can actually feel good and happy about what you're doing. But- my real question is, how dare he come to her funeral, and act like he ever gave a damn about me _or_ her? He's sitting over there with his new wife… who I believe he fell in love with, while shagging in he and my mum's bed, and shedding fake ass tears." E.J looked up to the sky and shook her head.

"I mean- I didn't see any signs of guilt when he told her that her best friend was pregnant with his bastard child and that he were leaving her. I didn't see him shed a tear when I personally told him that she was killed. I guess the audience is what he was really looking for. Anyway… I think that he gave up on us a long time ago. So…I'm gonna say something that I know my mum would've wanted to say. I'm gonna tell more truths and uncover some more of Daddy Dearest's lies for my mother's memory. And- _she _is going to_ love _that I can speak some of her last thoughts for her Aphrodite, for you…I hope you- which one is worse, rotting or burning? Well- I hope you rot in the poorhouse, then burn in hell, you sinful, adulterous bitch. I mean- I _would_ scratch out your eyes, and beat you senseless with my nunchackus, if you weren't pregnant and my Headmaster and Head of House weren't watching." Almost the whole crowd gasped. "And Eric… I hope your money dries up and you die alone, knowing what a sick bitch you really are. You have some serious issues. I mean, you left Erica's mother for mine, good choice, though. Then you left my mother for that. You have some damn nerve showing up with your new knocked up wife, and your bitchy cow of a daughter, both who _hated_ my mother. I just want to know how you sleep at night… and I hope your infidelities eat your flesh away, until your left with nothing but your ice clump of a heart. I really want to know how you're getting your rocks off now, I mean your main source of sex is knocked up and a cow! I don't need you, your money… the only thing that I really need is my last name." That seemed to be it for Eric Potter. He had a vein popping out of his red forehead.

"Eris, get down here now!" he shouted from his seat. E.J looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Ooh- father has spoken. What the hell am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to cry and obey you? I'm not your bitch, Eric. That's your new wife's position… don't try and pin the lost puppy persona on me. That's not who I am… but you wouldn't know that… because you don't know me. You know Eris Aphrodite Jasmathes Potter. Well- that's not me. I'm- I am no longer Eris Aphrodite Potter, daughter of Eric Potter. See _daddy_, you might've gained your new wife, and whatever the hell she can give you, which is nothing. She can only suck you dry, which she's already done in _both_ senses of the world, and leave you to die. Again, you might've gained your new wife and whatever the fuck she can give you, but… you've lost me. And I know that it doesn't mean anything to you… but- I have no idea how you could leave my mother for that foul piece of excrement in a whorish robe. I am now _just_ E.J Potter. I am E. Jasmathes Potter. And the only reason I want your last name, is because of how it originally came from Grampy Potter. And- it seems like almost everyone _but_ _you_ has worn the name well. I just hope that your example dies with you and Erica. I, unlike you, _loved_ my mother. And- I hope that she's resting in peace. My last words…If there is any justice in this world, you and your new wife will burn in hell… after being exposed for what you truly are. And something else that I want you to know, dad…I…I-… I-I-I………… I'm- I _love_ Sirius Black. And it doesn't matter that you don't like him… or that you don't think he'll fit into your new campaign… because _I love him_. And- this is probably horrible… but the fact that you don't like him- it just makes him even more appealing, and it makes me love him more. My real last words- Mom, I love you. Sirius… I love you, too. But, mummy, rest in peace. **Rest in Peace**." she repeated in Spanish. She wasn't expecting it, but a lot of people clapped. E.J hopped off stage, and ran back to the castle.

End E.J's Flashback

They were all looking at her, as she stared in space.

"The first time that I had to kill someone, it was on a whim. And it was self defense. I hadn't planned a thing. I was dueling one of Voldemort's Death Eaters. He was the man that killed my mother, and tried to kill me. It was my first visit from Voldemort, the first time I tried to escape him. I escaped Voldemort, and went through the floor to escape. I got to my basement and the man grabbed me by my hair, and dragged me through dirt, and what he was doing to me was on the verge of abuse. I got up and I whacked him with a shovel, before he tried to stun me. Well, I stomped on the ground and the dirt ate him alive. I took a breather, and he grabbed hold of my leg, tripping me, before he stomped on my stomach, breaking my ribs. I just gave him the Avada with his own wand, on command… then I crawled to my broom and got away. Don't be ashamed… what you're feeling is just a sense of accomplishment, because you protected yourself. Its not that you enjoyed killing, its that you were happy taking care of yourself. So… what happened?" E.J asked. Krys looked thoughtful.

Flashback

Krys walked to the mansion and knocked on the door. The door was answered by a tan woman who was 5'7 with light brown eyes, and curly brown ringlets. She looked at Krys.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Let me guess… you're Imogene." Krys said. Krys shook her head, her black curly ringlets sprouted out and her eyes went to their normal colors. The woman's eyes widened, and she pulled her wand out of her waistband. Krys snatched it from her hand, and twirled it around. "You're not gonna invite me inside my house?"

"Its my house."

"So… who are you? Auntie Imogene, Auntie Rachel, Auntie Erin or Auntie Erica?" Krys asked. The woman scowled, then smirked.

"Say hello to Auntie Erin. Now come along and meet Auntie Erica." she said, before Krys pushed past her. In the foyer, a blonde woman with light brown eyes pointed her wand at Krys. A rush of green light expelled from her wand, before Krys did a back flip and dodged it. As she flipped, she dropped her wand, and when she landed, she stood on it. As she stood on her wand, a flood of green light rushed out onto the floor, before both Erica and Erin dropped dead to the ground. As soon as she discontinued the spell, a small little house elf ran out.

"Missis Eris?" she asked, as she ran to Krys. Krys looked at the little girl house elf with big green eyes, as the elf hugged her leg. Krys looked at her.

"No. I'm her daughter." she said. "Are you okay?" The little elf shook her head and held up her rags.

"Missis Erica took away the dress Missis Eris gave me." she said. Krys smiled and snapped. The house elf was fitted with a new cute dress.

"Here." Krys said. "Look, I have to go, but I'll be back soon."

"Okay." the little elf said, before she ran out of the room. Krys looked around the house, and almost caught fire. All over the house were pictures of her mother in gorgeous gowns and dresses, all of the portraits had slashes through them. She looked down at Erica and Erin's dead bodies and smiled slightly, then cringed, before shaking her head of the thoughts.

End Flashback

Krys told them all the story, and they all looked at her.

"Honey, believe me when I tell you… it's a normal feeling for someone as angry as you." Sirius said. "These women caused you some pain-"

"The fact that I wanted to bring them back to life so that I could kill them again, is a _sick, sad_ thing." Krys said. E.J looked at her.

"I can top it." she said. Krys looked at her. "This'll sound horrible, but my greatest regret was that I couldn't see my father and his wife die."

"Hmm… as nice as it is that we can all talk about this, I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable." Remus said. Krys laughed slightly.

"Don't worry, Moony. I've only ever felt like that about three people, so we know that I'm not into killing innocent people." she said in a matter-of-fact tone. They all looked at her. "What?" They all just shook their heads, before they all laughed. "Lets talk about the wedding." They all nodded and started to discuss the wedding.

"Krys, I've got the maid-of-honor dress here, and you can try it on." Hermione said, before she gave Krys a dress bag. Krys nodded and took it. "Go change into it, so we can all see it." Krys nodded and left with the dress bag. A few minutes later, they all heard a shrill scream.

"What the fu-?!" Krys yelled. A minute later, she walked into the room. They all looked at her and held their laughter. Krys was wearing a big gold, puffy, chiffon and taffeta dress that was puffed up by crinoline. The dress had frilly short sleeves, with lace and all types of material. Hermione squealed as she ran to Krys and started to primp and puff her up. Then she smiled and pulled a hat from off of the table. She put the hat on Krys' head.

"My maid of honor." Hermione said in an excited voice. "How do you like the dress?" Krys looked down and gave a chuckle.

"I've never seen anything like it." she said. Hermione smiled.

"You like it?" she asked. Krys looked at Hermione and nodded.

"I love it." she lied. "Especially since you picked it out. But… remember that Ginny deserves this more than I do. She's been there for you for so long."

"No. I love Ginny." Hermione said. She turned back to Ginny. "I love you, Ginny." She then turned back to Krys. "But, you're my Cookie." Krys whimpered.

"Okay." she said. "I'll definitely be your maid-of-honor."

"You really like the dress?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her.

"Would I lie to you? I _love_ this dress." she lied. "So much, in fact, that I think we should save it for _you_ to wear in _my_ wedding. We can find something else less… wonderful, for me to wear." Hermione laughed. Actually they all laughed at Krys' attempt.

"Its okay. I'll show you where I got it. They had it in pink."

"Oh. What a sight to see." Krys said. "I'm gonna go change out of this… because its sure to make me an egocentric ass wipe, its so damn beautiful. I gotta go." Krys bunched up the material and ran out of the room, but not before shedding the hat.

"I love you." Ares whimpered, as she left the room. He had his hand in a desperate extended grabbing position, as if Krys were tiny and he was trying to hold onto her. They all looked at him. Including the portraits. "Wow." Then Ares put his head down.

"So… what's wrong _now_?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Oh- lets give the rest of them the update." Hermione said, before she looked at the portraits. "Ares ran out on his wedding to be with your daughter, and he's still in love with her after about eight years, but he can't tell her." Hermione then looked at Harry. "She's back with Josephs. This time, she's his _actual girlfriend_." Hermione said. "She actually had a fight today, with Gem-"

"Its about time." Ginny said. "That girl always took advantage of Krys."

"Honestly." A.J said.

"Well- she mangled Gem, then they retracted them, using a spell that she could've walked through. But she sat down and Josephs asked her out, after shouting out to the whole office that she had him whipped. Now, because Ares is a punk, Krys is Eric Josephs' girlfriend. Officially." Hermione said, looking down. Ron was sleeping in her lap, exhausted from all the work he'd been doing. Hermione traced his ear with her finger, then kissed it lightly. Ron shifted and stirred slightly.

"I love you, Hermione." he whispered, before he went back to snuggling against her.

"I'm not a punk." Ares said, from the table.

"You're probably a punk." E.J said. "I mean… from what I can see, the way you two act… you're a punk." They all looked at E.J.

"You ran out ten minutes before your wedding." Remus said.

"Quiet." E.J said, looking at him. Ares looked at her, then lied his head back on the table.

"She's intimidating." he said, from the table. "Does anyone here know what it feels like to be afraid of the girl you wanna be with?" All the guys in the room raised their hands, including the half asleep Ron. "Well… this is Krys we're talking about. I've seen her set people on fire."

"That's nothing." Sirius said. "When E.J turned nineteen, she set me on fire, because she thought I forgot her birthday."

"Yeah, I almost got hit with a bolt of lightning, when I pissed her off." Ares said. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"E.J beat me up with her nunchakus." he said.

"Krys and I were practice dueling, and she had me surrounded by a bunch of big poisonous snakes." Ares said. "Plus, the girl's tongue is like acid. She can be mean. I've never heard anyone say the kinds of things that she says." They all looked at him and nodded slightly.

"Yeah." Harry said. "You're an idiot. That must be horrible."

"What?" Ares asked.

"Being in love with someone so mean and vicious."

"She's not mean. She's tough. And, she's sweet most of the time." Ares said indignantly.

"Then stop complaining." Sirius said. "Do you have any idea what its like to have a wife with a license to kill? Or Moody and Dumbledore's protégé? Not only did the Order use her whenever they had to kill, but she- she was _good_ at it."

"Sir, would you say that you're somewhat as vicious?" Ares asked Sirius.

"If I need to be." Sirius answered.

"Okay. Well, imagine your wife's anger, your anger, going through three deceased parents, twenty years of pent-up anger, twenty years of injustice, and the most powerful magic in the world. Now calculate the rage towards the stupid, regretful ex-boyfriend." Ares said, respectably.

"You're right." Sirius said. "Poor you. Cheer up, mate."

"She's not mean. My daughter is-" E.J started.

"Just like you." Sirius, James, Remus, Lily, Moody and McGonagall said together.

"And what does _that_ mean?" E.J asked.

"That you're mean as all hell." James said. Krys skipped in and looked at all of them.

"I have to go." she said. "I have a meeting type thing."

"Josephs?" Ares asked in a pathetic little voice, with puppy eyes. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. They were all looking at her. "Um… what's going on?" They all shook their head and said a simultaneous,

"Nothing." Krys looked at Ares.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. Ares nodded.

"Of course." he said.

"No, you're not." Krys said, looking at him. "What happened?" Ares shook his head, but Krys caught his chin and scrunched his lips together. "Tell me."

"Krys, I'm okay. Really." Ares said. Krys rolled her eyes and picked up her phone. After she dialed, she held it to her ears.

"Yeah, Joseph-… right, _Eric_. I can't make it tonight." Krys said. "Because I have something to do… you want me to meet _who_?" Krys laughed sardonically. "Well, because when I was eleven, I punched her in the face and she hasn't liked me since. Plus, its cause of me that her father lost his job… yeah, she _really_ doesn't like me… No, I wouldn't be uncomfortable, I just can't say that I'd be able to control myself around her and knives… Does it sound like I'm joking?… That's because I'm not… Call me when you're done… okay…" Krys looked at Ares, and covered her phone. "Do you work tomorrow?" Ares shook his head.

"Night shift." he said. Krys nodded and put the phone back to her ear.

"I can't. Well… I apologize- and note, I'm being both sardonic and sarcastic when I say this, I apologize if I'm not gonna drop all of my plans to do what you wanna do, when you wanna do it. Okay- I'm not Gemmy… Oh- is that a low blow?…" Krys laughed. "Okay… I like me very much, too. See you-okay, I'll see. Yeah… of course you can bring her. Uh- huh. Bye." Then she hung up and looked around. They were all looking at her still. "What?"

"So… what's he like?" E.J asked.

"Who?" Krys asked. They all looked at her.

"Your little boyfriend." Sirius said.

"Tell us about him." Lily said.

"What's there to tell?" Krys asked.

"Well- why'd you break your date?" Lily asked.

"Because, Ares and I had plans that I forgot about. And he looks pathetically depressed, and best friends, cheer best friends up. I mean, the boy got the promotion. He should be happy." Krys said. They all looked at Ares.

"You got the promotion?" they all asked in some way of the other. Ares nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"So, you cancelled your date, because Ares got the promotion." McGonagall said. Krys nodded.

"And Josephs wanted me to celebrate with him and his old _crew_." she said. "Why hang out with him and a bunch of people I don't like, when I can hang out with people that I _love_? Look- I'll see you guys soon."

"Yeah." E.J said, looking at Krys. "What are you to me?"

"The air that I breathe, mommy." Krys said, before she waved. Krys and the others said their goodbyes, then disapparated to her house. Harry and Ginny, A.J and Jason immediately disapparated. Ron, who was half asleep, and Hermione looked at Ares, who was watching Krys and giving _manly_ whimpers.

"We're gonna go." Hermione said. She gave Ares a thumbs up, then disapparated with Ron. Krys looked at Ares, and laughed.

"They left us?" she asked. Ares nodded. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because, I can't believe that you're in a relationship with someone other than me." Ares said truthfully. Krys looked at him, and took his hand before leading him up the stairs to her room. She lied down and patted the space next to her, so that Ares would lie down also. When he did, she put her hand on his belly, and lied her head on his chest.

"Can I tell you something? Without you being uncomfortable." Krys said.

"Is it about sex?"

"Kinda sorta." Ares inhaled deeply and nodded. "The thing with Josephs… the reason that I stopped hanging out with him in the first place went beyond him not wanting to use a condom. That was just the best excuse that I had. I could've made a condom appear in his drawer, if I wanted. I couldn't do it… and I didn't want to seem immature."

"Well… why- um… why- why couldn't you um- why couldn't you do it?"

"You're gonna think that this is so stupid." Krys said.

"I won't. I promise."

"It's the same reason that I wouldn't say yes to having a relationship with him……… I thought that it'd be like replacing you. I mean, you were the only man that I really kissed. You were the only man that I had a relationship with. You are the only man I've ever had sex with. I don't want to erase you. I want you to have your own little category in my experiences, and even though you were the first… I always thought that you'd be the first, last and only."

"Oh." Ares said. Krys looked at him. "I just- because we couldn't be together, I couldn't wait to do the exact opposite of that. Because you dumped me, I couldn't wait to try and forget about you." Krys looked at him.

"You know just what to say to a girl, huh." she said sarcastically. "The fact of the matter is, I couldn't've forgotten about you even if I tried. Today, when they were talking about Josephs being my first, I had to refrain from telling everyone that it was you. Well- technically, you were the first, last and only."

"Krys, don't get me wrong. I didn't want to forget about you, and as hard as I tried, I wouldn't allow myself to." He looked at her. "I have absolutely no will power, when it comes to you. I hid pictures of you everywhere. When I got home, Jason told me to forget about you, and he took me to the park… where I saw Ashley. I'm not blaming him… I just- they tried to flush you from my mind… so I had to hide pictures of you." Krys laughed.

"Like where?" she asked.

"Wow. That's a horrible question. I hid some in the bottom of my drawer. I hid some-" Ares started laughing. "I hid most of them behind other pictures. Like… all the pictures on my mom's wall… just open the back and a bunch of pictures of you will fall out." Krys looked at him, and rolled off of her bed. When she got back up she had a shoebox. Krys lied back down next to him, and opened the box. Inside was a bunch of photos.

"When we broke up… I spent about… three weeks crying, four months trying to write you a letter, two years sleeping with your clothes, and two and a half years regretting." Krys said. "Every weekend, I would come in here and lock myself in, crank up the stereo, and cry. It wasn't until a few months in, that I let people know that I wasn't happy. I just wanted them to think I was, so that they wouldn't find my reasons stupid."

"You know… I had sex with a lot of girls after you dumped me."

"How many?"

"Lets just say I spent a lot of money on condoms."

"Spermicidal?" Ares nodded. "Well… I didn't date anyone, I didn't talk to anyone, and… I cried when you proposed to Emily. And not only was my couch potato disposition wonderful for my asthma… it was horrible for my body. I looked like Rikishi."

"I bet you were still beautiful." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Who is this girl that you're into?" she asked. "Like your sex dream girl, or the woman Hermione keeps saying you want." she said. "C'mon, I can help." Ares shook his head.

"You can only hurt." he said.

"Why? You need someone special."

"I have someone special. I got you."

"And I got you." Krys said.

"Krys, she's just not interested. She's into another guy." Ares said. "She's not interested in me."

"How can she not be interested?" Krys asked. Ares chucked her chin, making her look at him.

"You tell me." he demanded. Krys furrowed her eyebrows.

"Tell you what?"

"How she cannot be interested?" Ares said. "No. Fuck that. Why _would_ she be interested?"

"You're sweet." Krys said.

"So was my ninety year old grandmother." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"You're amazingly sexy. You're smart, successful, self-sufficient, and so selfless. Why don't you dress up, the next time you're gonna see her? Maybe she's just not into your baggy ass jeans and big G-Unit t-shirts. That's what I have to do each time I see Josephs. Like- when he asked me to go with him, he actually gave me a suggestion as to what I should wear."

"Josephs is an idiot, if he doesn't think that you're past perfect."

"Yeah? Well, Miss What's-Her-Booty is an idiot, too. I mean… not too long ago, I would've given anything for you to want me as much as you seem to want this chick." Krys looked at him, then got up. "We need a plan."

"No." Ares said. "As nice as this is… I'm not comfortable with _you_ helping me with this." Krys furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Krys… we're best friends any all, but… I can't talk to you about this." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Then how can you talk to Hermione about this?" she asked. The two looked at each other, without talking for a minute. "See, Ares, I tell you almost everything, because I value your o-"

"Krys… I value your opinion. I really do. I just- its because of our history. Can we stop talking about this?" Ares asked. Krys nodded.

"Of course." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Please, don't be mad at me, Krys. I hate it when you're mad at me." he said. Krys shook her head.

"I'm not mat at you." she said.

"Yes, you are."

"No. I'm just- are we growing apart?"

"No. We're close. If you want to be closer, come sit on my lap." Krys laughed. "I'm just kidding. Krys, come here." Ares said, beckoning her. Krys walked over to him and sat on the bed. Ares cradled her head and lifted her up, pulling her closer to him. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes." Krys said softly. Her face was buried in his chest. "You smell good. Like baked apples, cinnamon, soap, vanilla, and Downy. And… something spicy. Mmm… this smell used to turn me on. No- no… this still turns me on." Ares laughed.

"You're not listening to me." he said softly. Krys nodded.

"Sorry." she whispered.

"I love you. That will _never_ change." Ares said. "Nothing in this world will ever make me not want to hang out with you. Nothing will ever make me stop loving you. Nothing will ever break us apart. Love will keep us together." Krys laughed and smiled, when Ares buried his head in the crook of her neck.

"That tickles." Krys said. Ares moved his head, so that he was in her ear. He lightly kissed it.

"Does this bother you?" he whispered.

"Not at all." Krys said. "Okay… if you tell me about Ms. What's-Her-Booty, I'll give you a kiss."

"Kiss first." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Info first." Ares shook his head, and pointed to his lips. Krys rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Info first."

"She went to Levebons." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"What the hell does that do for me?" she asked. Ares shrugged.

"I'm sorry if I can't give you more than that." he said. "Kiss." Krys looked at him and pecked his lips.

"If you wanted the kiss, Ares, all you had to do was ask."

"Ooh- now I know. Can I have a kiss?" Krys laughed.

"No." she said cutely. Ares pouted. "I just want to tell you how proud I am that you got that promotion."

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that." Ares said. Krys nodded. "Michael Stevens went to my office and told me that I got the promotion, after the obstacle course. Then he said that he was _glad that he listened to you_. What was that about? Did you tell him to hire me or something, Krys? Because, if so… thank you, but I don't want a job that I can't get by myself." Krys looked at him and held his face.

"Stephens knew that I'd seen the aurors at work. I gave him my honest opinion and recommendation, and said that I knew you worked hard. When everyone is at lunch, _you're working_. As soon as you go in, _you're working_. I only made him notice you. I didn't make him choose you. And that's what he did. _He chose you_. So, yes, you got the job yourself. You move up, and you get to interview and choose someone from Section 3. So shut up. I didn't do anything that Moody hadn't already done when I told him you were considering trying. Once more, shut up… because you would've done the same thing for me." Ares smiled slightly.

"You're amazing." he said.

"_You're_ telling _me_?" Krys teased.

"Yes, I'm telling you. You're amazing." Ares insisted. Krys smiled.

"Thank you. And you're more than spectacular. Which is why I know that if Miss _What's-Her-Booty_ knew, you'd have the shot that you wanted." she said. "Can I ask you a favor?" Ares nodded. "Tomorrow, can you come with me, Josephs and his friend? We're going to a diner, and I- I'm asking Ron and Hermione, also. I just- I really hate to ask, but… can you? Please?" Ares groaned, as she stuck her bottom lip out and gave him the puppy eyes. "Please, Ares?"

"Okay." Ares said, as he nodded. "It has to be before nine o'clock, though. That's when I have to be at work."

"Thank you. And I hear his friend is sexy… she could be just what you need to forget about M-"

"Please, stop calling her Miss What's-Her-Booty. She means more to me than that."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry." Krys said. "It'd be easier if I knew her name."

"Krys…"

"Fine. Don't tell me."

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When Ron and Hermione got to their house, Ron looked at her.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked. Hermione laughed.

"Of course not." she said. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I have no idea what's going on in the wedding, and I don't know what you're wearing- and we've only made love once in a month." Ron said. Hermione looked at him.

"You're working. Why would I do anything to interfere with your work? Aside from work, you sleep. You need to sleep. You come home tired. Of course I'm not mad at you. If I didn't hate my boss, I would work a lot, too." she said. Ron laughed and lied his head in her lap.

"So you're not mad at me?" he asked. Hermione shook her head. "Will you find a way to keep me awake? Since its only nine o'clock, and I don't have to be at work until… ten am tomorrow morning." Hermione stood up.

"Find a way to keep you up?" she asked.

"Well- I _know_ you'd be able to keep me up, with what I _think_ you have in mind." Ron said. Hermione laughed as she rifled through her drawers. She turned to him and smiled, before she slowly took off her jacket. Ron looked at her questioningly.

"You'll see." Hermione whispered, as she slowly unbuttoned her shirt. Ron's eyebrows went up and he lied back in bed and watched her. Her bra was black, with white stripes. Hermione unbuttoned her jeans and lowered each side, revealing her matching bikini underwear. Ron stared at her, as Hermione slowly walked to the bed. As soon as she was in grabbing distance, Ron wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to him. Hermione laughed, before he kissed her. The kiss was fiery hot, slow, deep and passionate. Hermione, weirdly was able to pull his shirt off, without breaking the kiss at all. When Ron realized that his top half was bare, he stared at Hermione. "I'm skilled." she whispered, before she reached behind her back and started to unhook her bra. She seemed to have trouble with it, and Ron enjoyed watching her grow angry with it. Ron pulled her back into another kiss, before he expertly unhooked her bra. When he pulled back, he grinned.

"I'm skilled." he whispered, before he leaned in again. Hermione laughed into the kiss, as she trailed her fingertips down his chest, and started to unzip his pants. Ron rubbed his hands up and down her back, before he started to kiss her neck.

"Oh, yeah." Hermione moaned. "You are skilled."

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The next day, Hermione went to Krys' house first thing in the morning. When she got there, she smiled at the sight of Krys and Ares sleeping together.

"Aw." she said aloud. Krys began to stir, and Ares subconsciously held onto her tighter. Hermione couldn't hold her laughter, and that woke the two up. "Okay, good morning, everyone! Rise and shine!!" Krys opened her eyes and threw a stuffed animal at Hermione's head. "Hey!" Krys groaned and stood up, walking to the bathroom. Ares opened his eyes.

"I've been up for the past _two_ _hours_, because I didn't want her to move and I didn't want to stop holding her. Did you have to do that to me?" he asked. Hermione laughed.

"Oh. You've got it bad, you psycho stalker." she said. "Why don't you just tell her?"

"I tried dropping hints. She's _clueless_. I even told her that the girl's name was Krys."

"Girls drop hints, Ares. You're supposed to be a man, so stop acting like a woman."

"Are you talking to Hermione about Ms. Clueless?!" Krys shouted from the bathroom. Hermione looked at him.

"That's your in. Just tell her the truth." she said.

"I can't. She knows- she _remembers_ all the shit I said to her back then. She probably hates me." Ares said.

"You're such a punk. If she could throw away all her inhibitions and tell you that she loved you the night before her wedding, you should at least grow a sack and tell her that you're still in love with her. She's about seventeen hours into this relationship… man up." Ares pouted.

"Krys! Hermione's being mean to me!" he yelled. Krys walked out of the bathroom and looked at the two of them.

"Hermione, stop being mean to Ares." she said, before she walked over to Ares and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry. Hermione's vicious… you have me, though." Ares nodded and pointed to his cheek. Krys kissed it again, then looked at Hermione, shaking her head in mock shame, before leaving the room. Hermione laughed and looked at Ares.

"You're something else, you know that." she said. "Just tell her."

"Do you know something?" Ares asked. "Tell me, if you know something, Hermione. Tell me." Hermione laughed.

"You need help." she said. "So… what are we doing today? She said something about Josephs." Ares rolled his eyes and nodded. "Ron has to work… so, its just us, them and his friend."

"I hate seeing her with Josephs. He's a jackass. And when I see her with him, I want to take a knif-"

"Ares, breathe, please." Hermione said. A minute later, Krys walked out of the bathroom and looked at Hermione.

"Something's different about you." she said. Hermione and Ares looked at her. "Something is different about you, Hermione."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"You had sex." Krys said. "You had _a lot_ of sex. Three times! You _slut_!" Hermione grinned, and ran her hand through her hair in a toot-my-own-horn manner. They looked around at each other and laughed.

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The three hung out until it was time to meet Eric and his friend. When they met up, his friend was a 5'9 model type, with medium length dark hair, and light eyes. She was named Natasha, and she dressed like she was hoping to meet the man of her dreams. They were in a diner, sitting in a booth together.

"Hi." Natasha said as she met them. Krys smiled and waved, before sitting down in between Ares and Josephs, leaving Hermione with Natasha. Through most of the conversation, Krys zoned out and only heard certain parts, until someone said her name.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Krys, Eric told me that you're a healer. How did you make the decision? I couldn't choose between being an auror, a healer, or a model. I chose model." Natasha said.

"That's cool." Krys said. "Honestly, I couldn't choose either. I had so many choices. I either wanted to be an auror or a healer. Then I had to think about muggle career choices. I wanted to be a soccer player, or a boxer. In the end, I wanted to do more healing than damage, so I chose healer."

"How many schools did you get accepted to?" Eric asked. "I just wanna know, because nobody can beat Tasha's record. I still don't know why she didn't go to auror training with the rest of us. So- how many did you get accepted to?" Krys shook her head. All of her friends knew, and it also made them question why she hadn't gone to auror training.

"Yeah, Krys. How many schools did you get into?" Hermione asked. She looked innocent, but knew that Krys always avoided the question, because she was embarrassed by the answer.

"Krys, its nothing. Don't be embarrassed." Ares said, holding down his laughter. He was the one that told her all the schools she'd gotten into.

"Why? Why would you be embarrassed?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, I only got into ten auror. Eight healer." Natasha said.

"Krys, how many did you get into?" Eric asked. "We're all friends here. Nobody's gonna laugh."

"Yes, you will." Krys said.

"I promise." Josephs said. Krys looked at Hermione, then Ares.

"Well- at first I only got into twelve auror, and some healer. Then, I got into some more." she said.

"How much more?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, how much more?" Hermione coaxed.

"Tell us, Krys." Ares said.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Natasha asked.

"Nothing. It's a bit embarrassing." Krys said.

"And I only made it worse by gloating, right? I'm so sorry."

"No. Don't be sorry. Its just- I hate talking about it."

"Just- okay." Natasha said.

"Krys, stop being so modest." Hermione said. Krys glared at her, and they all looked at Hermione.

"How many schools did you get into?" Eric asked.

"Krys got into over eighty different _auror_ programs. Scholarships for half of them, internships from three ministries, including the NA ministry." Hermione said. They all looked at Krys.

"Thank you, Hermione." Krys said.

"Then with Healer training… she got into about forty five, if I'm not mistaken, and a bunch of hospitals were willing to pay for her to go to school, if she'd work for them." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"Same with Hermione." she said. "Except, Hermione was also offered jobs in the ministry. And she was offered Head Healer in Hogwarts."

"You got into over hundred and twenty schools." Eric said, looking at her.

"They're exaggerating." Krys said.

"No. We're actually minimizing." Hermione said. "She's just being modest."

"So- why didn't you want to tell us, _Krystathaili_?" Eric asked. Ever since he was reminded of what Krys stood for, he'd been using her full name as often as possible.

"Every time the subject comes up and I tell people, they look at me like I'm trying to throw it in their faces, when in reality… I don't see it as a big deal." Krys said.

"Hold on. Hold on. Eric, what did you s- _I know who you are_." Natasha said, pointing at Krys. "You were on the best dressed lis- and number 25 on 101 most beautiful bodies."

"Really?" Krys asked. "I didn't even know that."

"Not to mention… you were in top ten richest teens a few months ago. Oh my God… you- you, Krystathaili Rodriguez are- that's where I knew you from. I knew that I'd seen you somewhere before… I knew that I heard your name before… I knew it. You were mentioned a few months ago- why didn't you accept the tickets to the fashion show? You- oh I have hit the jackpot. I'm so sorry about what I read a few months ago. Are you okay? Oh- you seem so down to earth- you're not a snobby bitch, like I thought you would be. Oh- sorry, I'm so sorry. That sounded so-"

"Natasha, its good. Its all good. Lets just have this food and… I am just Krys. And Natasha… my friends treat me like shit, they don't apologize. You can do it, too." Krys teased. They all laughed, and Krys looked at Hermione. "Dude… I- I haven't seen your wedding dress."

"Oh- its so beautiful." Hermione gushed. "It has spaghetti straps and its-"

"White? You liar." Krys teased. Hermione's eyes widened, and she laughed, as they all did.

"Hey, hey. I'll have you know that… I held out for long enough." Hermione said.

"Ooh- are we about to talk about first times?" Natasha asked. "I can beat it."

"No!" Josephs said. They all looked at him. "Don't try to beat it." Krys laughed.

"Dude, I'm not the jealous type." she said. "If you guys did it, then you did it. So- what about your first time?"

"Oh- well, I got drunk at a midnight beach party. I was sixteen, I just got dumped, and my best friend comforted me. Actually we were both pretty drunk. I had my first time with _Josephs_." Natasha said. Krys looked at Josephs.

"You slut." she teased, before she mock slapped him. She looked at Natasha. "So- on a scale of one to ten, ten being the absolute best and one being the absolute worst… where does Josephs rank?" They all looked at Josephs.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really remember. All I remember is flashes. I woke up naked in his bed. And he was next to me, just as naked. But- the flashbacks are enough to make me sick to my stomach. He was- ugh… we were childhood friends." Krys laughed. "So- what about your first time?" Natasha asked Krys.

"Who said I had a first time?" Krys asked. They all looked at her.

"You're a virgin?" Natasha asked.

"No, but you can't just assume." Krys whined. They all laughed.

"I told you mine." Natasha said. "Know what? Its okay. You can wait to tell me. I want to know about you." Natasha was looking at Ares, who was staring at his plate. He'd drawn something in his food. He looked up as they all stared at him. He was still slouching in his seat.

"Hi, I'm Ares D. I was seventeen. My girlfriend dumped me. I spent the next night doing it with someone that I though she'd hate the most. That was the girl that used to flirt with me while she was there." he said.

"Okay. Therapeutic." Natasha said. She then looked at Hermione. "What about you?"

"My fiancé. A few months ago." Hermione said.

"Oh- you're a good girl. That's admirable." Natasha looked at Krys. "Finally… you." Krys pointed at Josephs. "Eric? First time."

"I was fifteen. I had sex with Elise Matthews during detention." Eric said.

"Kick ass first time." Krys said, giving him a high five. They all looked at her. "What?"

"You're his girlfriend." Natasha said. "Not his guy friend-"

"Elise Matthews was a seventeen year old _TA_." Krys said. They all looked at Eric.

"So, Krys… _your_ first time." Natasha said.

"One day I realized how pathetic and lonely my life was, and I went to a restaurant alone. I saw a man breaking up with his wife, and I seduced him. We did it in the bathroom of the restaurant. Not exactly textbook, is it?" Krys said. They were all looking at her. "I'm joking." Natasha and Eric let out sighs of relied, while Ares and Hermione chuckled slightly. "My father died before graduation. My first time was after graduation ended. I had the house alone, so my boyfriend was living with me. And so- we did it." They were all looking at her. "This is true."

"Why'd you guys break up?" Natasha asked.

"Too attached." Krys said.

"Oh- he was one of those?" Natasha said.

"No. I was." They all looked at her. "See- we wanted the same things, but we weren't going in the same directions. See- I was going this way" Krys pointed straight ahead "And he was going this way." Krys pointed to the upward diagonal. "He was willing to go-" Krys pointed straight ahead. "For me. But I wasn't wiling to let him. I broke up with him in hopes that we'd get back together, once I got my shit together, but he came back with a wife. And two kids."

"Wow." Natasha said.

"Yeah, I know." Hermione said.

"She was willing to let him drop out of school for her… but, more power to him- and her." Krys said.

"Oh- girls, bathroom. Come on." Natasha said.

"Dude, not all girls go to the bathroom in pairs." Krys said. Natasha and Hermione looked at her. "Fine." Krys got up and followed them to the bathroom.

"Oh my God, Krys. Your friend Ares is _fine_." Natasha gushed. "Do you know if-"

"Gay." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"Really? He just said he had a girlfriend." Natasha said, looking at Krys with wide eyes.

"Yeah. Gay." Krys said.

"Too bad. I guess we lost another one. Ooh- and if he gave me a chance, I could set him straight." Natasha said, biting her lip. Krys sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. She fluffed her hair slightly.

"You guys ready?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at Natasha, who was fixing her hair.

"Yeah, sure." Natasha said, as they started to walk out. When they got out of the bathroom and back to the table, both Ares and Eric were looking down. Krys walked over, and Ares got up, letting her in the middle. Krys sat in between them and looked around.

"So… Hermione, how's your wedding doing?" she asked.

"Oh- I can't wait." Hermione said. "And your maid-of-honor dress is- I can't wait until the big day."

"What does your fiancé do?" Natasha asked.

"Auror."

"And you?"

"Healer."

"That's one of the prestige couples, right? In our world, is auror and healer. In the rest of the world its doctor and lawyer. Or business man- all of it ranks auror, anyway, right?"

"I guess so. Well- that, or head chair in the Wizengamot." Hermione said. Krys looked at Ares. He was still drawing things in his food. Then she looked at Eric. He was just looking down at his plate.

"So… Quantum materiae materietur marmota mina si marmota monax materiam possit materiari? (_How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood_?)" Krys said. They all looked at her.

"Non intellego. Quantumne? (_I don't know. How much_?)" Natasha said. Krys looked at her.

"Infinitus. (_An infinite amount_)" she said.

"Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur. (_Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it sort of just slips out_.)" Natasha teased.

"Nescio quid dicas_Heus, modo itera omnia quae mihi nunc nuper narravisti, sed nunc Anglice?_ Te denuone Latine loquebar. Non intellego. (_I don't know what you're talking about. Could you repeat what you just said, in English? You were speaking Latin again. I didn't understand._)" Krys teased. "Nonne de Novo Eboraco venis? (You're from New York, aren't you?)"

"Ita vero. (Yes)" Natasha said. The two girls looked beside them, and all of the others were staring at them.

"What the hell was that whole conversation about?" Hermione asked.

"Abeo, abeo, abeo, actum est, comites! (_Ah-bee, ah-bee, ah-bee, that's all, folks!_)" Krys joked. Natasha laughed. They all looked at the two.

"Eric, I like her." Natasha said. "She's cute."

"She is." Josephs said. "Now, what the hell were you guys talking about?"

"If I remember correctly, I was trying to break the ice by asking how much wood a woodchuck would chuck if it could chuck woodNatasha said that she didn't know, and asked how much. Then I said an infinite amount. She looked at me and asked if she was speaking Latin again. I said that I didn't know what she was talking about, then I asked her to repeat it in English. Then I asked her if she was from New York. Then we laughed, and after that I did the Porky Pig's 'that's all folks'." Krys said.

"You recapped the whole thing." Natasha said. "Cool."

"Diabolus fecit, ut id facerem! (_The Devil made me do it_)." Krys said. She looked at Ares. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Ares said.

"Hey- why are we still here?" Krys asked. They all looked around and shrugged.

"No idea." Hermione said. "But- for some reason its nice being able to sit on your ass all day." They all looked around.

"Yes. You're right." Krys said. "Except, I have no job." They all looked at her.

"Well- you kinda fucked her up. Did you expect her to keep you?" Ares asked.

"She fired Krys before that." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna work anyway." Krys said. They all looked at her. "I know. I miss it. Like- a few weeks ago, this little old man had Dragon Pox… and I saved his life. He was on the verge of death- he was slipping through and I spiked him. His wife- his whole family almost threw themselves at my feet. Now I sit around my house on my lazy ass, and I have no sense of accomplishment, no self fulfillment and what the fuck am I supposed to do all day, now?"

"If you have all these hospitals that were willing to pay for your education, why don't you go work for one of them?" Natasha asked.

"Because then I'd be working with people who have egos and attitudes. They look at me like I'm an ass, because I'm so young. I mean- when I was working in Gem's hospital- I was there for one day, when some older woman was like '_I don't want a Doctor who my youngest can baby-sit. Maybe someone who knew what it was like to be in war._' Is it my fault she was an old bag?" Krys asked.

"Who says that you have to work as a healer? Why don't you take over your father's company?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her.

"Because they're people who've been working their asses off for my dad and his people. So if I go in there and start taking charge, when in reality they're the one's who do the real work, how good am I? I made sure that the best man for the job got the job. That's all I really needed to do." she said. She looked around at all of them. "Can we go, people? Please." They all looked at their empty plates and shrugged.

When they were all done, and Ares went to work, Krys and Hermione decided to hang out. As soon as they got to Krys' kitchen, Krys shook her head.

"Hermione, don't start." she said.

"What?" Hermione said.

"Don't start on my relationship with Josephs." Hermione looked at her.

"That's not what I want to know about. I want to know why you told Natasha, a woman that wants him, that he's gay." she said.

"She's not right for him-"

"Why?" Hermione asked. "Is it because she's an African ameri-"

"Not even." Krys said. "I'm the last person that can be called racist- especially towards bl-"

"That's not what I meant. You didn't finish listening. Is it because she's an African American model, who's actually similar to you? She's smart. She's funny. And she's sexy. How is she wrong for him?" Hermione asked. "Is it because she's not you?" Krys looked at her.

"Of course not." she said.

"Krys, you're gonna see how perfect you two are for each other." Hermione said.

"I already _know_ how perfect we are for each other, Hermione. I'm just- I'm over that perfect life. Ares is Mr. Perfect and Mr. Incredible, but Josephs is Mr. Pretty-Damn-Close."

"One last question." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Are you ready to let someone fall in love with you, knowing that you'll never fully be in love with them?"


	36. The Rest of Their Lives

Krys looked at Hermione.

"Hermione, I-… I just don't think that Natasha is right for him." she said. Hermione looked at her.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, _once again_; Ares needs someone who'll push him. He needs someone that's gonna keep him on trac-"

"Someone like you." Hermione said. Krys rolled her eyes.

"Someone to keep him focused. Someone who can make him laugh. Definitely someone sweet, with a nice attitude. Someone pretty and sexy, yet with a hint of innocence. He needs someone calming. He doesn't need someone who'll drag him around and mess up his life. He doesn't need a party girl. He doesn't need a girl who'll try to use him. Just- she's not the perfect girl for him. Ares and Jason are a lot alike. Jason, if he was with the wrong girl, he would show his ass, and be a complete dickhead. And that's why A.J is perfect for him. He's his good self. Ares… as sweet as he is, he would be the same way if he was with the wrong girl. He needs someone to bring out the best in him. He needs someone who won't take any of his shit." Hermione looked at her. "Is it bad that I think this is my decision to make? I mean- did you ever feel that you had to protect someone from themselves and the world? Do you feel like you know the answer to all of their problems? Or like- you needed to choose who they were with, because you know them through and through, and you know what they like? Is it bad that I won't settle for less when it comes to finding that girl for him, even if he will? Do you know what I mean?"

"Fortunately, yes. I'm just not as pushy as you, so Ron wouldn't have known it." Hermione said. "Ron belongs with me. That's how it is, and that's how it should be. Not _to_ me, but _with_ me. We belong together, and just knowing it is a prize all in its own. Krys, when I first met you, you were a small, big mouthed, frigid, _bitchy bitch_. And its okay, because as soon as we talked and connected, I knew that you had this colossal, electric fence, pit bull, sniper, laser guarded heart. And once all of your guards are let down, it's a gift to whoever you're letting them down for. And just by the way you look at him, I know that he has done everything in the book for you to let it down for him. And nothing in this world is ever gonna let you guard your heart again, when it comes to him. And that's just the way it is. So you need to stop trying. And you need to stop trying to find reasons to lock it up again." Krys looked at her.

"So- what flowers did you choose?" she asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at her watch.

"I chose the orchids and figured that Harry could perfect our vision. Orchid petals floating in the fountain water, and probably just raining orchid petals. A cream gold carpet where we walk down the aisle. Angel sprinkling orchid petals as she walks down the aisle. Jamie bringing the rings down the aisle. And finally, my maid of honor in her beautiful gold dress, holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And finally, finally, my groom. I'll be Mrs. Ronald Weasley. Mrs. Ronald Bilius Weasley." she said. Krys looked at her.

"Are you done?" she asked.

"Its an interesting topic, my wedding is. Harry'll be walking me down the aisle. I'll be happy, we'll all be happy." Hermione said, as they girls started to walk up to Krys' room. As soon as Krys got in her room, she ran to Asia's cage and let the snake ravel around her hand.

"_Hello, Asia_." Krys said. The snake looked up at Krys, and seemed to nuzzle her head against Krys' hand.

"_I missed you. Where have you been_?" Asia asked. Krys smiled.

"_Wales_." she said, before she lied on the bed next to Hermione. The two girls stared up at the ceiling.

"I don't see why you can't just go out with Ares." Hermione said. "Have you seen him?"

"Hermione, I can come up with a b_i_llion reasons to be with Ares. Actually- I don't have to come up with them. The reasons cascade off my tongue. But each time that I list a reason, I think of the same reason for why I shouldn't be. That whole night. That argument- all the shit he said to me, Hermione. I could've came home every night after my class. But I didn't, because I needed time to work out what he said to me. I needed to learn to live with the fact that he no longer wanted me, and I had to live and deal with all the shit he thinks of me."

"So- why are you still friends?"

"Because the man that said all that shit to me wasn't longtime 'friend' Ares, it was 'ex-boyfriend' Ares. And ex-boyfriend Ares gets promoted and demoted to 'boyfriend' Ares, and that would mean the same person said all that shit to me. Its that simple." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"That's not simple at all." she said. Krys laughed, and stroked Asia's head.

"I can't believe he bought me a snake." she said. "I've wanted one since I was three."

"Why didn't you buy one?"

"I don't know. I just never got around to it. Taking a snake to Hogwarts' sister school isn't exactly setting a good impression."

"But Ares understands that you're a Parselmouth." Hermione said. "Didn't Josephs seem disgusted?"

"I'm disgusted by a lot of the shit he does." Krys said.

"Krys… what about Ares?" Hermione asked.

"What _about_ him, Hermione? I love him. Of course I do. He's my best friend in the world, and there hasn't been much that I couldn't tell him. Everyone makes it seem like its not hard on me, not being with him. Its hard… but, he doesn't want me. He told me that he didn't. He showed me that he didn't. He went out of his way to show me that he no longer felt that way about me. He went out of his way to let me know that that was no longer an option. I just accepted it. Why should I go running after him, after what he told me? Being called a manipulative man-eater doesn't appeal to me, Hermione. That's the real reason I'm going out of my way to find someone else." Krys said. Hermione stared at her.

"Wow." she said. Krys looked at her.

"What?"

"You- why don't you just let it go?"

"Why didn't he let go of the fact that I dumped him?" Hermione stood silent.

"Krys, stop trying to throw it away." Hermione said. Krys groaned. "Did you get your invitation for the NA Ministry auror date auction? All single, unmarried aurors."

"Yeah. I got the invitation a month ago. Its in a few days, right?" Hermione nodded.

"Ares is up for the taking. A lot of lonely single women paying money to get him for a night." she said. Krys laughed.

"I can only imagine how much he'll go for." she said. Hermione looked at her and raised her eyebrow.

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Three nights later, the night before the auction, everything was back to normal and they were all sitting around together watching a football tape, before Krys' phone rang.

"Josephs." they all said simultaneously. All of the girls looked at Ares with sympathy, while the guys gave him looks that said 'man up'. Krys picked up her phone and laughed.

"I'm hanging out. It wouldn't be right for me to ditch my people, for you." she said. "I never said that. Um-" Krys looked at them and covered her phone. "Would you guys mi-"

"You're not leaving." Ron said.

"You're really not about to ditch us for your boyfriend." Harry said.

"You'd be a flat leaver." Ginny said.

"Would you guys mind if Josephs came over?" Krys asked.

"Is he a Patriots fan?" asked Jason. Krys put her phone to her ear.

"Who's your team?" She covered the phone and looked at Jason. "Raiders." she said. Jason shook his head. "We're from California, dip shit."

"I'm sorry. I like teams that are good." Krys rolled her eyes, then looked at the rest of them.

"Do you mind if he comes over?" she asked. They all shrugged, while Ares put his head on Krys' lap back with a sullen look on his face. "No- you can come over. Natasha? Yeah, of course." Then she hung up.

"Who's Natasha?" Jason asked.

"You know how Ares has a Krys. This is Josephs' Krys." Hermione said. They all looked at Krys.

"He has another one? Stupid guy." Jason said. Krys rolled her eyes as she unconsciously stroked Ares' ear.

"She's his friend from New York." Krys said.

"And you're not jealous." Ginny said.

"Why should I be jealous?" Krys said.

"She's a smart, tall, leggy model." Hermione said. "Runway, and- I swear I've seen her in Vogue." They all looked at Krys.

"What?" she asked.

"Your slut of a boyfriend, with his model ex-girlfriend. And you're not the least bit jealous." A.J said.

"The two had an entire conversation in Latin." Hermione said. They all looked at Krys again.

"She can speak Latin. You're not the least bit jealous, or threatened?" Ginny said. Krys nodded.

"I'm not threatened or jealous at all." she said.

"Better woman than me." Ginny said.

"I'm gonna go get dressed." Krys said, tapping Ares' ear so that she could get up. Ares groaned, and got up with her. "Where're you going?" Ares grinned.

"To help you get dressed." he said. Krys rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him. They all looked at each other.

"He's taking this better than I thought." Jason said. "I mean, she's gonna go get dressed up for some other guy, I'd have been going crazy."

"She's not going to get dressed up for _Josephs_." Hermione said. They all looked at her. "Its something that you'll notice. Whenever a woman that's interested in Ares comes along also, she gets dressed up. When we went to the club, she got dressed up because Gem was coming. Now, she's getting dressed up because Natasha asked her about Ares. And she… told Natasha that Ares was gay." They all broke out into laughter.

"You're serious?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yup." she said. They all looked at each other.

"Its gonna be interesting tonight." Ron said.

"Yeah… she gave us a lot of interesting facts about Krys. Facts that I didn't know." Hermione said. They all looked at her. "Did you know that Krys made richest teen in the world? Then richest woman." They all looked at her.

"Really?" Jason asked. "Oh well." They all looked at the television, then looked at each other. "That would mean she had to be richer than O. I thought that was impossible." This made them all laugh.

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When Natasha and Josephs got to the house, it was quiet and awkward. They all sat around the movie room looking at each other.

"Okay- guys. You're all boring. So, I've decided to go to sleep." Krys said. They all looked at her, as she skipped over to the DVDs. She inserted one, then sat back down. They were all still looking at her. "What?"

"You said you were leaving." Hermione said.

"Well- I wanted to watch something." Krys said.

"What is this?" they all asked.

"People, just watch." Krys said. They all glared at her, then looked ahead. When the movie finally came on, they all laughed. Krys put 'Over the Hedge' in. They all sat around and watched the movie together. Krys got up and went to the kitchen. She knew that she was being followed by Josephs and Natasha. When Krys turned around and they were right behind her, she raised a pan threateningly. "What?"

"Krys, what's goodie?" Natasha asked. Krys looked at her. "You told me that Ares was gay, but Eric says that he isn't. What's going on?"

"Oh- I thought you were talking about Ares the God of War. Even though he was fucking with Aphrodite, I always thought he was gay like the rest of the Gods. My Ares, no." Krys said. Natasha gave her the look that meant she didn't believe her.

"For real."

"I don't want you with him. It has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with you as a person, because basically I don't know you from jump. But I remember the last time that I hooked someone up with Ares. Actually, I remember someone _begging_ me to hook them up with Ares. And when the time came, she ended up fucking with his boss." Krys said. Josephs winced.

"That's not me. And is it really your decision?" Natasha asked her calmly.

"Its not my decision, just like it isn't my job to be hooking him up with people." Krys said. "It really doesn't have anything to do with you. And I wasn't sure he'd appreciate me meddling in his personal life, which I regretfully did anyway, when I said he was gay. And again, I have to bring up what happened the last time I stuck my nose in his love life."

"You're gonna keep throwing that in my face, aren't you?" Eric asked.

"She should, E. You were a jackass." Natasha said. She looked at Krys. "I understand. I'll ask him myself. Just- can I have some cover?"

"You need an excuse to be alone." Krys said.

"It only takes three minutes." Natasha boasted, before she winked and sauntered off back to the movie room. Josephs looked at Krys.

"Tasha knows some Chinese. She can write it." he said. Krys nodded. "Is there something that you aren't telling me?"

"Oh- yeah." Krys said. She looked at Eric. "I've been meaning to tell you this. I just didn't want to do it in front of everyone. That time that we talked about our past relationships… and I didn't tell you anything. And- about my first time. My first love was Ares." Josephs nodded. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Tasha reads Chinese, and we saw the tattoo." Josephs said. Krys squinted. "Ares' tattoo." Krys chuckled. "Then I thought about that time." Josephs lifted Krys' shirt a bit, and lowered her pants, exposing Ares' shield. "And I remembered _your_ tattoo." Krys nodded. "Do you have anything to say? Any way of explaining?" Krys looked at him.

"Excuse me? _Explain_?"

"You have his name on your body." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. "That's the truth. Explain what? You've explained it enough for the both of us."

"Krys… _his name_."

"Yes." Krys said. "His name. And symbol. And you know that glow in the dark pyramid that I have on my side, under Christ on the cross? That's for Jason. And the little antlers right below my neck along my spine? The antlers that have glowing green eyes under them? Those are for Harry. The paw prints? My father. The Lily? My godmother. The names in the paw prints? My godfathers. The golden apple on my other hip? My mother. The tattoo that says RIP II? My adoptive father. The Greek letters and symbols around the Lily? They say Pumpkin, Brownie, Mahogany, My Angel, and Honey. That's for Ginny, A.J, Thai, Angel, and Hermione. The little glow in the light Jaguar symbol inside the heart? That's for Jamie. And- oh, that little broom that I have on my side? That's for Ron. And the reciprocated marks on them? Hermione has the name 'Cookie' along her Dragonfly wings. Harry is my animagus buddy, we bear some same mark, and oh- he's my brother. Jason is my blood brother. A.J is deathly afraid of needles, so I wouldn't put her through that torture. But once when we were younger, and I was in the hospital wing for a stupid Quidditch injury, and my father was working too much, so it didn't make much sense for me to go home, she stayed with me. She's what, the first real girl friend that I ever had. And aside from small stupid things that we've been able to brush over, the girl's like my sister. Ronald and Ginny are my cousins. And Ares has my name along the veins. Any more questions? Do I need to explain myself anymore?" Krys' voice was drenched in sarcasm.

"Wow. How many tattoos do you have?" Josephs asked. Krys looked at him.

"Whatever." she said, before she started to walk away. She didn't get far, because he caught her around the waist.

"Krys, come on. I'm sorry. Its simply that-… _thing_." Josephs said. Krys looked at him.

"What… _thing_?" she mocked.

"I'm…" he mumbled. She looked at him closely.

"What?" she asked. "What?"

"I'm jealous."

"Of what? My supreme loyalty to frien- family?"

"When do you think my name will make the cut?" Krys gave a small chuckle.

"It probably won't." she said. Josephs glared at her playfully. "Hey- you wanted the truth."

"You're mean." Josephs said. Krys shook her head.

"You'll make the cut, when I make the cut. Once more- I was given a mark for a mark. When you get my mark, I'll get yours." she said. "But don't get my mark, because that'll creep me out." Eric laughed.

"So… tomorrow is the auction, and I'm up." he said. Krys nodded. "Can I expect my girlfriend to buy me?" Krys looked at him.

"I don't believe in wasting money. I can have you for free." she said.

"Its for the children."

"I mean… if I buy you, what do I get? I mean, I don't want you. I have to get something good."

"You get to be the envy of every other woman." Krys feigned thoughtful.

"I've been the envy of women for a long time." she teased in mock narcissism. "No, seriously. What do I get?"

"I'll buy you dinner." Josephs said.

"Hmmm. Dinner and…"

"A movie."

"Dinner, a movie and…"

"You get to bring me back here and use me shamelessly." Krys laughed.

"That'll work." she said, before she dragged him back to the movie room. In the movie room, Natasha had them all laughing. Krys sat down. "What's going on?"

"Oh- Natasha was just telling us a story about how her father reacted when she told him about being a model." Hermione said. Krys nodded and sat down. All of them were staring at Natasha like her story was the most interesting in the world. Krys heard some words, but mostly everything went straight through her. Again, until someone said her name.

"Huh?" Krys asked. They were all looking at her.

"Hermione wanted you to tell the story about your first tattoo." Harry said. Hermione was smirking, but Krys was glaring at her.

"Shit." Krys said. "Okay- so, my first tattoo was when I was fifteen."

"Fifteen?" Natasha said. "My mother wouldn't let me get my ears pierced until I was sixteen."

"Actually, I was about to turn fifteen. When I was fourteen, I tried to get my tongue pierced. I kinda just wanted it, to seem creepy. My father wasn't having that. He said no unnatural piercings. So- I got almost everything else." They all laughed. "Yeah, so I went to this place. I was so scared to get tattooed there, 'cause I had no fake id, and I was about 4'11, when I was fourteen. Then, when I was sixteen, I had that growth spurt." They all looked at her. "Those two inches did a lot for me, okay?" They all started to laugh. "But, anyway, I get there… and there are a bunch of people. And its clean, and you see a wall of success. I have like eight tattoos on that wall now. But- you get to the wall of success, and there's this artist, she's about nineteen. So- I'm looking around and they're all guys, except for her. And everyone seems either smart and prudish, or extremely out of it. Now, I said to myself 'WaterLily-', that's what I call myself, by the way. I said 'WaterLily, if you go to a prudish tattoo artist, you're not getting one. And if you go to a high tattoo artist, you'll probably look extremely fucked up. What should you do, WaterLily?'" They were all laughing. "Anyway, we all know what I did. I went to Taylor, who was the only girl. She seemed dazed and fucked up. But, she wasn't. Actually, she kinda was, but she's an artist. So, I go to her, and I tell her that I want my tattoo. She's just staring at me, and she laughs and says that I should come back when I have a fake id. So, I look around the shop and I ask for a piece of paper and a pen. She complies. And I pull out my wallet. In my wallet, I have this picture of me and my dad. So, I put the picture in the middle of the paper, and write 'I am eighteen' over the picture. She thought it was funny, I thought it was funny. So we go back to her booth, and she takes out her needle _and_ a beer." Krys stopped for dramatic tension, and shook her head. "So, as soon as I see this, I have to look at her. I was about to cry. She's like 'Don't worry, I've done this a million times.' She's slurring her words and shit, and I'm scared as hell, that she's gonna pass out and write some crazy shit on me. But because I wanted my tattoo… you know, and I wouldn't have been able to get it done. It was now or never. Well, as soon as I saw the buzzing needle, I ran out of the chair."

"Were you _that_ afraid of needles?" Natasha asked.

"No- I'm used to needles. But- she seemed drunk, with a shaking hand. I was fucking scared." They all laughed. "And she started to laugh at me. A few minutes later, she's still laughing. She turned her beer around and it was a soda. I was scared as hell. Then she gave me this goddamn speech, and we started talking. Then she asked how old I really was, and why I wanted a tattoo. If I thought I could handle it, and why. She finally gave it to me, when I bribed her. That was a terrible day. I was scared as hell. But- she's been my tattoo artist since. My tattoo came out hot though. That's a horrible story."

"That's because you didn't tell it right." Hermione said.

"Don't make me tell the story of you and your first tattoo-"

"No." They all looked at Hermione.

"What happened when you got your first tattoo?" A.J asked. Hermione glared at Krys.

"Alright, so we were nineteen. And we all went to get them together. It was me, Hermione, Nic and Gem. Oh- Eric, you probably saw this one." Krys said. Josephs playfully glared at her. "Ares, you too." Ares stuck his tongue out. "Anyway, so we went to get the tattoos. Same place. Taylor still works there. Well- Gem decides that she wants the tattoo above her ass. She asked which one should be best. I said she should get the words 'friendly port'. She took it to offence. Why, I don't know." They all chuckled. "Well- Hermione is nervous. She's shaking the whole time, and I'm trying to help her through it. So- we're picking out tattoos. Now, _I_ said that its best to choose something simple the first time, and I asked where she wanted it. She didn't know, so we just browsed tattoos. And we found them. So, she got the tailbone, the hipbone, and the shoulder blade. Tailbone was the easiest, cause, it was all lines. Hermione had me in there, begging me to hold her hand. I'm like, yeah whatever. So- I do it. She wants to get them all over with. I'm like, '_Hermione, that's not a good idea._' She doesn't care. So, whatever. Tailbone, back. Hipbone, front. How do they do those two? I should know. I have them both- all. To get the tailbone, you lie on your stomach. Hipbone, you lie on your back. Shoulder blade, you straddle a bench. By the hipbone, Hermione is crying and so am I, because my hand is fucked up. She is squeezing my hand, and I'm about to pass out, because like three fingers are probably broken." They all started to laugh. "What do I finally decide to do, I put on the pain stride charm. It's the charm that turns pain into pleasure. Hermione, starts to laugh and laugh… and laugh." They all started to laugh. "So- Taylor is staring at her, and I'm embarrassed as hell, because she's doing these drunken giggles. So- I leave the room, and I get my tattoo. And when I'm done, Gem and Nic are done too, but Hermione isn't. I go into Taylor's booth, and Hermione's getting _another_ tattoo." They all broke out into laughter. "And she's giggling and happy, and she is just creepy as hell. So when I tell Taylor that maybe Hermione is drunk, she decides to stop. Then we had to remove the tattoo, because Hermione's crazy ass decided to do a tribute to Mt Rushmore on her stomach." They were all dying with laughter.

"Well- how did you do the pain stride charm? You didn't go to a magical tattoo parlor." Natasha said. They all looked at Krys. Her friends looked at her knowingly, while Josephs and Natasha looked at her questioningly. Krys picked up her wand. Then she looked at Harry.

"You have your wrist band wand holster?" she asked him. Harry whipped it out of his pocket and handed it to her. Krys fit it on her wrist and set up her wand, before hiding it with her long sleeves. She looked at all of them, and put her legs in front of her. Then she put her hand up. "See- you can't see my wand." She touched her wand to her leg, then took her bobby pin from her hair. They all looked at her. She unfolded the bobby pin, then almost jammed it into her leg, before Ares' hand stopped her.

"We don't want to know that much." he said.

"Okay- whatever. You guys asked." Krys said, before she fixed her bobby pin and put it back in her hair.

"I have Krys stories." Hermione said.

"Ooh- what kind?" Krys asked.

"The good ones." Hermione said, with a glint in her eye.

"No, Hermione." Krys said, laughing.

"Okay- so… It's the summer of first year. And all the girls get together, because we haven't really seen each other in a while. So, its me, Krys, Thai, Gin and A.J. We decide to go to Vermont. So- it's the middle of the night, and we're trying to get to a hotel, so Krys is speeding. We all know how Krys usually dresses. We all know her regular outfit choice. Big ass pants and a big ass shirt, probably with a hat. She has road rage, and she was just sticking her head out the window and telling people to shove things- she was terrible. So- we get pulled over, and all of a sudden, her clothes change. Her whole _attitude_ changes, and this- probably fifty year old traffic cop comes to the window. Oh my God. I have never seen someone flirt like that. She has this little man wrapped around her finger, and he's blushing, and he is giggling… it was so sad. So- she's eating a lollipop-" They all started laughing. "And this little old man is probably in love with her by now, because she's just messing with his head so badly. So- she's licking this lollipop, and she looks at him and smiles, before she licks her lips and the lollipop again. And she's whispering sweet nothings to this old man. Now- I've never seen Krys act like this, so I'm staring at her in shock and awe. She licks the lollipop again, and she holds it out to him. The little old man actually started to lick the lollipop, like a cat. Now… when he finally lets her off, she smiles and blows him a kiss. And she didn't say anything after that. Her clothes changed again, and she didn't mention it again. But- I was freaked out. That's when I realized that this girl has never had a speeding ticket." Hermione said. They all started laughing and looked at Krys.

"I'm not proud of what I did." she said dramatically. "But my record is spotless."

"Are you proud of the second time it happened that week?" Hermione asked. Krys' eyes widened.

"Shut up, Hermione." she said.

"What happened?" the rest of them asked. A.J, Gin and Hermione started to laugh.

"She's talking about the time that Krys flirted with the woman cop." Harry said. They all started to laugh.

"Excuse me. You're all just mad that when you tried to pull it off, it didn't work." Krys said, before she huffed playfully.

"No, in all seriousness. We have some pretty good stories about you, Krys." Hermione said.

"No. I have good stories about all of you." Krys said threateningly.

"Krys, I have better stories about you." Hermione challenged. "Like what you did to the other cop on the way back." Krys shook her head.

"Do not." she said, with a glint in her eye. Hermione smiled.

"Okay- I won't." she said.

"Thank you." Krys said. "Any-who, can we watch the movie?" They all looked at the screen in time to see the Hammy the squirrel going crazy over a cookie.

When the movie was done, Krys watched Natasha ask Ares to show her the bathroom, and felt a big pang of jealousy and rage swell inside her. Josephs looked at her.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked. Krys shook her head and he kissed her.

"Hey, Ronald. What time do you work tomorrow?" she asked.

"I don't." Ron said.

"Ooh- what about the rest of you?" Krys asked. They all looked around.

"It depends." Harry said.

"I'm supposed to do the charity auction." Jason said.

"Why don't we all go to the auction together. It'll be fun." Krys said.

"Night?" Harry asked. Krys nodded. "I'll take the day shift."

"Yea." Krys said.

"Sure." Ron said. "We get to see legalized prostitution." Krys laughed.

"Stop it. Note this now. Having a sugar mama is legal prostitution, if you think about it. Being good in bed to get someone to fall in love with you, is prostitution. So- in some ways, we're all whores. It all depends on how you look at it." she said. They all looked at her. "What?"

"You're not a normal person." Ron said.

"And you're not like any other woman I've ever met." Ron glared at her, and Krys put her hands up.

"You're not nice."

"Neither are you, Sunshine." Ron smiled and looked at Hermione. The two shared a sweet secret smile. "So- are we having our annual sleepover?"

"Is today the day?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Especially since I didn't get any damn birthday gifts from you bitches." Krys said.

"Oh- yeah. Its at the house." Jason said.

"Us too." Ron said.

"Well, you're still spending the night." Krys said.

"You can't keep us here against our will." Jason said. Krys laughed.

"You don't know me at all, do you?" she asked. Jason scowled at her. "Fine, if you wish to leave, then leave. But I get Apolla." A.J looked at her. "You go nowhere."

"Okay." A.J said, as she curled up with Jason. Krys made small kissing noises and they all looked at her.

"When are you two gonna get married?" she asked them.

"When Jason proposes." A.J said softly. They could all tell that she was falling asleep. Jason leaned into her ear and whispered something. A.J chuckled softly and nodded. Jason leaned into her ear again, and she nodded. "Of course." Krys looked at Harry and Ginny. Harry was already glaring at her and shaking his head.

"Okay." Krys said, before she turned to Hermione and Ron. "What did I get you for an engagement present?"

"Not a damn thing." Ron said.

"Well- same with my birthday gift, _biotch_." They all started to laugh.

"Hy-way id-day ou-yay ay-say hat-tay?" Ron said. They all looked at him.

"Ecause-bay I an-cay, itch-bay." Krys responded. "I have no idea whether we're actually speaking pig Latin or not." That's when Ares and Natasha came back. They all looked in different directions, and acted like they weren't noticing the awkward air. "Yo, lets watch Friday." Krys said, before she got up and ran to the DVD player. "Nah- we can watch that later. Lets watch the Count of Monte Cristo."

"What's that?" Josephs asked. They all looked at him.

"Padfoot's favorite movie and book in the world." Harry said.

"Favorite book in the world." Krys corrected. "I love it as a movie, but I also love Who Framed Roger Rabbit." Krys put the movie in, then sat down in her chair. They all stared as Krys fast forwarded through the trailers. When the movie came on, she gave it her undivided attention. And she saw Hermione mouthing the parts with her. When the movie ended, she was shaking her head. "That's how you get revenge. If I'm ever gonna screw any of you over, _that's_ how I'd do it." They all looked at her.

"I can see you doing that." Jason said.

"She would not." Hermione said. Then she looked thoughtful. "Yeah, she probably would. It depends on what you do to her."

"I would never." Krys said. "Not to any of you guys. Probably to Ailen or Array- Lavender, that Romilda girl. Gem. Or that blonde Ravenclaw chick."

"Her name is Melanie." Hermione said. Krys looked at her, Ron, then raised her eyebrows.

"Whoa." Krys said. "_Gomen nasai_." Hermione shook her head.

"I'm good." she said.

"So- you never did tell me what your wedding dress looks like." Krys said.

"Okay- you know how your maid of honor dress looks?" Ginny said. Krys nodded. "The exact opposite of that." Krys glared at her.

"Hermione, what made you choose the maid of honor dress?" she asked.

"The maid of honor dress was originally for you. I knew it'd look good on you." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"Thank you." she said. "I have a gift for you, anyway. But- I left it at the house." They all looked at her as if to say 'which one?' "The one where the wedding will be. I had it sent there." Hermione nodded and yawned, making Krys yawn, resulting in her being stared at, making them all laugh. "Okay- I'm gonna go get the sleeping bags."

"I'll help." each guy said, as they stood up. Krys looked at all of them.

"Okay." she said, as she started to walk in the direction of the sleeping bag closet. They all followed her. When she opened the closet, they all started to laugh. "Its not funny." Every sleeping bag in the closet was a cartoon. There was Superman, Spiderman, Batman, the Hulk, X-Men, Barbie, the Fairly OddParents, Jimmy Neutron, Rocko, Sonic, Justice League, Pokemon, Mario, Dora, Nemo, Dragonball Z, and Blue's Clues. "I get the Fairly OddParents." Krys picked up her sleeping bag, and each guy picked up two for each of them. Josephs took Krys' sleeping bag, and they all walked back to the movie room. When each person got their sleeping bag they each set them up next to their spouse. What a surprise that Krys ended up between Josephs and Ares.

In the middle of the night, when Ron and Hermione thought everyone was asleep, they got up and tried to escaped. Only to be caught by Krys, and given the 'I'm ashamed of you' head shake.

"You guys want to leave that badly?" Krys asked, with a sad voice. Ron and Hermione looked at her and nodded, after realizing that she wasn't really sad. "Whatever, I don't want you here, anyway." The two breathed a sight of relief and disapparated.

"If they get to leave, we get to leave, too." A.J whispered. Krys growled. "But first, I need to talk to you." Krys nodded and walked with A.J to the next room.

"What happened?" Krys asked.

"Jason proposed." A.J said. Krys smiled.

"Jesus. I knew it." she said, before the two hugged.

"Um- I don't want you to hate-"

"Ginny is gonna be your maid of honor." Krys said.

"You don't hate me?"

"Of course not. It just makes my choice a whole lot easier. Like- I felt like I'd be stuck. I mean- I love you. You're one of my best friends. You're like the little sister that I never wanted." Krys teased. A.J rolled her eyes. "But- that's what it is. I love you. I'll always look out for you. But I don't want to be around your little fast ass all the time." She and A.J looked at each other and laughed.

"I hate you."

"No you don't. Listen, you know what kept us so close for so long. You and I were friends before anything happened between me and Ares. That's the real reason that we didn't break up a long time ago, me and you."

"What are you saying? You continued to chill with me so Ares wouldn't think-"

"Never that." Krys said, putting one finger up. "It meant, my relationship with you is not even remotely connected to my relationship with Ares. I met you separately from Ares. He and Jason ran off and left you, and your mom saw me- I thought she didn't know who I was, but she did-, and asked me if I could take you to your cart. When you and I sat down in our own cart and found Ares and Jason later, I tried to introduce you to Ares, until I realized that you were related. All I meant was I liked you before I knew you were his sister, so I could never stop being friends with you, if anything screwed up with me and Ares. Our relationship is completely different. Its completely separate."

"Where is this coming from?" A.J asked. Krys shrugged.

"Damned if I know." she said. The two looked at each other again, and started to laugh. "Go home. Do it with your fiancé."

"I intend to." A.J said, with a wink.

"Small question. Something that I always wanted to know."

"Yes. He's very, very, very good at what he does. And… well equipped." Krys' face took a look of pure disgust.

"Dude! That's not what I wanted to know." she said.

"Oh. Then what was it?" A.J asked. She was not fazed at all.

"I wanted to know if you were completely happy." Krys said. A.J looked at her.

"He makes me as happy as my brother makes you." she said. "Think about that."

"Another question." Krys said.

"What happened?"

"What are you going to do about the auction tomorrow?" A.J looked at her. "Not such a smartass anymore, are you?"

"I hate you."

"Don't worry. Harry isn't in the auction." A.J looked at her. "You used to be so smart. Ginny can buy him for you."

"Couldn't I just buy him myself?"

"No." Krys said. A.J looked at her.

"Why not?" she asked.

"**Because you need to buy Ares.**" Krys said in Spanish. A.J laughed.

"Why don't you?"

"Because. Anyway, you should go home and do it with you fiancé. And speaking of you and Jason's sex life, how many times have you… you know, in a row?"

"Five." A.J said, with a small thoughtful giggle. She was I her own little world.

"Ha. I beat you." Krys said. "Ten. In a row."

"Ill. Bye." A.J said, as the two started to walk back to the room. Jason was waiting outside the kitchen. Krys looked at him and shuddered, before she looked at him again. Jason looked at A.J, then at Krys. He hugged Krys and A.J in this gigantic bear hug, then kissed A.J.

"She told you, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah, she told me that she doesn't love me anymore and that she wants Gin to be her maid of honor." Krys said. "I've been trying to get rid of her so that I can cry alone, but she won't let me. So what type of wedding?"

"Chapel. Gin is just gonna be my main witness. I don't want a big wedding- I want Elvis to marry us so that I don't have to invite the family." A.J said.

"Oh- cool. Now I don't feel so bad." Krys said, before she hugged A.J, then left. When she got back to movie room, Harry and Ginny were gone, and only Ares, Josephs, and Natasha were there. Krys visually cringed, then sat on the couch, watching the others lie there.

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"I can't believe we finally got out of there." Ron said, as he stroked Hermione's hair. She looked up at him.

"I miss cursing you out." she said. Ron laughed, and kissed her cheek.

"Is that so?" he asked. Hermione nodded.

"What am I supposed to do with loving you every second of the day? I can't live like this. We need to argue more." she said. Ron laughed, and poked her in the stomach gently. "That's not gonna make me hate you temporarily. We need something more. Get overly jealous, so that I can curse you out and we can have great make-up sex." Ron laughed.

"You're an insufferable know it all." Ron said. Hermione smiled.

"Thank you for trying." she said. "Its just not working." Ron laughed, and stared her in the eyes.

"If we started to fight like cats and dogs, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Simply because I don't like seeing you when you're anything but happy. And when you're pissed, you're not happy." he said.

"Oh wow." Hermione said. "This beats arguing. You tell me how great I am, and I'll agree." Ron chuckled and started to massage her shoulders. "You have countless moves, don't you? You just know how to touch me, knowing that I'll become submissive."

"Does that bother you?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at him and laughed.

"Am I complaining?" she asked.

"I can never actually tell."

"If you're opting for the makeup sex, you're headed in the right direction. Then again, I'm not so sure that I'll stop arguing." Hermione said. Ron chuckled slightly and continued to rub her shoulders. "That's better." Ron chortled, then bit her, making her squeal.

"Yeah. Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" he asked.

"Ouch. But- you must admit that my conversation is wonderful." Hermione said. "So screw you."

"Piss off." Ron said. Hermione glared at him.

"You prat."

"Motor mouth."

"Eunuch." Ron looked at a loss for words, before he leaned down and kissed her. When he pulled back, they both smiled. "We're gonna have to get better at the arguments. But that was good though. We worked our way up, from nothing. That was very good for a first try." Hermione said. Ron pecked her on the cheek.

"You know, Mrs. Weasley, you are not a motor mouth." he said.

"And, Mr. Weasley, you're not a prat." Hermione responded.

"And I don't want you to piss off." Ron said. Hermione smiled.

"Your male parts are fully functional. And you're very powerful and sexy." she said. Ron laughed and kissed her cheek again. Hermione yawned slightly.

"Are you sleepy?" Ron asked her. Hermione nodded slightly, causing Ron to lift her and carry her to their bed. When Ron laid her down, Hermione pulled him down with her. "You're sleepy."

"I want to cuddle." Hermione whined. Ron looked at her, then allowed her to bury her head in his chest, as he held her.

"I cannot wait to marry you." Ron said, kissing her hair.

"You won't have to wait long." Hermione's muffled voice sounded.

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Later the next night, the group was seated at the auction. They'd already gone through watching some poor women go for less than a galleon. Jason went up to a whopping 450 galleons, before A.J bought him for 490. When it was time for Josephs to go up, he was being his usual cocky self, and stripping. Krys laughed, and watched as women bid and bid, and bid for him. By the time his shirt was open, he was at 300 galleons. By the time his shirt hit the crowd, he was going for 529 galleons. When the second call for a 529 galleon bid went, Krys bid 543 galleons and bought Josephs. He winked at her and blew her a kiss. A few men went by, and they all stared at Krys when Ares walked out. He was his usual shy self. The dressed him casually, but he looked adorable. Just the shy look on his face, and the shy demeanor in his posture alone made him look so sweet. He wore a green long sleeved shirt under his black short sleeve shirt. His jeans were baggy and black, and he walked out casually and shy. He wore an uneasy smile at first, when no one was bidding. Then suddenly, the bidding started at 100 galleons. His eyebrows went up and a small smile graced his handsome and universal features. It was as if he was saying 'they like me. They really like me.' His hands were in his pockets and the bids were being shouted out by the second. The remaining bidder was always Natasha. Krys glared at Hermione, and mouthed 'buy him'. Hermione laughed and mouthed 'buy him yourself'. Krys growled, and noticed that the whole group was looking at her. To prove them wrong, she lied back and breathed slowly. Then she looked at Hermione and moved in closer to her. "Look- I'll give you two Balenciaga bags, and the Gucci shoes, if you buy him." she said. "And the money to buy him."

"I don't have a bidding paddle." Hermione said. "It'd be under your bid."

"Hermione, I'm smarter than that." Krys said, as she handed Hermione a bidding paddle that she pulled from under her seat. Hermione looked at her weirdly, then took the paddle.

"_Okay_." Hermione said. Ares was already going for 543 galleons, 8 sickles, and 4 knuts. Women were digging through their last change to buy him. Two seconds and Ares was now going for 594 galleons and 9 sickles. Krys looked at Hermione and shook her head. Ares was now miraculously going for 634 galleons. Natasha was looking through her purse, in the front rows, while Krys wore a sullen look on her face, in the back.

"Hermione, forget it." Krys said. "She should get him."

"Two thousand galleons!" someone yelled from the back. Krys looked up and her eyes widened. Array Vane. Krys looked at Hermione and put up three fingers. Hermione laughed and bid three thousand galleons. "Four thousand!" Array yelled. Krys shook her head and put of five fingers. Hermione laughed and bid. "Six thousand!" Krys put up eight fingers. Hermione bid eight, holding back laughter. "Ten thousand!" Krys put up two fingers and the zeros. Then she put up one hand and touched her necklace, one finger, and touched her thigh. Hermione laughed and bid for twenty thousand galleons, five silver sickles and one knut. "Twenty nine thousand galleons, twelve silver sickles and three knuts." Krys laughed and gave Hermione three fingers and a zero. Then she shook her finger, and gave Hermione three fingers, then one on the other hand. Hermione laughed and bid thirty one thousand galleons. Array looked around, then stomped on the floor, having a temper tantrum. When Ares got off stage, the whole group was looking at Krys.

"What? I hate her. Array is a big bitch. He doesn't need to be wasting his time with her." Krys said.

"Krys… who does he need to be wasting his time with? Because, I have plans tonight." Hermione said.

"That's the beauty of it. He's a gift. He's our gift to… Jesus, what are we gonna do?" Krys asked. They all started to laugh. "Its not funny."

"Padfoot, it really is." Harry said. "Why don't you just give him to Natasha?"

"Because." Krys said.

"Because, what?" Ron asked. Krys glared at him.

"Not only is this woman smart and funny. She's insanely beautiful and cultured. And she's _nice_. Do you think _that's_ who I want him hanging out with?" she asked.

"So you are jealous of Natasha. Just not with her and Josephs." Harry said. Krys looked at him.

"What in the world would give you _that_ idea?" she asked. "Maybe I'm just into collecting sexy guys. Did you ever think of that?"

"Actually, no. No, I never thought of that."

"See- well, that's your problem. That's your problem, right there. You don't think. You don't use that gigantic brain. You have so much potential." Krys said.

"Snape would've hated you." Harry said.

"You know that Severus means grumpy in Latin, right?"

"I would've never guessed."

"Krys, why don't you just keep both of them tonight? Go on both of your dates. Do you know how many girls are out there starving?" Ginny asked. Krys laughed.

"'Cause that'd be wrong. Who wants Ares?" she asked, looking around in the group. "Gin, do you want him?" They were all looking at her.

"Krys… just admit it." Hermione said. Krys huffed and sat back.

"Fine. I…" she started. They were all waiting for her to say it.

"Just say it." Harry said smugly.

"Natasha can have him." Krys said, rolling her eyes.

When the auction was over, and the dates were handed out, Hermione walked Krys up to Natasha to hand her Ares' card.

"You bought him?" Natasha asked Hermione.

"Had to." Krys said. "Couldn't let him deal with the school pony, Array Vane. He's the one that has yet to mount her. And she hates that."

"Oh- thank you." Natasha said, as Krys handed her Ares' card. Krys shook her head.

"Its nothing." she said, before she got tackled by Josephs.

"You ready for our date?" he asked. Krys laughed and nodded.

"Sure." she said. "Are you ready to do what I bought you to do?" Josephs nodded, with his eyebrow raised.

"Whatever." he said.

"Good, because I need my toilets c-"

"Except that." Krys rolled her eyes.

"Where're you taking me for dinner?" she asked.

"Wherever you want to go."

"Ooh- Taco Bell." Krys said. "Lets go."

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"Can you believe she spent _thirty one thousand galleons,_ on the man who would gnaw his right arm off to smell her hair?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed.

"Come on, Ron. He's not obsessed with her. He just loves her." she said.

"Yeah, but she loves him too… so- somebody's gotta get smart about it." Ron said. Hermione nodded. "Question."

"Okay."

"Why is it that every time we get alone, we talk about Krys and her problems?" Hermione laughed.

"'Cause we don't have any of our own." she said. Ron laughed.

"We can have problems." he said.

"Yeah, but Krys' will always be more interesting. Even when we were sneaking around, her life was more complicated than ours. Okay- picture it. Newly de-flowered Hermione, is sneaking around with her best friend, who she's in love with. Krys is watching her ex-boyfriend, who would've been the father of her unborn baby, prepare for his wedding. He's gonna marry the child of her father's ex-girlfriend. And he doesn't know that she was pregnant with his child, which is why she broke up with him in the first place. She's never gonna get her shit together." Hermione said. "We have _our_ shit together."

"You're weird." Ron said. Hermione shrugged. "Lets go spy on their dates." Hermione nodded.

"Okay, where did they go?" she asked. Ron laughed.

"Hermione, I was joking." he said.

"Don't joke like that, Ronald." Ron looked at her and laughed.

"Just a few more weeks and you're all mine." he said.

"I'm already all yours." Hermione said, before she kissed him. Ron laughed into the kiss and pulled back.

"My Hermione? I like the sound of that." he said. "Yet, my Hermione, who _always_ said she would never be submissive to any bloke."

"Well… you're not _just any bloke_. You are _the_ bloke." Hermione said. "But, if you don't want me-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… I never said _that_." Ron said, hugging her stomach. Hermione laughed, as he bit her stomach through her shirt.

"Stop. Stop." she said. "I can't handle all this attention." Ron shook his head, and continued to gently bite her through her clothes. "I can't handle the love."

"Well- that's your problem." Ron said, into her stomach. Then he started to tickle her.

"Ronald, stop it!" Hermione squealed through her giggle fits. Ron continued to tickle her.

"Never." he said as if he were an evil villain. Hermione laughed and flicked him on the arm.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, if you do not get off of me, I will never forgive you." she said, in what she thought was a serious tone. Ron furrowed his eyebrows and pouted, looking like a wounded puppy. "That doesn't work on me. I'm a bona-fide hard-ass." Ron laughed, and got off of Hermione, helping her up. She looked at him, then pushed him back on the couch, before she ran for cover in the kitchen. Ron raised his eyebrow, as Hermione held the dish hose up threateningly. "Do not come any closer."

"And if I do?" Ron asked, as he started to advance on her. "What'll happen?" Hermione put her finger on the handle and pressed it lightly, getting Ron's hair wet. His eyes widened.

"That's what'll happen." Hermione said. "And this." She pulled the handle again, wetting Ron's hair some more. He moved closer, as Hermione continued to wet him, and grabbed her by the waist. He puckered his lips and pecked her twice. When he pulled back, he shook his head and wet Hermione up. A look of initial shook took over her face. "You just wet me with your recycled hair water?" Ron smirked and nodded, before her picked up some chocolate syrup. Hermione's eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare." Ron smiled, then laughed.

"Oy, Hermione, that shows how well you know me." he said, before he put some on his finger, smeared it on her lips, then smudged some on her cheek. He smiled, and licked her cheek. Then he kissed her hungrily, cleaning all of the chocolate off of her lips. When he pulled back, Hermione stood dazed and out of it.

"Wow." she said. Ron smirked, then picked her up steadily by her waist with one arm, then picked up the chocolate syrup with his other hand, before taking her to the living room and setting her on their spotless floor. He straddled her waist, then put some more chocolate on his finger, and drew a small pattern trailing it from her neck to the beginning of her shirt.

"You know, it'd be easier if we took this off." he whispered, kissing her. Hermione nodded, and Ron unbuttoned the shirt slowly. When he got it off, he drew another pattern with his finger. He leaned in and cleaned off the trail with his tongue. Hermione gave a shallow chuckle.

"That tickles." she whispered. Ron nipped at her stomach, then kissed the spot he bit, simultaneously unbuttoning and unzipping her pants. He repeated the actions of biting and kissing the underside of her bellybutton, while he pulled her pants off. Hermione giggled unwillingly, before Ron kissed her lips in an attempt to silence her. Hermione gave a loud pleasurable moan. A moan that encouraged Ron to slide her shirt off her shoulders. When he pulled back, Hermione looked around. "Ron, we're in the living room." Ron nodded.

"Yes, we are, Hermione." he said.

"Oh- I just wanted to know if you knew." Hermione said, before she pulled him back down into another kiss. Ron laughed, and smiled into the kiss, as Hermione ran her hands over his '_Rippling Quidditch/Auror Muscles_'. She slid her hand under his shirt, then removed it, once she broke the kiss. Ron smiled, and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Mrs. Weasley, I can't believe that we're getting married."

"Well believe it, Mr. Weasley. Just a couple of weeks." Hermione said, before she kissed him again. Ron laughed and bit her lip gently, before he pulled back.

"Hold on… I don't want to sound weird, but aren't you the one that said it'd be more special if we waited until we got married?" he asked. Hermione looked at him and shook her head.

"No, no. Forget what I said. That's not important, baby. Not important." she said.

"No, you said you wanted that, because it'd be more special." Ron said.

"No- no, no, no. See- that was in the heat of something-" Hermione said. Ron nodded, then got up off of her. Hermione got up, before she growled. "You wait until I'm _really _ready, before you pull back?"

"I just want to respect your wishes, Honey." Ron said, with a smile. Hermione looked at him, then picked up her clothes.

"I'm going to go take a shower. Alone!" she said. "And you can have the living room TV all to yourself while you're sleeping on the couch." Then she walked out of the kitchen. Ron smiled as she stormed out. When Hermione got out of the shower, Ron was outside of the bathroom, with his arms folded across his chest. Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Can I help you?" Ron shook his head.

"Nope." he said, before he walked away and went into the living room. He heard Hermione give a frustrated groan/shrill scream. He smiled coolly and lied back on the couch, with his hands laced behind his head. Hermione walked into their bedroom and slammed the door. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1." He quietly counted backwards to himself, before he heard the door slam open. Meaning Hermione opened the door with such ferocity that it hit the wall with a big bang.

"You know what, Ronald?" she said, when she got into the living room. Ron shook his head.

"Nope. What?" he asked feigning obliviousness. Hermione did the strangling motion with her hands, and started to breathe slowly. "Did you ever think that _I_ wanted to wait? Maybe I want it to be special. Did you ever think of that?" Ron's tone pissed her off more.

"You're a man. As a sex- actually, no- you guys are your own _species_. You don't know the _meaning_ of the word _wait_. Whether its wait, I'm not ready, or wait, I'm not there yet. Guys will screw anything with two breasts and a she-penis!" Ron had to hold his laughter down to keep his plan in effect.

"Hermione, I love you. And you told me that you wanted to wait. Are you saying that I should go against your wishes and seduce you?" he asked. Hermione glared at him, then her expression softened.

"Yes." she whined. Ron smiled and opened his arms.

"Well, I'm yours for the taking, Granger."

"Weasley." Hermione said.

"Ah- yes. Weasley." Ron amended. "Do with me what you want." Hermione laughed, then walked to the couch, before sitting in his lap and curling up. "I like seeing you pissed off. I missed it." Hermione looked at him.

"You wanna continue our little-" Ron shook his head.

"You don't have to ask." he said, before he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. Hermione was only wearing Ron's old Chudley Cannons pajama top, which only really hit a bit above her knees. Ron smiled. "Looks so much better on you." He walked over to the bed, and straddled her waist, not really putting any of his weight on her. He took off his shirt. Hermione smiled and watched him tease her while undressing.

"Dance, magic boy, dance." she tease. Ron shook his head.

"Not a chance, baby." he said, leaning down to kiss her. He pulled back and smiled. There she was. His incredibly incredible fiancé, with her hair falling on the pillow that she had lying flat on the bed, looking incredibly beautiful with bruised lips. "You're so beautiful, Hermione." he whispered, before he kissed her again. He pulled back again and started to unbutton the pajama top slowly.

"Light, Ron." Hermione breathed. Ron looked at her.

"Are you that uncomfortable with the lights on?" he asked. She nodded, her eyes were still closed. "Okay." He started to get up, but Hermione stopped him and waved her hand, making the overhead light shut off. They held hands when they kissed after that. Ron was at the point where her kisses trumped the importance of oxygen. He kissed her as if he had all the time in the world. And it was during that night that he realized, he did. He does. They do.


	37. Contrite From Love

At three am, Krys was woken up by creaking on the stairs. She sat up immediately, and rolled out of bed. She opened the door and almost knocked into Ares with it. He looked at her.

"Krys, are you okay?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"Of course. Are you?" she asked. Ares nodded. Krys looked at her watch and forced herself to smile. "No need to ask how your date went. Good, I hope." Ares nodded. "You wanna come in?" Ares nodded and followed her into her room. He stared at her and smiled. She was wearing black boxers and a big blue t-shirt, with fuzzy socks. Ares sat on her couch and watched her lie back on her bed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Ares said. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry, if I did." Krys shook her head.

"You didn't wake me." she lied. "Are you okay? Are you sure? You seem weird to me."

"I'm just a little… what are you doing tomorrow?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and shrugged.

"I don't have a job." she said. "I don't have shit to do." Ares laughed.

"You wanna hang out?" he asked. "Chuck E Cheese." Krys nodded.

"Of course." she said. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah… I've been hanging out with Natasha a lot." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"So what is it that I heard about you going for more than 30 thousand galleons?" Ares shrugged.

"I don't know." he said. Krys looked at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She patted the space next to her on her bed. "Come on." Ares got up and lied down next to her. His head was on her stomach, and Krys stroked his head… _tenderly_. "Talk to me."

"Who bought me? You, Natasha or Hermione?" Ares asked.

"Ares, it was over a week ago. It doesn't matter." said Krys, as she propped his head up on a pillow.

"Yeah it does." Ares said.

"Hermione bought you." Ares nodded.

"And why would she spend 31 thousand galleons on me, if she wasn't gonna make me do something for her?" he asked. "You bought me, didn't you, Krys?" Krys continued to stroke his head and ears, as she nodded.

"Yes." she said.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want you to be with some weird woman. And the one who was gonna buy you- the only one who had the money like that, was Array. I didn't want you to go with her."

"So why didn't you keep me?"

"I had a date with Josephs." Ares nodded, then got up.

"I'm going to bed." he said, as he walked out of her room.

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The next afternoon, when Krys got back, she went to Ares' room. Without knocking, she walked in and caught him in his boxers, without a shirt. She stood before him with her hands on her hips.

"Get ready. Why aren't you ready?" she said. Ares looked at her.

"I don't feel like going anywhere." he said.

"Oh- okay. Maybe later?"

"I don't think so." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Krys looked at him and walked closer to his bed.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked. "Did I do something?"

"Krys, what the hell was the point of spending so much money on me, if you were weren't going-"

"Ares, I already bought someone else. Of course I wanted to spend the day with you. I always want to spend the day with you. I just- Josephs already tackled me, and Hermione said that I should give Natasha the card." Ares rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Krys." he said. Krys looked at him.

"I don't see what the problem is. Why are you so mad at me?" she asked.

"I'm not…" He made the mistake of looking up at her. She looked genuinely sad and confused. She was wearing white Capri pants, with a small white sweater, unbuttoned twice at the bottom and twice at the top, no undershirt. On her feet were white flip-flops, and her hair was straightened and flipped up at the ends. "I'm just pissy and cranky. I'm sorry."

"What happened?" Ares shook his head.

"Nothing. I was just being a jackass." he said. "I'm sorry." Krys looked at him.

"You're not mad at me, anymore?"

"I wasn't ma-"

"You were mad at me." Krys pouted. Ares shook his head.

"I was not. I was slightly irritated." he said, as he lied back on his bed.

"Well- are you still irritated?" Krys asked. Ares shook his head. "Sure?"

"I'm sure."

"So are we still going out?" Ares nodded.

"Yes. I'm taking you to Heat's daughter's birthday party." he said. Krys nodded.

"Kewl. So we have to go to the mall first? Get the little girl something. Did you just get out of the shower?" Ares nodded. "Then get up." Ares shook his head.

"No." he whined. He patted the space in his bed. "Lie down with me." Krys rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Please." Ares gave her the puppy eyes and pouted. Krys rolled her eyes.

"I'm a hard-ass, okay, Ares. I don't break over shit like that." she said. Ares stuck his lip out farther and opened his arms wide.

"Krys, please. Just lie down with me for a few minutes." he said cutely. Krys looked around.

"You are so lucky that this room is freezing." she said, as she walked to him. She kicked off her slippers and sat on the bed, facing away from him. He hugged her waist from behind, then pulled her farther onto the bed. She turned to face him, then stared him in the eye. "Exactly what color are your eyes? Usually they look hazel, but the other day they looked green. And once, I could've sworn they looked blue. What's going on with that?" Ares gave a laughing smile and shook his head, while Krys smoothed his eyebrows. He licked his lips, then made a grabbing motion with his hands, before his wallet flew to him. Krys smirked. "Showoff."

"_You're_ talking?" Ares asked. Krys grinned.

"I can do that." she said. Ares chuckled lightly, then pulled his drivers license out.

"Hazel is the color on my driver's license and birth certificate… but, as I've been told, I have sexy eyes. If I wear yellow, they look hazel. Orange, they look hazel. Purple, why I would wear purple, I don't know, but they look blue. Blue, they look blue. Green, they look green. Yellow green, they look green hazel. Black, they just look hazel. Brown, hazel."

"Nice."

"What about your eyes?"

"What _about_ my eyes?" she asked.

"Why do you keep cutting out the brown and blue. Some days I see you and they're only brown. Other days, they're just blue. Why?"

"'Cause its creepy. If I wear blue, my eyes look weird, because the blue pops and makes the brown look dull and nonexistent from afar. Plus, when people see my eyes, they automatically think I'm wearing contacts. Then you tell them the truth, and they all act like you're a liar."

"And this has nothing to do with Josephs saying anything." Ares said.

"He might've called them creepy." Krys admitted. Ares nodded.

"And what do you think?" he asked.

"I don't know. My opinion changes. I have my momma's eyes. But… I don't know. I kinda like them."

"You know what I think?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked. Ares touched the outer corner of her eye and smiled.

"I think they're sexy." he said. "And I think they make you Krys. See- its not even like they're brown with blue, or blue with brown. They're brown, then blue, then brown, then blue, then brown, then blue. And I think they make you even more perfect than you are in the looks department. But the eyes have to be one of the sexiest things on your face. And I don't know what's sexier. There're your eyes, then there are your lips. Decisions, decisions." As he said this, he lightly touched the outer corner of her eye, then tapped her lip with his index finger. Krys smiled and blinked, before they turned brown and blue again. Then she furrowed her eyebrows.

"You know… people can plan, plan, plan all they want. But in the end, if it isn't in the cards, it won't happen." she said, after a moment of silence. Ares furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, if God doesn't want it, it won't happen."

"I know what you meant, I want to know what you're referring to." Krys lied her head on his chest, allowing him to run his hands through her hair and rub her back.

"I was at your wedding." she said. "I heard you and Hermione talking." Ares was silent and almost rigid.

Flashback

Krys apparated to an upstairs bathroom, and found her way to Ares' room without being seen.

"Hermione, I can't deal with this… I'm getting married in about thirty minutes." she heard Ares say.

"He's getting married in thirty minutes." Krys repeated for herself, in a soft whisper. Before she could hear any more of their conversation, she looked around, then apparated to Emily's room. Emily was the only one there, and she was going through a jewelry box. Krys cleared her throat, making Emily jump, then scowl.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked. Krys made a grabbing motion with her hands and all of the jewelry flew into her hand. She put the jewelry down and looked at Emily, before turning her back to lock the door. When she turned back to Emily, the blonde had her wand out. Krys continued to walk closer. Emily looked frightened, making Krys smirked.

"You know… I love Ares." Krys said. "I really, really love him. I think that he is _everything_ that a girl could want. He's sweet. He's smart. He is compassionate. He's generous. He's gorgeous and handsome. He's cute and adorable. And he has a good heart. But… the one thing that I really _hate_ about him is that… he wants you. And he seems to think that you're some goddess, with a wonderful personality. He thinks your amazing… so I thought that you couldn't be all bad." Krys continued to walk closer, but she did it slowly, with no wand in her hand. "How very wrong I was."

"Look- what's your point?" Emily asked, before the door knocked.

"Baby, its me." the person on the other side of the door said. Krys snapped, and the door opened. In walked a blonde haired man with a lot of stubble on his chin and a cocky grin. He looked at Krys, then at Emily. "I didn't know anyone else was in here."

"Don't worry, baby, she's no one." Emily said, before she kissed the blonde man. Krys raised her eyebrows and almost laughed. When Emily pulled back, she smirked at Krys. "You know what the best part about this, _Krys_?"

"What is it, _Em_?" Krys asked.

"He would _never_ take your word against mine. You could show him _pictures_, and he would never even _blink_ before he chose me. You're like a little pygmy puff that he keeps around, for when I'm not home. You're something that he plays with, while I'm shagging Trenton. And he doesn't even know about it. You're nothing to him. You're just pay."

"I totally agree. I don't think there's any reason to even talk about this again." Krys said, before she turned to Emily's friend, Trenton. "Were you the one she had sex with the day before yesterday?"

"What's she talking about, baby? We haven't seen each other for almost a week." Trenton said. Krys laughed.

"Oh- you thought you were the only one? You thought you were in on the cheating scheme? You thought she was only cheating on Ares, _Trent_? _How cute._" she said , before she kneed him in the crotch and pushed him against the wall. She pushed him with incredible force, and as soon as he hit the wall, he was held to it by shackles. Krys turned to Emily, who was staring at her in shock. "Back to what I was saying. He seems to think that you're so wonderful and sweet. And he seems to think you're worth the trouble that you've given. I think otherwise, but who am I?" Emily's wand hand was shaking, and she was holding it out in front of her. Suddenly, a red light shot out. Krys collected it, until it looked like a red shock ball. She held it in her hands, then pressed it over and over, making it go down to the size of a tic-tac. Then she ground it between her fingers, before she blew it away. Emily was staring at her with wide eyes and she was shaking. "If you hurt Ares, or you catch something and give it to him… _I_ will hurt _you_." Then Krys laughed. She was still walking to her. Emily was now trapped in a corner. Krys stopped right in front of her. "Sorry, let me rephrase that… If you hurt my best fri- if you hurt him, I'll have _you_, your friends, your Loverboy, and your tacky ass fashion accessories slaughtered, you licentious, vulgar bitch!" Then she punched her dead in the nose, hearing a loud crunching noise, before the blood rushed down Emily's robes. "Fix that, you slut." Then she walked out of the room and ran into Kay.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Kay asked. Krys smiled, then punched Kay in the face. She didn't hear the same cracking sound, but she did see tears instantly spring from her eyes. Krys then disapparated and made it in time to pop up on her class. She was wearing white cargo pants, a green fitted t-shirt, and a white bucket hat. She walked into the class, and sat down next to a boy in a desk. He looked at her, and stuck his hand out.

"Brian Macintosh." he said. "Have you heard about the Professors? They're just leaving school and both of them are _muggleborns_. What are they gonna teach me about my world?" Krys shrugged.

"I wonder." she said. She waited for a few minutes after the bell rang to get up and stood in the front of the classroom. She scanned them, then walked to the board and wrote 'Rodriguez'. She turned around and sat on the table. " I'm Krystathaili Rodriguez. You may call me 'Rodriguez'. I don't _know _you enough to let you call me Krystathaili. I don't _like _you enough to let you call me Krys." She hopped off the table and took off her hat, before she started to walk around the classroom. "In this classroom, I am the law. In this classroom, I am the punishment. This is how I will usually be." She gave a neutral smile, and she pointed to her face. "Mess with this, and you'll regret it. I'm not as sweet as I seem." Brian raised his hand.

"You don't seem sweet. At all." he said.

"When did I say that I wanted to hear you speak?" Krys asked. "Oh- that's right, I didn't. Treat me with respect, and you'll get back what you put in. I am all about fairness and equality. No pureblood in this class is better than any muggleborn, and visa versa." Krys looked at Brian. He was rolling his eyes. "Anyone that has a problem with that, will have me to deal with. And I'm no prize." She then looked around. "I can be funny and I can be nice. We can joke around, and if you have something to say, I'd love to hear it… but work comes first. I can be warm and caring, compassionate and sweet. I rarely am, but I can be. I am not here to coddle you. I am not here to cut you slack. I am not here to give you special treatment. I am here to help you. Do not waste my time. That means, if I give you homework or a chapter to read, read it. If I give you a book to buy, buy it. If you can't afford it, we'll work something out. But know that when I call and say that a class is scheduled, I had better see each and every one of you guys here. If you can't handle that, you can leave right now." She looked around. A few of them rolled their eyes, but none of them left. "Okay. Lets get started."

End Flashback

Ares was stroking her hair by now, as she lied on his chest.

"I always thought that if you weren't with Emily, you'd be with me." Krys said.

"Me too." Ares said. "You know… the girl I want… I've been trying everything to impress her." Krys looked up and rolled over, so she was on top of him. She straddled his waist and held his face, scrunching up his lips.

"You don't need to do anything to impress her." she said.

"I already started trying. I got the job and I'm making more money now." Ares said, through his scrunched lips.

"You don't need to impress anyone." Krys said. "You are smart." She kissed his forehead. "Sexy." She kissed his scrunched lips. "And you taste like tropical toothpaste." She kissed him again. "That is really good. You can't get that overnight. You can't even get that when you brush your teeth with tropical toothpaste." Ares laughed, then his laughter subsided.

"Krys, I want to talk to you." he said. Krys rolled off of him and nodded.

"Shoot." she said.

"I have to explain myself. I just want to tell you everything." Ares said. Krys nodded. "Not just because I feel guilty and horrible but because I want you to know what you mean to me." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said.

"Krys, when you broke up with me… I… got really drunk. Really, really drunk. Then I came back here. I originally came back here to beg you to take me back."

"Stephanie." Krys said. She looked at him. "Continue. But- note; get to the part where you start praising me _very_ soon."

"Krys, I'm not even gonna lie to you. She told me that you went on a date… so, I told her to join me."

"You believed her."

"I was also very drunk." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"Question; how can you have thrown it in my face that I broke up with you, when you had sex with my cousin? The cousin that you told me you had absolutely no interest in."

"She told me that you had a date with your kickboxing coach." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"Okay. Continue." she said.

"Well- that was the night that we broke up."

"I'm aware of this." Krys said. "Continue."

"And the next night was Ashley and a few hours after that, one of her friends. For the first year of auror training… I had sex with a lot of women. And though most of them were very experienced… I felt like shit. And I was drunk and stupid all the time. And I did all of that, because I wanted to hurt you." Krys nodded. "And I was hoping that it'd get back to you." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said.

"And I don't know how many times I can keep saying sorry-"

"Did you ever cheat on me?" Ares shook his head.

"Never." he said. "For the past few nights its been getting to me, because- my life without you, is empty. And I'm always making you feel guilty, like you did something wrong. And you never did. After two weeks with Emily here, I wouldn't blame you if you never spoke to me again. She was horrible to you, and I allowed it. After nine years of being your friend, and a summer of telling you how much I loved you, I purposely hurt you out of spite and malice. Krys, you really do mean everything to me, and I really do love you more than I love anyone else in the world. I've been trying to explain to myself, why if I love you so much, I was able to hurt you so badly, out of spite. And I can't come up with an answer. I came up with… I guess I thought if I had the upper hand, you'd be in the position that I was in, when you broke up with me. And it doesn't make sense to me, so all I can do is apologize. And I don't think the apology's worth anything. Krys, the night before my wedding, you and I had an argument. I said a lot of things just to hurt you, like you… hurt me. I let anger cloud my better judgment. And when I thought about it… I remembered everything about our relationship. I remembered that you were the girl who would spend nights writing my homework for me, when I was in the hospital wing, so I wouldn't be behind. And I was thinking that I never deserved you. When Emily asked me to choose, the first thing that went to my mind was choosing you. I didn't have to think about it, because I get more fulfillment from you out of a friendship, than I did from Emily and a relationship."

"Ares-"

"Krys, the day in your car… I used all the things that you told me you hated about yourself, and I threw them back at you. I used things that you only told me, and I used them to hurt you. And you forgave me, like it was nothing." Krys shrugged. "Krys, I watched my fiancé throw the lowest things at you, and yet you still- you still attempted to befriend her. And you did it for me. What have I done for you?"

"Ares… do you remember the first day that I met you?" Krys asked. Ares nodded. "The first day that I met you… it was like meeting my soul mate. Everything that I told you- even if you didn't understand it, you just listened. Sometimes you told me stories. Sometimes you just listened. And it made me feel better. Okay- you were a jackass. No- you were a real shit head. You were hurtful, evil, just- you were just horrible. And when it was happening, I was slightly angry. But Ares, I played that breakup over in my head… and I've watched it from the third person, and your point of view… and I felt so horrible. And… I understood where your grudge was coming from. No, I wouldn't let anyone speak to you like that. No, I would never allow someone to talk about your father's death, and not say something. But if I lived it from your point of view, maybe I would. You spent two years hating me, being angry at me, and thinking that our whole relationship was a lie. I spent two years feeling guilty about it, loving you and knowing how much we really loved each other. I believed you when you said you loved me. And when we broke up, you didn't take that from me. I know how much you loved me, Ares. _I'm_ the one who took it away from _you_. You believed me, then I took it away. The night that we broke up, I sat by my window, waiting for you to come back. I told myself that if you came back, my reasons were honestly not worth it and we would be able to get through anything. You came back."

"Krys, I was a jackass. Why are you still even dealing with me?"

"Because, as stupid as you were… I drove you to be that stupid." Krys said. "When you piss me off, my reaction is psychotic, and I want to hurt you severely. I understand anger, Ares. I was born angry. I was made by angry people. I was raised with anger as my default emotion. And… you used to take everything bad away from me. And you let me keep everything good. How could I not forgive you for being a dipshit? I love Tyler Perry, you know that. I love the Madea plays. And I've learned a lot. There are many different types of forgiveness. And this is the forgiveness that says 'you also mean everything to me. I understand all the stupid shit that you did. I understand you being mad at me.' I've done stupid things too, Ares. Things that I can't even justify. Words- okay, words can hurt when they come from someone special. I remember my words when I broke up with you. You trusted me with your heart too, Ares… and I promised you that I would marry you and be with you forever. I understand you having wanted to hurt me. Truth be told, I continued to go out with Josephs to piss you off. Not when I came back, but at first. Ares, you're my best friend… and… there's a reason your name hasn't left my side. Its because you're always by my side."

"What did I do to deserve you?"

"I think I'm your angel or something." Krys teased. Ares nodded.

"You're right." he said. "Sent to me, to save me from myself. I love you, you know that, right?"

"I know." Krys said. "You know… as horrible as this sounds, there are times when I think it was all worth it."

"What do you mean?" Ares asked.

"There are times when I look at you, and I think it was all worth it. I think that my parents dying, my childhood- everything was worth it. Then there are times when you kick me in the ass for even thinking that. But- it's a scary feeling. The fact that I wouldn't've met you, if my parents didn't die- or if I wasn't put in that particular orphanage. It's a really scary feeling, when the best things in your life only come out after the worst things do." Krys said.

"I really am an asshole. I never knew that I made- Krys, I'm so sorry." Ares said.

"_Jesus Christ_- this again?" Krys asked. "Ares… some people may say that they don't like the way you talk to me. I love the way you talk to me. Mostly because you even it out. Your words… they have the perfect balance. There are times when you're affectionate and sweet… and really corny mushy- and _I love it_. But what makes the fact that you're always sweet worth it- what makes it worth it, is the fact that you're a really sweet pervert. This is the same thing. You've always been good to me. You were faithful, you were good in bed, good kisser, sweet, attractive, smart- we could talk about stupid shit and make it sound so damn intelligent and important, I'm still shocked. You evened it out. That's all it was. You couldn't've overpowered the bad and made the good look like nothing in two weeks. Nobody can be perfect all the time… and I'm glad you're not. Okay?" Ares nodded. "Come on. We should go."

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After they went to get the girl gifts, Krys and Ares were on their way to Torrance.

"Okay… so- the week that we were broken up… I spent a lot of time in this park. I had a lot of sex, with a lot of women. Some of which, who'll be at this party today. And… some who hate you, because I was very open with how brutally you dumped me." Ares said. "They hate you." Krys looked at him.

"They hate me?" she asked. Ares nodded.

"Yeah. They hate you." he said. Krys nodded. "So… you have to act like we're back together, 'cause they seem to think that I-… you know."

"So… in order to hang with your friends, I get to act like your girlfriend." Ares nodded.

"Actually, I get to be your boyfriend." he said.

"Why do you say it like that?" Krys asked.

"'Cause its something I'm partial to." Ares said. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"I meant what I said, you know?" she said. Ares shook his head.

"What? About what?" he asked. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Miss What's-Her-Booty had better be some Mami Chula. One; because if she is the reason you've passed over my sexual advances, then she'd better be the definition of sexy. Two; she gets the best guy in the world." she said. Ares laughed and turned a corner, before pulling into the Chuck E Cheese parking lot.

"Where were you today?" Ares said.

"Um… you sure you wanna know?" she asked. Ares nodded. "Photo shoot." Ares looked at her.

"What magazine?" he asked. Krys coughed out something and looked at him. "I didn't hear you."

"Maxim." Krys said clearly. Ares blinked twice, then furrowed his eyebrows.

"Hmm." he said. Krys laughed.

"I had fun… it was funny. The photographer kept saying 'be sexy, be sexy' and he'd start to make these faces, so I always ended up laughing. I've been so used to shooting regular teen and women's magazines, where they wanted me to smile and look young. This one, they wanted me to seem a bit older and sexy."

"Were you naked?" Ares asked. Krys shook her head.

"No." she said.

"What did you wear?"

"Bra and panties." Ares nodded. "Are we ready to go in?"

"How much did you put in the card?" Ares asked.

"A good amount."

"Krys, even as a wizard who shouldn't know shit about muggles, I know that 'a good amount' to you, is heaven to others. How much?"

"Well… 5 large." Krys said.

"G's?" Ares asked. Krys nodded.

"One for each year she's been alive." she said. Ares laughed.

"Lets go." he said, as they both got out of the car with their gifts and cards. The two walked in and Krys nodded.

"Okay… here's our game plan. We're gonna intimidate the kids to get the games." she said. Ares looked at her and smiled.

"You're psychotic." he said. Krys laughed, and they walked to the section with the most kids. Heat was sitting at the table, in front of a bunch of gifts, laughing. Ares walked up to him, gave him a pound, then handed him the gift. Heat said something and Ares laughed, before he gave Krys the signal. Krys slowly walked to the table, and felt eyes on her. She handed Heat the gift, with a card attached, then handed him a separate card. He thanked her politely, then looked at Ares.

"Ice, why don't you let me holla at you for a minute." Heat said, before he got up. Ares nodded, then they walked away. Krys sat down and looked around. A few of the people at the table were staring at her. Finally, one lady got up and walked her way. Then she held a piece of paper out in front of Krys.

"Can I have your autograph?" she asked.

"Oh- oh, of course." Krys said. "Um…" Krys opened her bag and pulled out a pen, before writing 'Krys', then drawing a little star next to it. She looked at the lady. "I can redo it, if you want it personalized."

"Um- I don't want you to waste your time." the woman said. Krys laughed.

"If you want me to, I will." she said.

"Monica." the woman said. Krys nodded, and wrote on to of her signature. 'To Monica, thanks for knowing Heat.' Monica laughed. "Thank you."

"No problem." Krys said, before she put her pen back in her bag. A minute later, Ares and Heat came out of the corner, and Heat asked to talk to Krys. Krys stood up. "Sure." When she walked around the corner with him, he stared at her.

"Ma, I hope you're not trying to use my baby girl's party to connect with the people." Heat said. Krys almost laughed.

"_Pa_, I'm here because Ares asked me. Because, you and I were cool enough that summer. Because, I thought your daughter was cute. And because, I love Chuck E Cheese." she said. Heat nodded.

"Aight then." he said, holding out his fist for a pound. Krys looked at it.

"What's with the animosity?" she asked. "You grill me when I walk in, then its supposed to be all good?"

"You dumped my ace." Heat said. Krys nodded.

"I get that… but your man had a lot of shit going for him. I wasn't about to fuck it up for him." she said.

"I feel you. I guess I can respect that." Heat said.

"I guess you're gonna have to." said Krys.

"What's with the animosity?" Krys laughed.

"Nothing." she said, before she skipped back out to the table.

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When they settled in to the party, Krys and Ares escaped to the games. Krys looked at him, then at the ball pit.

"Bet." she said.

"What?"

"I beat you, and you… wash the cars." Krys suggested.

"Bet." Ares said. "But… if I win… you have to wash all the cars yourself. I'm thinking bikini of my choosing."

"No."

"Okay… white t-shirt, no bra." Ares said.

"Bikini's fine." Krys said. Ares nodded and grinned.

"I thought so." he said. Krys glared at him.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Go." he said. Krys ran up the fishnet then got up to the maze type thing. She crawled through quickly, then slid down the slide, landing in the ball pit. She jumped her way through, then found the exit. She dove out and almost tripped over the net. When she got out, Ares was sitting down right across from her, with his arms folded. "I want you to wear something cheeky. Perhaps cutoff shorts- open cutoff shorts. Make that cheeky, open cutoff shorts. Then get all wet with, while washing the car. Yeah." Ares was nodding and grinning.

"You need help." Krys said. "You're a sick, sick man." Ares laughed and opened his arms. Krys sat next to him and they hugged, before she buried her head in the crook of his neck.

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Ron and Hermione lied in bed, staring at their ceiling.

"When do you have to be to work?" Hermione asked. Ron looked at his watch.

"In five minutes." he said. "My lunch break ends then."

"We're leaving tomorrow, Ron. You don't have to work anymore, do you?"

"After the eighteenth, I don't have to work again until January 12th. So… I'll be all yours." Ron said. Hermione looked at him.

"Good." she said. "I'm gonna pack for you, tonight."

"Okay." Ron said, before he kissed her cheek.

"I don't want you to leave." Hermione said, as he hugged her.

"I don't want to leave either. I just need to do this, for work." Ron said. "I'll be as free as a bird soon." Hermione nodded and kissed his cheek.

"Okay." she said. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Ron said. "I have to go." Hermione nodded, and let go of him. When he left, Hermione pulled out her cell phone and called Krys.

"Cookie, where are you?" Hermione asked, when Krys answered her phone. "You guys went to a birthday party?…" Hermione laughed. "You'll be there soon?… Really? You don't think I'll cramp your style?" Hermione laughed as Krys laughed on the other side. "Okay- good." Hermione quickly disapparated, and landed in Krys' house. She looked around Krys' empty house and jumped when Krys popped up right next to her.

"Okay, Cookie, we're picking Thai and Angel up tomorrow." Krys said, as she took Hermione and Ares' hands and dragged them to the kitchen.

"Angelica or Thai's boyfriend?" Hermione asked.

"Boyfriend." Krys said. "My Angel and Jamie are staying with Razzie and Dread-Head, then I'm getting them on Christmas evening. I already made sure that the house is fully stocked. I had a Christmas tree sent there. We're gonna decorate it together, tomorrow. Fun, fun, I know." Hermione and Ares laughed. "And I already have my presents for all of you. I have to wrap them, though."

"Did you do the thing?" Hermione asked.

"Ares knows about the photo shoot, Hermione." Krys said.

"So how did it go?" Krys nodded.

"I had fun."

"So- what did you wear?"

"Oh- black bra and panties. The makeup man said that he wanted to capture my eyes. So… he used a lot of black and blue eye makeup. And… they gave me a bellybutton ring chain. The navel ring connected to the chain that wrapped around my stomach. A lot of rhinestones. I was shimmering. I hope I don't look like a prostitute. They had a fan blowing my hair away from my face, after they straightened it. They said something about curls being too innocent." Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"I can understand that." she said. "So what did you guys do today?"

"Had a heart to heart, went to the mall in the Christmas madness, played in the ball pit, had some cake, came back here." Krys said.

"Okay. So what happened on your date with Natasha?" Hermione asked.

"Its not gonna work out." Ares said.

"Why not?" Krys asked.

"Because, she thinks that I find her repulsive, and she threw me out of her house." Ares said.

"Do you find her repulsive?" asked Krys.

"Not in the slightest. But… since I wasn't falling over myself to have sex with her, she took that as me finding her repulsive." Krys looked at him. "That was different. She threw something at me. And what she did was a real turnoff."

"What'd she do?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at him.

"What _did_ she do?" she asked.

"She told me that she wanted to model something for me. I said whatever. She starts modeling some lingerie crap- then she sits on my lap. She's touching and complimenting the Captain, then she names him." Ares said.

"What's so wrong with that? I mean- I can understand if she named him…" Ares gave her the look. "She didn't." Krys said.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"She named him Ralph." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"What's so wrong with that?" she asked.

"What's Ares' middle name?" Hermione shrugged. "Ares Raphael Delgado. Raphael is… Ares got his middle name from his father." Hermione gave a pained look. She was holding down laughter. "That's horrible." Krys said. "You're- that's probably not even why you were turned off. Its all because she's not the one you want. You're so picky. Remember in the 'Forty Year Old Virgin'? I'm telling you right now… you're lett-"

"I'm no longer comfortable." Ares said.

"As your healer. I am Madam… what is my last name? There's Rodriguez, then there's Potter-Black. I'm telling you this as Madam Potter-Black Rodriguez. If you let it back up, the next time you have sex… you're gonna be so horrible at it, that if you do it with Ms. What's-Her-Booty, she's gonna laugh at your ass."

"Would _you_?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and shook her head.

"No. But that's me." she said. "If you think about it, once you bust that firs- I'm so unprofessional- professionalism, Krys, dammit. Okay… once you ejaculate and get rid of some of the buildup, you'll last longer. But… you might not get the second chance. Like- when we first started having sex, you were good and all… but that second week, then from then on… _oh my God_. That's where it was. You were… _oy_. You wonder why I started making you breakfast in bed, like you did for me? That's why." Ares and Hermione started laughing. "Its true."

"Lets go start packing. I'll steal stuff from your closet." Hermione said, as she got up and ran up the stairs. Krys looked at Ares. 

"I have a gift for you." she said. "I have to give it to you now. I cannot wait."

"You didn't have to get me anything." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Of course I did. You're my bestest friend." she said. "Come on." Krys took his hand, and started to walk up the stairs.

"Okay." Ares said.

"Now close your eyes." Krys said. Ares nodded and closed his eyes. Krys continued to lead him up the stairs. She led him into his room and told him to open his eyes. Ares opened his eyes, and they widened immediately. Krys had a gigantic walk in closet built in his room. A closet that she had fully stocked with everything from new custom made suits to watches. Krys pretty much bought him something to wear for every occasion. There was even a massive section with just jerseys and sneakers. Then there were regular clothes, everything was split into sections and color coordinated. Krys looked at him. "You don't like it?" Ares laughed.

"Krys, you didn't have to do this." he said.

"What do you mean? Ares, when we were going out… I think you bought me a new bracelet or something everyday." Krys said. "I had to do this for you. Mostly because you'd look good in most of it. Okay- come on. I have to show you the rest."

"There's more?" Ares asked.

"Delgado, how exciting can clothes really be?"

"Depends. _This_ is really exciting. Thank you… so much." Krys looked at him and rolled her eyes playfully.

"So you like it?" she asked. He searched her eyes and nodded.

"I love it." he said.

"Good. Then hopefully, you'll love this." Krys said, as she dragged him through the closet that seemed to go on forever. It was like Narnia. She walked him through the closet until they walked into another large room filled with pictures, a bed and artwork. Besides that, the room was pretty empty, but Ares loved it all the same.

"Is this for me?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"The room is for you." she said.

"Thank you."

"I'm not done, weirdo." Krys teased. Ares grinned. "Okay… so- I was wondering how I could make this room the perfect place for you to think and draw, sketch, create. And I thought that magic would, of course, help. And it did. Artists need models, inspiration, all that shit." Ares laughed and Krys laughed with him. "You know that they do. So… I figured that whatever-… this is your artistic Room of Requirements. It has everything. You have your own airbrush machine- everything. Pastels, clay- down to inspiration, if you need it. Now- there are files with pictures, what I know to be your favorite images, pictures, videos, files of everything that I've seen, everything that you've seen, everything that Prongs has seen… he's the one who helped me. He's the only one who agreed to share his thought, basically because you can see them through my life, anyway. Its basically a book that'll show you some things for inspiration. And then, there's something else for inspiration… there is your magic mirror type thingy. Its more like a TV… and since you really don't know what the hell you want out of life, it'll just show you, instead of you having to think about it then see it. Its like your mind. Then finally, there are our pictures. Me and you, all of us… and I hope you don't hate me, there are some of you and your dad. Did I do good?" She turned to look at Ares, who was staring at her.

"Krys, I don't know what to say." Ares said softly. Krys put her index finger to her chin, in a cute thoughtful look.

"Wet your lips, arch your back, and tell me you love me." she teased. Ares laughed and enveloped her in a big hug, where he lifted her off the ground. It was that true feeling hug, where his eyes closed and he inhaled her warm scent, pretty much torturing himself. Krys' arms were wrapped around his neck. When he let her down, she smiled. "So you like it?"

"Krys… I love it." he said softly.

"Ares, don't get all sensitive on me, again. You know that I can't take it. And there's a bed in here and everything. Don't tempt me." Krys joked, before she grinned. "You wanna test out our thought files? Oh-! and I had to get all weird with it… so- you can connect the love pensieve to pretty much anything. Relive our best moments with visual and audio. Did I forget to mention that this room is almost a brilliant as mine? It knows what's right and wrong, and what should and shouldn't happen. If you fall asleep before you clean up… it cleans it for you and stores it away if you weren't done. If you no longer feel the art, it will bring your muse back. If you don't want anyone in here… they can't get in here. If you want to draw the frigging sunset or ocean… it'll surround your room. The walls will take you underground to underwater life, all that shit. Oh- and the stereo system is amazing, if I do say so myself. Which I do, so there." Ares stared at her in awe. He couldn't even think straight.

"I'm sorry I called you manipulative." he said. Krys looked at him questioningly.

"What?" she asked.

"The night before my wedding. I called you manipulative. You're honestly the sweetest person that I know. And its horrible that its taking a gift to make me really realize that. I always knew you were sweet and kind, but… this is something different, Krys." Krys smiled.

"Ares, shut up." she said. "If you're still on the whole thing about Emily, get off of it." She was still smiling. "Nobody can be perfect all the time, Ares. Nobody can always be wonderful. Not even you."

"You can. You are. You're always amazing… and as beautiful and bad as you are, your looks don't even matter once someone really gets to know you. Krys, I still can't even begin to say how sorry I a-"

"Ares- Kingie…" Krys stood in front of him and stretched to his size by twitching her height. She stood at 6 feet like him, so that's he could look him in the eye. "Do you think I came out of a box like this?" she teased. Ares still didn't smile.

"Its not funny, Krys. When I think of everything that's happened with you, _to you_… I feel like even more of a asshole for how I treated you." Krys turned around and took his hand, before walking to the bed and sitting down. By the time they got to the bed, she was already at normal height.

"Ares, remember what I told you. You've taken everything bad from me. From the whole insecure, low self esteem, really baggy clothes phase, to the _thing_ that I am now. I mean- Ares, my clothes aren't always baggy anymore. I can actually look at myself in a mirror, and I don't even think about those scars anymore. You've taken _everything_ bad from me, whether you know it or not. When I was younger, there were times when I was afraid to leave my room, because I thought my dad was gonna turn out to be horrible, like the family before him. And slowly… he earned all of my trust. But- do you remember when we came back that Christmas, and Persephone changed the whole house and he hadn't called me in months? He had someone living in my room, wearing my clothes, driving my car and sleeping in my bed. All of my trophies- all of them, I couldn't find one. She turned my gym into a ballroom- it looked like a fucking nightclub. Do you remember that? It was like he replaced me altogether, with a girl that knew about what had happened. Do you remember?" Ares nodded. He and Krys were now lying back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I forgave that. And I got over it. Because, if I could've erased that one day, he was still the man that tucked me in. He was still the man that did everything that he could to make Christmas amazing. He was the man who taught me how to ice skate, and gave me everything that I wanted. He was the man that made sure I had the best of everything, and that I was always happy. He was that man. He wasn't the dickhead that was about to marry that bitch. He was also the man who saw how she acted towards me, and made sure that he canceled the engagement instantly. That's who he was. Ares, if I could erase those few days… you were still the guy that wrote me my first love letter, _in disguise_. You wrote the weirdest things that I didn't understand, and when I look back at it… you were trying to tell me that you liked me. You're the guy that taught me about Quidditch, and the guy who went crazy when he saw my Firebolt. You're the _only person _that congratulated me, when I got a place on the Quidditch team, first year. You're the first guy that I ever kissed. The first guy to tell me that he loved me. The guy that made me dance with him, and hung out with me. I still remember when you, Jason and A.J bet me that I'd get asked out by an older guy, in fourth year. I said I wouldn't, and if I didn't I would get chocolate chip and chocolate, chocolate chip cookies. You're the guy that brought me my cookies, after I lost the bet.

"You're the guy that gave me my first hickey. The first guy to write me the _dirtiest_ letters. And… you're the first boy to ever really ask me out. You're the first guy to accidentally introduce me to his mother as 'his Krys', then get all embarrassed about it. You are the first guy that I was ever able to make blush that hard. You're the first guy to send me a valentine. You're my first secret admirer. You're the first guy to give me flowers. You're the first guy to take in mind that my allergies were horrible, so you actually de-pollinated. You're the first guy to give me chocolate lilies with everything. You're the first guy who held me, and whispered really sexy, very inappropriate things in me ear. You are the first guy that I've ever really loved. You were my first everything. So… it couldn't've meant very much to me, if I was willing to forget all of that, just because you were a bitch for a week or two. And it meant- means everything to me… so I'm not willing to forget that that's who you are. You are _my_ Kingie. You aren't the stupid ass that called me heartless. You're not the stupid ass that told me he had a taste for bitches. And you're not the stupid ass that-" By this time, Krys had roughly grabbed his ear. "that told me that I needed compliments every minute. You're not the dickhead that said I was immature. And you're not the _puto_ that told me that all I had to keep me warm was my money, are you? Because, if you are, you can just get the fuck out of my house and out of my life, because I'll no longer be disciplined by the frustrations of an insecure man. So tell me now… are you that guy?" Ares shook his head.

"No." he said softly.

"Promise?" Ares nodded.

"I promise." he whispered.

"So- who are you? Are you the guy that gave me a ring and let me eat all of his chocolate?" Ares nodded. "You're the guy that 'accidentally' groped me, right?"

"It _was_ an accident." Ares said. "I was going through a very rough time. Its bad enough going through puberty, without having the girl you love live with you." Krys laughed.

"I'm not gonna have to rough you up anymore?" she asked. Ares shook his head.

"No more." he said cutely. Krys smiled.

"Good." she said. Ares smiled and got up.

"See- now I can't wait to give you my gift." he said.

"Well, you're _gonna hafta_." Krys said. "Come on, Hermione's gonna worry about us." Krys dragged him back through the closet and downstairs to her room, where Hermione had two suitcases out.

"I can't believe it. I'll be married in a week and a day." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"I can't believe it either." she said.

"Gosh- don't sound so shocked." Hermione said. Krys laughed.

"No, that's not it. Its just that… we're not really gonna be Cookie and Bon-bon anymore. You're gonna be this married woman, with a husband and shit to do. I mean- its so much better than being me who can't keep or cherish an actual relationship. I mean- Jesus, these are your days, how selfish can I be?" she asked.

"Not very." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"I'm happy for you. Very. And I don't think you could've chosen a better man than Red." she said. "Let me save this for my speech."

"You do that."

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"Padfoot, can I talk to you?" Harry asked, as soon as he got into her room. Krys looked at him and nodded, as she started to walk towards him.

"What happened?" she asked, when they got outside and into his room.

"I feel really bad, keeping this from you for so long and everything." Harry said. "So I'm just going to tell you."

"Okay." Krys said. "Shoot." Harry took a deep breath.

"I haven't told anyone else this." he said. Krys nodded. "Um- for the past month, Gin and I…"

"You and Gin have been married." Krys encouraged. "Go on, say it, Prongs." Harry stared at her with an open mouth.

"You knew?" he asked.

"How could I not? I'm your twin." Krys said. "But your mother is- your mothers are gonna kill you."

"I know. I just didn't want to steal Ron and Hermione's thunder." Harry said. "Gin said she just wanted to make it official, and that she didn't need a ring or a wedding. She just wanted to know that I was completely committed to her. And I have been since I was about sixteen, so I didn't have a problem with that. I just didn't want to keep it from you any longer. I felt like I was deceiving you."

"No- you weren't deceiving me, Prongs." Krys said. "That awkward, yet happy look that you guys give each other whenever someone mentions marriage is a dead giveaway for someone with no personal life or future."

"You have a personal life and a future." Harry said. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"Ares told me everything." she said. She laughed again. "Continue. What else?"

"We've been talking about getting married for the longest time, but… we're not into ceremonies."

"No, _you're_ not into ceremonies. One day down the line, its gonna bite somebody in the ass, you not giving her a ceremony. Whether its little girl Prongs or little boy Prongs' fiancé. Its gonna bite somebody." Krys said.

"What about you and Ares?"

"He apologized for treating me the way he did."

"I'd have done the same thing." Harry said.

"Apologized, or been a jackass."

"Jackass." Harry said. "I mean… he _had_ the ring _in his pocket_, when you broke up with him. He spent about- he spent a month planning it. I had to pick up the damn ring for him, after Thai and A.J helped him pick it out. He spent a long time planning that proposal. He decided to give you a pre-proposal-proposal, to see if you'd say yes. He went through a lot of planning to propose to you. He even had a gigantic damn cake made for you, loaded with choco-"

"Okay… I feel bad enough, Prongs." Krys said.

"Well- maybe he's not the only one who should be apologizing." Harry said.

"I broke up with him, because its what was best for him."

"According to who?"

"Oh shut up, Dr. Phil!" Krys said.

"Don't get mad at me. I'm not on anyone's side, in particular, but I do know that getting broken up with, when you want to propose can do a number on a bloke."

"And you know this _how_?"

"Common dating sense. And for someone so smart, you don't have any of it." Krys looked at him.

"Shut up, before I tell Mrs. Weasley on you. In case you didn't notice, this is her only daughter. How many weddings will she get to plan? Mothers like to plan their daughters weddings. You've stolen that from her." she said.

"I hate you." Harry said jokingly. Krys laughed.

"No you don't.' she said. "But you're assed out. Gin's brothers are gonna have your ass."

"If they can catch me."

"I can." Krys said.

"You wouldn't." Krys grinned. "So he told you _everything_?"

"Everything about his wrongs. He told me about Stephanie and Array and Ailen. I mean- I knew about Array and Ailen. And with Stephanie, I was pissed at first, but… no, I'm still pissed, actually- if I bitch about it, I'll stay younger for longer. I'm going to the gym." Krys said.

"Whose face will it be this time?"

"Stephanie's. Well- I'm gonna pay her a little visit, when I go to get Thai." Harry looked at her.

"You're gonna go visit Stephanie?" he asked. Krys grinned.

"Yeah. The worst part is that she tried to comfort me and befriend me the day after he left." she said. "I'm gonna get so much anger released."

"Don't do it." Harry said. Krys looked at him. "Do you remember that when you were with Mark, you were really, really, really creepy when you were around Jason?" Krys nodded. "If you could've, you would've tried to get him. If he wasn't with A.J, you would've done it."

"I was overly hormonal and crazy."

"Well- Stephanie is easy. And Ares was a drunk ass and really vulnerable." Krys looked at him.

"So I should blame Ares?" she asked.

"No. He was just trying to get back at you. And you tried the same thing with him. You were- _are_ dating his boss." Harry said.

"Okay. When I was fourteen, I- lets talk about Ron and Hermione. Their wedding is gonna be soon, _yea_."

"No. Lets talk about you. When you were fourteen…?"

"Josephs asked me out. And I said no, because I was in love with Ares. Why should I stick on Ares, if Ares isn't stuck on me?" Krys asked. Harry laughed.

"You really don't have common dating sense." he said. "Ares loves you."

"Really?" Krys said skeptically. "And so when I told him that I was in love with him the night before his wedding, he called me a manipulative, scheming, man-eater because?"

"Because you… Padfoot, you have to admit that you're somewhat… okay, as much as you over analyze, and plan, and as obsessive compulsive as you are, you're a flake. When did you find out about Mark?"

"Ten minutes before he came back to the house."

"And you just assumed that he wanted to be an auror more than he wanted to be with you. You didn't ask him, you didn't talk to anyone about it, you didn't ask yourself twice… you just did it. And after what you said to him, you expected him to go back to you? You didn't talk to Hermione for three months, because she accused you of the same thing twice. You dumped him _twice_. Why should people bend the rules for you, when you set the rules yourself?" Krys lied back on Harry's bed. "The first person that you told about Mark, was Thai."

"No- Thai found the pregnancy test." Krys said. "Actually- Thai found the eighteen pregnancy tests. And when I was packing my bags to run away, she stopped me and gave me an invigorating speech. I didn't want anyone to know, because I didn't want anyone to worry about me. And- that went horribly."

"Are you blaming Ares?"

"No. I'm not blaming anyone. I'm not gonna point fingers at someone else, for my mistake. It takes two. I didn't want to use magical contraceptives. I was the frisky and incredibly energized one that wanted the bing-bing every second."

"I'm incredibly uncomfortable." Harry said. Krys laughed.

"And he- I don't believe that he wouldn't've wanted Mark. I- he was always the one talking about marriage and children. And he was- he was awa- he… Ares wasn't the one who- he- why are you doing this, Prongs?" she asked.

"Because… anyone who can make you willingly give up everything without thinking twice, without them wanting you to, I think that that's someone who you should be with. And Ares would do anything for you, too. I remember in Seventh year, when you had a crazy asthma attack, and he refused to leave your side, so McGonagall had to let him take his N.E.W.T's by your bedside. He's the guy that missed two weeks of school, because he wouldn't leave your bedside when you got hit by the Black Bone Shadowing. He's the guy that did everything that he could to help you cope with the death of your father, even after you set him up with your cousin. He's the guy that didn't hold a grudge when you got mad, because your cousin kissed him, when you left them alone together. And he's the guy that loves you." Harry said.

"He's not still in love with me, Prongs." Krys said.

"Whatever." Harry said. "Come on, help me pack. My wife likes it when I look good."


	38. My Reasons

Sorry guys. Blame florida, the inferno, metamorphosis, the stranger, and Candide, for me not writing and updating. As soon as school starts again I'll; hopefully have some free time. I really hope so. Well- I have a small question. I would like you guys to vote on it and tell me what you think. Would you rather see Krys with Eric or Ares?


	39. The Past That Won't Be Passed

While Krys was helping Harry unpack in his and Gin's room, he kept looking at her.

"You're losing weight." he told her. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"You're losing weight." Harry repeated.

"Why do you say that?"

"You're lighter. I picked you up a few minutes ago. You're lighter."

"Its because I'm not taking the food injections anymore. My stomach is probably the size of a penny, so I eat a few French fries and I'm done. But- I'm stuffing myself to increase the size. That's pretty much what food injection do. They help you gain weight." Krys said.

"I just thought you were stressed."

"Why would I be stressed?" Harry never got a chance to answer, because Hermione walked in and looked at Krys.

"You are so damn wonderful." she said.

"I guess you saw the wedding site." Krys said.

"I did. And I love you." Hermione said. "But you lied to me."

"What about?"

"You said that this was a cabin. Krys, this house is a goddamn mansion." Krys shrugged. "So what else does it have?"

"There's a movie room, library, gym, den, indoor pool, dining room, game room, terrace and balconies. One of the balconies overlooks the wedding site. And- I don't know what the hell its for, but there's this indoor bridge thing that connects to a smaller cabin. Don't ask. I magically enhanced the house and it now has about thirty five bedrooms." she said. "Oh- kitchen is fully stocked. And the bedrooms and guestrooms… choose whichever you want."

"Um- can I talk to you in private for a moment?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded, as Hermione dragged her out of the room.

"What happened?" Krys asked.

"You do know that Josephs is in your room, right?" Hermione said. Krys nodded awkwardly.

"See-"

"You invited him?"

"No. He wanted me to meet his family this Christmas, and I told him that I had shit to do, and that maybe he should be spending Christmas with my family… so that was like an unofficial invitation." Krys looked at her. "Do you not like him?"

"No, its not that I don't like him. It just seems like he doesn't like us." Hermione said. Krys looked thoughtful, then shrugged.

"We don't really talk about you guys." she said. "I don't think he knows your names, actually."

"A few weeks ago- a few _days_ ago, when we were talking about you and Josephs, I asked you a question that you didn't answer." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"Why aren't we talking about your wedding?" she asked. "You're getting marr-"

"I'm ecstatic." Hermione said, pointing at her breathtaking smile. "We're talking about you, who has just skimmed happy, at best." Krys looked at her. "I'm worried about you."

"Why?"

"Because, I asked you if you were willing to let someone fall in love with you, knowing that someone else has your heart. You changed the direction of the conversation back to Ares and Natasha. No. I'm talking about you and Josephs. Are you willing to do that to someone?" Hermione asked.

"Josephs isn't in love with me. He isn't gonna fall in love with me. He isn't like that." Krys said.

"Neither was Jason. Neither was Brookes. And yet, you managed to get the womanizing men who would have sex with any girl under the sun, and you got to them. What makes you think that you can't get to Josephs also."

"I got to them, because I beat their asses and I denied them dates and denied what I though were just playful advances." Krys said.

"And what were you doing to Joseph-"

"Hermione, he's not in love with me." Krys said.

"Okay." Hermione said. "If you say so."

"I do."

"That's my line."

"Too true." Hermione laughed and dragged Krys to the kitchen.

"So what time are we going to get Thai tomorrow?" she asked.

"I think that we should leave around eleven, that way, we'll get there when the kids are getting out of school."

"And why would you want to do that?"

"High school guys from the Brooklyn and the _Bronx_? Ares and Jason were Bronx bred. They breed the best looking Puerto Rican guys, ever. And they breed the best looking mixed guys, ever. You can't get any better than that." Krys said. Hermione looked at her.

"That's horrible." she said, through her laughter.

"I was joking."

"I should hope so." Hermione said, making Krys laugh. "Where's Jason from anyway. He's mixed with what?" Krys looked thoughtful.

"He told me this before… hold on. His mommy was really mixed. I mean- _really_ mixed. Her mom's mom was French, Greek and Brazilian. Her mom's dad was Romanian, Black and Indian. Her dad's mom was Cuban and Egyptian. Her dad's dad was Cuban, Welsh, Irish and Nicaraguan. So that, with his dad, who's black- Jason is _really_ mixed." Hermione nodded.

"That's why his sister looks so exotic." she said. Krys nodded.

"So… you're really getting married, and we're really gonna get Thai, and I'm really dating Josephs." she said, making Hermione nod.

"It would seem so." she said.

"Life is changing." Krys said. "Too damn much." Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down. "When did you send out the invitations?"

"Everybody's already wrote to RSVP." Hermione said. "Is Josephs coming with us to get Thai?"

"No. For every hundred that someone went for at the auction, they get a day off. Ares actually has 310 paid vacation, aside from the others that he earned from going to work every day. Plus- since they can't overwork him, when he got the promotion, he got a free weekend every month. Josephs only has five and said that he doesn't want to waste his time. So its just me you and Ares going to get her."

"Yea." Hermione said weirdly. Krys laughed. "Come on, lets go do something weird."

"Like what?" Krys asked, as they walked into the living room.

"I don't know. We're boring now. I'm not even gonna have a bachelorette party."

"Hermione, I'd buy you a stripper, but you've only seen _one_ male part. Another to your list might scare you." Krys teased. Hermione looked at her and laughed.

"Yes, as opposed to your two." she said.

"Hey, more is more." Krys said. "Then again, you don't want a stripper. But I do have some friends in BU. We can go hit a party. One of them is in a black fraternity- the other one is in a preppy ass fraternity. Either way we can have a good time."

"Okay." Hermione said.

"And I'm sure that we can find a stripper for Ron out h-"

"No." Hermione said.

"What?" Krys asked.

"No stripper. I don't want him looking at another woman who has parts that I still haven't developed." Krys laughed.

"Ron _loves_ you. And as for the parts that you haven't developed, chances are that the stripper stripped so that she could purchase those parts. _Purchase_, not develop." she said. Hermione looked at her. "Trust me; when I was at Ares' bachelor party, none of them even looked at the naked women on stage. And I chose only the sexiest women for Ares' bachelor party. They spent the entire time talking to each other, which made me think that they were all a bit- but I guess they just love their girlfriends." Hermione looked at her.

"I guess he can have a stripper." she said.

"Trust me."

"So what are we gonna do?"

"Lets go talk to Gin and A.J-"

"Not a good idea." Krys looked at her. "They retired to the bedrooms with their significant others." Hermione said. "Gin asked me to lure you away from Harry." Krys laughed.

"Well- why aren't you with Ron?" she asked.

"I have no idea. I guess I'm building dramatic tension." Hermione said. Krys sat down on one of the recliners and looked at her.

"Truth."

"I missed you."

"We've been hangin-"

"No, we haven't. We've talked about my wedding. We haven't done our usual stupid stuff."

"Dude, your wedding is important as hell. To _both_ of us. I'm never gonna get another chance to do this; number one. I'm never gonna have another wedding; number two." Krys said. Hermione looked at her, and picked up a magazine on the table in front of them.

"Ooh- good gossip." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"What?"

"There's a picture of you and Ares, then you and Josephs. Then there's a question mark in between. And on-" Krys took the magazine out of Hermione's hand and her eyes widened.

"Holy shit." Krys had a look of pure horror on her face. "What the fuck is this?" The photos were taken from two different days. One was from the day that only she and Ares went to the club, when he was holding her close and kissing her cheek. The other was from the day that they all went to the club and she was kissing Josephs. Under the question mark it said 'Who is the princess's prince?'. "Krystathaili Rodriguez, 20, is unusually affection with both unidentified men within the course of a few days. Blah, blah, blah- no one knows who her actual and official spouse is. 'I honestly don't know. Krys is just all over the place,' says a close friend." she read, before she looked at Hermione with a 'what the fuck?' look on her face. "I'm all over the place?! What the hell?!"

"Cookie, you _are_ a bit flakey." Hermione said, taking the magazine back, and flipping through the pages. After a minute she looked at Krys and laughed. "You're acting as if it isn't somewhat true." Krys looked at her.

"Its _not_." she said.

"Krys, its not necessarily a lie." Hermione said.

"Of course it is. I'm with Josephs."

"Okay." Hermione said. "Ooh- look, you're on the 'who wore it better' thingy. You wore it better."

"What was I wearing?"

"The black Banana Republic sundress, the bejeweled one. Halter sundress and black and gold espadrilles."

"Cool- I hated that dress. What'd I win by?"

"She got 22, you won by 78. Here- look, it's a good picture." Krys looked at the picture and smiled.

"I like her shoes though." she said.

"Krys… when are you going to realize that-"

"Don't." Hermione looked at her. "Why are we always talking about me and my crazy ass relationships? You're getting married. You're about to embark on this big journey where you and Ron are about to start your lives together. Don't worry about me and my shitty and weird lif-"

"Krys… our lives- its like American Idol." Hermione said.

"When its more interesting when the people can't sing. You're saying that my life is more fun, because its fucked up… and your life isn't as fun because you have your shit together?" Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"Uh-huh." she said.

"That's horrible."

"What can I say?" Hermione asked. "Its true."

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"Ronald Weasley, do you know how much I love you?" Hermione asked, as she walked out of their bathroom. Ron shook his head.

"Why don't you come over here and tell me?" he asked. Hermione lied down next to him.

"Why don't I show you?" she whispered in his ear. Ron raised his eyebrows.

"Mmm." he said. Hermione laughed.

"Then again, we can do that anytime. We have to talk." she said. Ron nodded, then wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What about?" he asked. Hermione started to sniff around him.

"When did you start smelling so sexy?" she asked.

"I've always smelled sexy." Ron said. Hermione looked thoughtful, then nodded.

"You're right." she said. "But now… you're smelling super sexy." Ron smiled and stared in her eyes. "Ron… we should talk about breakups again." Ron gave a loud groan.

"Why?" he whined. "Why do we have to talk about breakups?"

"Because we have to uncover everything." Hermione said, as she turned on the fireplace. Ron groaned and nodded.

"Okay." he said.

"Why did you break up with Lavender?" Hermione asked.

"She was getting too serious for me, and I wasn't in love with her." Ron said.

"Who were you in love with?"

"_I_ was in love with _you_."

"I know… I just like to hear you say it." Hermione said. Ron laughed and kissed her temple.

"You're a weirdo." he said. "But I love you to the moon, Hermione Weasley."

"You know, when I was younger… my dad used to tell me that the only man who deserved to be with me would love me to the moon and stars. And without me ever telling you this; you've loved me to the moon." Hermione said. Ron smiled and hugged her tightly.

"When _I_ was younger, my mother told me that I'd end up with the perfect woman. She was right… you're perfect." he said.

"Aw… Ron."

"You're also kinda mean." Ron said.

"You're not setting the mood right, _Ronald_." Hermione said. Ron looked at her, and rubbed her back. "Ooh- now you are." Ron laughed softly, then leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. "Ron, you don't know about my breakups."

"You've had other people?" Ron asked, making Hermione smile.

"Yes." she said. "I mean- not since I was fifteen, _really_, but you know." Ron nodded. "I broke up with Brandis because he was a jackass and his soccer career was probably the most important thing to him. He was also in love with Veronica- and well, because- also because I was in love with you. And… I- Viktor… he called me again, a few times, and I just want you to know that I didn't care about him, at all." Ron nodded. "And… we almost had a thing again, last year, b-"

"What?" Ron asked.

"Almost." Hermione said weakly.

"What does _almost_ mean?"

"It was less than what you and Lavender had, more than what Krys and Brookes had." Hermione said. Ron looked at her.

"Vicky." he muttered sourly, as he stood up. He started to pace around the room. "Vicky, Hermione?"

"Ron, calm down."

"How can I?"

"Oh- it was three weeks of a meaningless relationship."

"_Relationship_?!"

"An advanced friendship! Any connections that a person has with another is a relationship. We- Viktor and I had an _evolved_ acquaintanceship. It was meaningless." Hermione said. "I never even had sex with him. You were my first- which is a lot, considering Lavender was _yours_."

"Did you snog him?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at him.

"I was twenty years old, of course I snogged him." she said. Ron stopped pacing, then looked at her. "It was nothing serious."

"Bloody hell, I need a drink." he said, before he walked out of the room. Hermione groaned, and got up. She walked out of the bedroom and walked to the den that had a bar. Ron was sitting at the bar with Krys. She said something that made Ron laugh. Hermione walked up to them and looked at Krys. Krys smiled, then hopped up. She then walked away, but not before giving Hermione a thumb up. Ron was sitting at the bar drinking a bottle of Sunkist. Hermione secretly praised Krys, knowing that she got rid of all the liquor and wouldn't give Ron any anyway.

"Ronald Weasley, you are the most insufferable prat on the planet." she said. Ron turned to her with his eyebrow raised.

"Is that so?" he asked. Hermione nodded indignantly.

"Yes, that is so." she said. "You should know that I broke up with Viktor because he was not you. And it wasn't working for me, no matter how much I lied to Krys and said that I was happy. So you need to stop acting as if you and Lavender didn't have an entire relationship that had sex involved." Ron looked at her.

"You knew that I didn't care about Lavender." he said.

"Really? Did I?" Hermione said.

"Hermione… you're serious about it not being anything?" Ron asked.

"It meant nothing to me." Hermione said.

"You're telling me everything." Ron said. Hermione looked at him.

"You're reading my thoughts, aren't you?" she asked.

"Hermione, I'm a Legilimens. Don't lie to me- I-"

"I said no, Ron. Why should it matter if I said no?" Hermione asked.

"He asked you to marry him!" Ron yelled. Hermione stood up.

"You know what? I'm not gonna sit here and tell you something that you should already know. I love you! I'm _marrying_ you! What the hell does it matter that Viktor proposed to me? I said _no_!" Ron stood up and didn't say anything. He just left the room, without looking back at her.

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Krys sat inside the guestroom and put her feet on the bed. She'd just gotten a call from a New York Hip Hop station asking her if she would give them an interview. Since they didn't have an interview or anything special planned for the following afternoon, Krys agreed to do it. She lied back and stared at the ceiling. This was going to be her third Christmas without _any_ parents. When she had someone filling her father figure void, Joshua Rodriguez had been there. Krys loved Sirius and Joshua with everything that she was, and felt slightly guilty for not being able to choose who she loved more. Sirius was her birth father, and she loved him from the minute she met him. But Joshua was the man that saved her, and made her life worth living. She was shaken from her thoughts, when the door barged open. Ron walked in and sat on the bed.

"Krys, I need to talk to you." he said. Krys sat up and folded her legs.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't- I don't think I can get married anymore." Ron said. Krys stared at him. Was Ron seriously telling her that he could marry Hermione?


	40. Hags?

Krys stood up on the bed and looked down on him, before she grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled him up roughly. As she pulled, her legs stretched, so that she was holding Ron a foot off the ground and staring him in the eye.

"Ronald Weasley, are you listening to me?" Krys asked in a creepy voice. "Before you decide to make any rash decisions, you'd better tell me the truth. You're not mad about her and Krum, you don't have to lie to me about that. If you're gonna choose something to bitch and complain about, find something better. And if you're honestly bitching and complaining about this… then you're not as smart as you're given credit for. And I don't believe you as dumb… so- for your sake, I'm gonna recap a bit for you." Krys threw him on the floor, making him land with a thump. "You're about to break an engagement, because Hermione lied to you about a _romantic_ '_relationship_' with Krum. Ron, she _pecked_ him on the lips twice, in _three_ weeks! There was no intense kissing- there was no groping. They went on two shitty dates, where I spied out, because I didn't want her to do anything stupid. Which she didn't. Do you know where they went on their date, Ron? Do you know what she wore?" Ron shook his head. "On her first date with Viktor Krum, Hermione wore big gray sweatpants, with a big flannel shirt, and… you're gonna laugh when you hear this- they went to McDonalds. It wasn't a date Ron- it was like she said. More than what me and Brookes had, less than you and Lavender. So- if you're gonna talk to me, tell me the truth. Let it out there." Ron didn't say anything. "Okay- in case you've forgotten this in the past two years, when I say something, I want results! Talk, now!" Ron stood up.

"She sho- Krys, she's perfect. She should be with someone accomplished, and now- because of the Yule Ball inc-" he started. Krys held her hand up, and as soon as she did, Ron stopped talking.

"Hold on, hold on." Krys said. "You're gonna throw something away, because you're thinking about the Yule Ball when you were fourteen?" Krys laughed and stopped abruptly. "I don't know- I'm so pissed right now, but if I stop laughing… I'm gonna hurt you."

"Krys, it's a commitment, and I'm only twenty."

"No one told you to propose. Now you have her and she's elated and she's euphoric, and she's just on fucking edge, about marrying _you_. She's on edge about marrying you, and you want to pull some shit like this. Let me tell you something, Ronald, come here." Ron looked at her and shook his head. "Come here. Fine- you know what? Don't." She took a deep breath. "If you hurt her, I will kill you. And I'm not talking 'Ron, I'm gonna kill you,' playful bullshit. I'm talking about 'slitting your eyelids, stopping your pulse, driving a knife through you, stopping your heartbeat, nails and hair growing six feet under, worm food, rats eating your decaying corpse' kill you. And if you're gonna make the decision, think the _whole thing through_. Don't tell me that you're going to do this to her, off of something that happened when you were fourteen-"

"Krys, its more than that." Ron said.

"What is it?" Krys asked. Ron took a deep breath.

"Krys, she's probably expecting some wonderful life and some great adventures. Krum is an international Quidditch star-"

"Oh my God. See- who says that guys can't be so _cute_?" Krys said to no one in particular. She looked at him. "Ronald Weasley, you are one of the most amazing men in the world. And- are you really that insecure?" Ron didn't say anything. Krys laughed and sat down on the bed. "Okay- mean Krys is gone."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked.

"Not really. She just shows up." Krys looked at him. "Okay… Viktor Krum is very attractive. He's also very rich and very successful. But I have a newsflash for you, _darling_. Viktor Krum is ugly, dumb, and he's on the verge of being a sex offender." Ron looked at her. "No- not really. You know that I went out with him when I was sixteen. Yeah, well, anyway- he took me to this… place and he… anyw-"

"He what?" Ron asked. Krys looked at him.

"He showed me his… little Viktor." Ron almost gagged. "Thank you- who the hell did he think I was? Who the hell did he think he was? Anyway- now something's wrong with it. Why am I telling you this? Sorry. Anyway- I didn't tell Hermione, because I didn't want her to… um… it was around the time that Ares was about to propose to Emily. I didn't want her to think I was jealous, so I didn't tell her. But just so you know- Viktor is known, he's rich, he's _attractive_- not good-looking, don't get them confused, but _attractive_. Anyway- even the red haired, blue eyes, freckly _thing_ that you are-" Ron laughed. "I kid… I won't tell you how pretty you are, because I don't want it to go to your head, but… I will say that even compared to an international Quidditch star, at first glance, you would honestly be my first, second- three thousand seven hundred and fifty eighth choice. Ron, if I had a dime for every single time I said that you and Hermione should have a gorgeous son already, so that I can have him and marry him when I'm thirty eight… I'd have about a dollar." Krys looked at him, then closed one eye. "And- this is none of your business, but I'll tell you anyway. Viktor Krum proposed to Hermione, because he needed his rep to cool down. He was having sex with too many prostitutes and young girls, so… he needed his image to cool down. And she said no. Its not like when you and Lavender had sex last year. Its not like when you and Melanie had sex last year. Its not like when you and Parvati had sex last year. She said _no_."

"Krys, I… she could be with Krum right now."

"Not likely. That's like saying that I could be with Henry right now."

"Krys, she went out with him. He's a pureblood. She was still with him after a year of telling me that blood was an issue. That's why."

"Ron, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna take Hermione to New York with me. We'll be back tomorrow night. If by then, you still feel that she betrayed you, which she didn't, you can tell her how you feel and do what you're gonna do. All I know is… I've never seen you look so happy… and overall that's all that matters. You and Hermione's happiness-"

"Krys, I don't know if I'm good enough."

"Like I said… I'm gonna take Hermione to New York with me. We'll be back tomorrow night." Krys said before she stood up. "You know what, Ron? This is out of the blue. There were no signs before, there was no-"

"Krys, she deserves better." Ron said. Krys looked him up and down and nodded.

"Damn right, she does." she said.

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Krys walked into Hermione's room and smacked Hermione's arm lightly. Hermione looked up and sniffled.

"Guess what." Krys said, as she jumped up and down excitedly. Hermione looked at her.

"What?" she asked.

"We have to leave tonight." Krys said. "I have to do a radio station in the afternoon so… you know. I won't make you come with me, but… I'm begging you to." Hermione nodded.

"I need time away from… I need time away." she said. Krys nodded.

"So you get an outfit packed for both you and me, and I'm gonna let the others know." she said. "And hopefully Ares will still want to come." Hermione nodded. Krys walked out of the room and sighed heavily. "What the hell am I gonna do?" she asked herself. Krys took a deep breath and walked out into the living room, where they were all hanging out.

"Krys." Jason started. "Wrong or right, basketball is better than football."

"Depends." Krys said.

"Oh yeah?" Josephs said. "On what?"

"Whether someone like basketball better than football." Krys said, making them all laugh. "Anyway… I have some news." They all looked at her. "I'm leaving tonight."

"Why?" Josephs asked.

"Because I have shit to do." Krys said. "Anyway… I have shit to do, and… I haven't gotten any of you anything yet- so no better time than the present." Krys laughed. "Get it? Present?" The only two that were slightly laughing were Josephs and Ares. Krys was still laughing at her joke. "Okay- anyway. Ares, are you still coming?" Ares nodded. "Good- go get your shit together." She looked around. "That's all I have to say. 'Night, guys." Krys skipped out and back to Hermione's room. Hermione was sitting on the bed, staring ahead.

"Krys, I was completely understanding when he told me about each and every girl that he had meaningless sex with. I barely kissed Viktor." Hermione said.

"Well sometimes kissing is worse than meaningless sex. To a lot of people. I mean… a kiss is something that can say a thousand things. Like prostitutes. Hookers have sex with hundreds of men, and sometimes they don't and _won't_ kiss one. That's what made 'Pretty Woman' so special." Hermione laughed softly.

"Krys, what am I gonna do?"

"Wait."

"What?"

"Well- maybe you should just breathe. You'll be gone for a day, enough time to clear your head. I mean, after my interview, we should go shopping. Or we can just hang out and scope high school guys." Hermione laughed again. "I'm joking. New York is wonderful, and we'll stay at my suite in the Plaza… and we'll- we can stay an extra day if you want, even. And come back the day after tomorrow."

"Whatever I want?"

"Of course, you're my homie." Krys said, hopping up. "Now lets _roll_. I have a Vettie here."

"A Vettie?"

"A Corvette. Hello? You've been my homie for how many years and your ass still can't get my car lingo?" Hermione laughed and stood up. "Actually- we're gonna take the Dodge Caravan. It has more space."

"I'm gonna stop crying, because… what reasons do I have to stop crying?" Hermione sobbed. Krys stood up and shook her.

"Hermione, I will beat your ass right now, if I have to answer that question." she said. "You're funny. You're brilliant. You have a good jo-"

"But do I have a social life besides him?"

"You have me."

"Oh my God!" Hermione sobbed harder. "I'm gonna be a hag." Krys almost laughed, but stopped herself.

"Hermione, if there's one thing that you should've learned a few years ago, its that… problems arise everywhere, all the time. But it's the bad shit that makes the good stuff so great. And the fact that this isn't going as smoothly as we all imagined means that it'll be more worth it."

"Krys, he's- I should've told him the truth sooner, right?"

"Possibly. But there's always the chance that he would've acted the same way." Hermione stood up. "Where are you going?"

"To talk to h-"

"No."

"Krys, why not?"

"Because you might say something that you'll regret."

"Krys, everything that I'll say will need to be said." Hermione said.

"Her-"

"Krys, I'm going to talk to him." Hermione walked out of the room, and Krys ran after her. When she got to a guest room, she opened the door. Ron was lying down on the bed. Hermione took the pillow off his head and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. "We need to talk." Ron nodded.

"Have a seat." he said. Hermione shook her head and stood.

"What's your problem?" she asked. "Like, are you searching for reasons not to marry me, because if you are… you can just tell me. And I might cry, and I might be angry, but I'll be okay. Because I'm not gonna chase after anyone who doesn't want me. I'm not going to chase after you, and I'm not going to beg you to marry me, Ron. If you don't want me, fine. Just make sure you have your shit out of my place, by the time I get there." Then she started to walk out of the room. She didn't get far, because Ron grabbed her arm, and turned her around gently.

"You're not gonna fight for us?" he asked softly.

"Should I?" Hermione said. "Honestly, if everything goes down the drain because I pecked Krum twice, was it worth it? If you're willing to give it all up, shouldn't I?"

"I don't want to lose you, Hermione, but-."

"_But_?" Ron didn't say anything, making her move back. "Ron, I'll be back in one- two days tops. You tell me what you want, _then_. Because, I'm better than this."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"Hermione, you're so much better than the life that I can give you."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. Krum can give you beautiful th-"

"Ron, please don't start comparing yourself to Viktor. You know what- you… I'm leaving."

"Don't leave me." Ron whispered.

"Ron, don't play with me. What is this to you, some kind of game? Well guess what- its not funny. Not for me." Hermione said. "Ron, one minute you're telling me that you want to marry me. One day everything is perfect- then bam, everything is getting flushed down the drain. If you want me, tell me now." Ron had tears in his eyes, trailing down his face as he looked at her.

"I'm not strong enough." he whispered. Hermione nodded, then took the ring off of her finger. She handed it to him, then walked out to Krys' room. Krys was in the room, putting money in her wallet. She looked at Hermione, and her mouth dropped open. She didn't say anything. Krys knew that the moment she said something, Hermione would start to cry. So she stayed silent, and picked up a bag. She walked over to Hermione and stood on her tippy toes, before slinging her arm around her shoulder. The two walked and Hermione wore a pained expression on her face. Krys walked her to the car and dropped the bags off, before she left Hermione in the car to get Ares. Hermione sat and looked ahead, while she sat in the car. When Krys and Ares got into the car also, she just stared ahead, before she lied down and went to sleep.

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When Hermione went to sleep, Ares took over the wheel. Krys looked to the back and bit her lip.

"So, what's happening?" Ares asked.

"I don't think they're getting married anymore." Krys said.

"Wow." Ares said.

"I know. But maybe its for the best. Maybe…- I have no idea why this is happening. I mean… the date with Viktor was something that she did, because… she was depressed about Ron. And it was mostly my fault. But since the line of fate changed anyway, I thought it would change for the best, when in reality, its changing for the worst."

"Line of fate."

"Did you pay attention in history of magic, at all?" Krys asked.

"Yeah, to you." Ares said, making Krys smile slightly.

"The line of fate is… okay- you know how they say that everything that happens is for the best? _Candide_?" Ares nodded.

"Vaguely, but yes."

"Well the line of fate says that everything has been planned already. From the moment your born, your whole life is planned- and that's a lot like the religious belief, I don't remember and I can't even try now, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah."

"Well, every so often a really evil wizard messes with the line of fate. And once they mess it up, it's a hard ass job to get the world back on track- with the six degrees of separation and in the line of fate-… Okay, say… something made us romantically involved in the line of fate, right? Well- if that happens, then Ailen gets mad, Array goes crazy and they stop hanging out. The next few years, all of the men that Array date get killed, because she's psychotic, and their children grow up badly, go to prison- yadda, yadda, yadda. The line of fate can screw everyone's life up badly because we're all connected by someone, and the line of fate gets you. Its like… chilling with someone who everyone has a vengeance on, can get you hurt, your children- everyone. In more ways than one. I feel like its my fault." Ares looked at her and shook his head, before he focused on the road. Krys stared ahead as he drove, and nodded off to sleep somewhere in Delaware. When she woke up, she was in the back backseat with a cover over her and snuffles in her arms. The car was toasty warm and she heard laughter. She sat up and brushed her teeth, while she watched Hermione and Ares laugh. They looked at her and smiled. Hermione's eyes were slightly red and puffy, but she was smiling.

"You're up." Ares said. Krys nodded. "Well- I decided to stop at this rest stop. Hermione was hungry, so we ate junk. I got you some chocolate." Krys smiled.

"You want me to drive?" she asked.

"Its okay. You go back to sleep." Ares said. Krys nodded, and looked around. It couldn't be more than two o'clock in the morning.

"Music- or are you guys talking?" Krys asked.

"Music is always good." Ares said. Krys moved up to the front backseat while Hermione took the front. Krys looked at the side panel to control the music. She looked through her selection, then smiled. She put on 'Quiet Storm (remix)' by Mobb Deep. Ares laughed and looked back at her. Hermione was still eating candy, chips and soda. She was laughing and smiling with Ares.

"What did you guys talk about while I was asleep?" Krys asked.

"Stuff." Ares said. Krys nodded.

"Really informative." she muttered. She looked at her selection again, and choose a new song. This time, she chose 'Toe to Toe' by Big Pun and Cuban Link. When Ares heard this, he looked at her.

"Nice selection." he said. Krys lied back- or sideways and propped her head up on a pillow. She looked at Hermione, who had that controlled devastation look about her.

"What time is it?" Krys asked.

"On fifty five a.m." Ares said. "Oh- I got you some Pepsi… and I wasn't sure if you wanted soda, so I got you some Sobe Energy, your favorite." Krys tried to hide the small smile.

"Thank you." she said.

"Its under the seat in the bag- oh… and I know you don't like chips. So I got your cookies."

"Thank you." Krys said quietly.

"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her and shook her head.

"I don't know what they'll ask on the interview tomorrow." she said. "Actually, I do know what they'll ask… and I'm not prepared to answer." Hermione actually graced Krys with a smile that reached her eyes. "Smiling at my misery?"

"I'm smiling because of what you just said." Hermione said.

"How are you?"

"Wonderful, considering the circumstances." Hermione took a deep breath. "Is it bad that I'd take him back in a minute?" Krys shook her head.

"Of course not." she said.

"Oh Jesus." Ares mumbled, making them look at him. "Women are clueless."

"Why do you say that?" Hermione asked.

"Ron's an auror. That's all you need to know to figure out why he's getting cold feet." Ares said. They still stared at him, and Ares kept his gaze on the road. "Aurors have some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the wizarding world, correct?"

"Yeah." Hermione and Krys chorused.

"Ron works for the European ministry- the ministry with the most dangerous crime and the most enemies. And so, if anyone that Ron wronged- or someone that believes that Ron wronged them, chooses to get their revenge, they don't go for the brothers and mothers- not when they can go for the wives. Or the children. Why do you think guys like Moody choose to stay single and walk alone? The only people that the Moodys of the world get close to, are other aurors. And its not like Ron thinks you're weak… its that the crazy people of the world are now crazy strong and crazy powerful. In auror training, they say that you're a brave one if you get married." Ares said. "I remember- Moody did this fucked up training practice, with SCB's-"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Oh- new training device. Its called Specific Choice Bogart. Its where you program a bogart to show something specific. They're horrifying as hell. They do whatever you want." Krys said.

"Well- it was strictly for ones who had spouses. Anyway, you're tied up, no wand… and you have to watch a bunch of men torture your girl. It went as bad as raping- to the BBS, the BCC, PRB, BS, Bsh, BC, all types of harsh shit, magic and muggle alike. I mean- you literally have to watch guys mangle her… its-…" Ares took a deep breath and didn't say anything for a while. "Anyway, if you couldn't handle it… you had to say '_I'm not strong enough_'. And… if Moody believed it, you got kicked out. If he didn't, you had to sit through it, until you _could_ get out. And its not like it was easy… you had to sit through it and watch men do the mos- it was crazy."

"So… when did Ron get out?" Krys asked.

"Actually, it wasn't something that any of us talked about, really. You know- guys… couldn't talk about it. Um-"

"Was Ron the last one to get out?"

"I don't really know. As soon as you got out, you got a few days to get your head straight- away from your fight team. Then we all got callbacks on our pagers a few days after I got out." Ares said. "That shit is tough man, 'cause… okay- its like a selected BBS. Its like… someone controls- pretty much one of your worst nightmares. They'll only let you out if you go insane. Otherwise, you have to stay or say that you're not strong enough."

"Just like in healer training. We had to have someone on the verge of death on our table, and we had to think on our feet to save them." Krys said. 'That explains why he changed his story a million times. It was so dodgy.' she thought to herself.

"Yeah." Ares said. Hermione looked at Krys, then stayed silent.

"What did they do to the girls?" Krys asked.

"Same thing. Boyfriends getting tortured." Ares said.

"There's a saying." Krys said. "'Only job tougher than being an auror, is being an auror's wife.' But if you marry an auror, your kids should grow up with that whole spy kids demeanor." Hermione cracked a smile, then turned to Krys.

"Can't take it." she said. Krys instantly knew that she was talking about the song selection that they came up with together. Krys nodded, then looked through the selection. The play list was named 'Bon-bon and Cookie supreme'. The first song on it was 'Fat Lip' by Sum 41. Then the next few songs were also by Sum 41, but by the end of the 25 song play list, the songs got more mellow and trendy. There was some Maria Mena, Mandy Moore, All American Rejects, Motioncity Soundtrack, Christina Aguilera, Fergie, and of course Alexz Johnson. Poor Ares. Krys had every intention of going to her hip hop play list after they were finished. A list of she and Ares' favorite songs were also boiled into a play list. He didn't seem to mind when the first song came on, so Krys didn't make it a point to say anything. Krys had play lists with all of them. The ultimate play list for the girls was called, 'Bon-bon, Cookie, Brownie and Pumpkin supreme'. "Krys- skip down to the Christina." The first song by Christina Aguilera was from Hermione's favorite album by the artist, _Back to Basics_. It was called 'Understand'. Krys watched as Hermione lied back and ate her cookies. Krys heard a light grumble come from her own stomach.

"The stuff is under the seat." Ares said, making Krys look at him.

"You heard that?" she asked.

"No- but I heard that sound that you make when you're hungry." Ares said. Hermione looked at Krys, and despite her unhappiness, grinned. Then she mouthed a small 'you sure can pick them'. Krys rolled her eyes and looked under the seat, where there was an entire pack of Sobe Energy. There was also the entire chocolate aisle from any store. The only things that weren't included were chocolate items with almonds or raisins. Ares knew how much she hated them. "Oh- and in case you change your mind about the 'Chips Ahoy', they're up here." Krys laughed.

"Thank you." she said gratefully.

"No problem." Ares said. Krys smiled slightly to herself as she watched him in the reflection of her window. She shook her head, then turned away as the song 'Can't Take It' came on. It was one of Krys' favorite songs. It was like a ritual that she and Hermione had whenever they were in the car together. It was one of the songs that they had to listen to, along with Alexz Johnson's 'There's Us' and 'Skips'- pretty much all of Alex Johnson's songs, and Maria Mena's 'Our Battles'. Krys and Hermione looked at each other, before Hermione handed Krys a lollipop and they started to sing off-key.

'You speak to me

I know this will be temporary

You ask to leave

But I can't tell you that I've had

Enough

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well do it alone

And I'll watch you go

Step up to me

I know that you've got something buried

I'll set you free

You set conditions but I've had

Enough

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well just do it alone

And I'll watch you go

Come back home

Won't you come back home

You step in line you got a lot to prove

It comes and goes

Yeah it comes and goes

A step in time

Yeah its a lot to move

Know this will be temporary

I know this will be temporary

I know this will be but I've had

Enough

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well just do it alone

And I'll watch you go

I can't take it

This welcome is gone

And I've waited long enough

To make it

And if you're so strong

You might as well just do it alone

And I'll watch you go' (The song is wonderful… I swear by it. Along with the other songs in my ritual- _buy_.) When the song was over, Ares was laughing at them, but they were already in preparation for the next song. A song that they couldn't hold a tune for.

'There's me

Looking down at my shoes

The one smiling like the sun

That's you

What were you thinking

What was the song inside your head

There's us

Going on about a band

Working out how we play our hand

I lay there dreaming, Later

All alone in my bed

If I was stupid,

Maybe careless

So were you

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us

Freeze Frame

I'm not about to cry

Its too late for us to change

Why try

I've got a camera

Tucked away inside my heart

If I'm a loser, or just unlucky

So are you

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us

Somewhere between then and now

I looked away when you said we'll never change

And if you think we might've been you'll lose today

And we've got songs to play

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us

Not everything is supposed to come true

Some words are best unsaid

Some love is not really love at all

I keep everything I share with you

And that's enough

There's Us' Krys and Hermione again, got prepared for a song that they couldn't hit the notes to, with Maria Mena's 'Our Battles'.

'Our battles are repetitious

If not broken poetry

And maybe that's the attraction

That you're as self-absorbed as me

You jumped to the conclusion

And landed on my chest

Now how am I supposed to make you see?

I'll just write this down

With hopes that you'll understand

I will no longer be disciplined by

The frustration of an insecure man

And as I kiss your face you'll know that

I can no longer apologize for

Your former lover's mistakes.

My past is mine to keep

Now who are you to question me?

Perhaps someday you'll learn

Too bad

It's not our turn

You jumped to the conclusion

And landed on my chest

Now how am I supposed to make you see?

I'll just write this down

With hopes that you'll understand

I will no longer be disciplined by

The frustration of an insecure man

And while I kiss your face you'll know that

I will no longer apologize for

Your former lover's mistakes.

You set the standard for my future

You set the standard for my future lovers

You set the standard for my future

You set the standard for my future lovers

You set the standard for my future lovers

You set the standard for my future lovers

You set the standard for my future lovers

You set the standard for my future

I'll just write this down

With hopes that you'll understand

I can no longer be disciplined by

The frustrations of an insecure man

And as I kiss your face you'll know that

I will no longer apologize for

your former lover's mistakes.' Ares laughed at them again, and Krys looked at Hermione for the last and final song that they couldn't hit the notes for. Hermione genuinely laughed as Krys bopped her head off beat. The next song was 'Skips' by Alexz Johnson.

'I feel my heart doesn't fit

'Cause it beats too many times

And it skips

Running races in my head and then

I feel my hands don't work

Touching your skin in the dark

I was put here to watch

Not meant to get caught up in it

Close to your skin

Up and down

On this merry-go-round

Take me up

Put me back in one piece

But let me feel you

Well, here I am

Landing myself again

Ready to fake on a win

But let me break him in

Let me break him in

I made a choice

Try and make myself invisible

Make sure I can fit it

'Cause I'm sick of feeling miserable

Hidden by some lies

Sacrifice my friendly ties

Started from scratch

Won't attack if he walks my way

Hear what he has to say

I feel my heart doesn't fit

'Cause it beats too many times

And it skips

Running races in my head and then

I feel my hands don't work

Touching your skin in the dark

I was put here to watch

Not meant to get caught up in it

Close to your skin

I made a choice

Try and make myself invisible

Make sure I can fit it

'Cause I'm sick of feeling miserable

Hidden by some lies

Sacrifice my friendly ties

Started from scratch

Won't attack if he walks my way

Hear what he has to say

I feel my heart doesn't fit

'Cause it beats too many times

And it skips

Running races in my head and then' Hermione laughed as Krys held her head back in a pose worthy of an opera singer.

"Okay- what's the next song?" Krys asked. "We have between the Mandy Moore's cover of 'Umbrella' and the real version of 'Umbrella' with Rihanna and Jay-Z."

"Both." Hermione said.

"Okay." Krys said, as she put on Rihanna and Jay-Z's version first. Krys bopped her head and lied back down.

'No clouds in my storms

Let it rain, I hydroplane in the bank (Rihanna: eh, eh, eh)

Coming down with the Dow Jones

When the clouds come we gone, we Rocafella (Rihanna: eh, eh, eh)

She fly higher than weather

And G5's are better, You know me,

an anticipation, for precipitation. Stacked chips for the rainy day

Jay, Rain Man is back with little Ms. Sunshine (Rihanna: eh, eh, eh)

Rihanna where you at?

[Rihanna

You had my heart

And we'll never be worlds apart

May be in magazines

But you'll still be my star

Baby cause in the dark

You can see shiny cars

And that's when you need me there

With you I'll always share

Because

[Chorus

When the sun shine, we'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath I'mma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we'll still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella, ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella, eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh)

These fancy things, will never come in between

You're part of my entity, here for Infinity

When the war has took it's part

When the world has dealt it's cards

If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart

Because

[Chorus

When the sun shine, we'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath I'mma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we'll still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh)

You can run into my arms

It's okay don't be alarmed

Come into me

(There's no distance in between our love)

So go on and let the rain pour

I'll be all you need and more

Because

[Chorus

When the sun shine, we'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath I'mma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we'll still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh)

Under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh)

It's raining (raining)

Ooh baby it's raining (raining)

Baby come into me

Come into me

It's raining (raining)

Oh baby it's raining (raining)

You can always come into me

come into me' Krys looked around.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Jersey." Ares said, before the Mandy Moore 'Umbrella' cover played. It was nice and mellow, as Krys lied down and listened to it. She looked at Hermione, who looked slightly peaceful and slightly depressed. When the song was done, Krys looked through the selection and saw another song that Hermione once responded well to. Although it was a sad thought, Krys was depending on the power of music to cheer up Hermione. When she remembered the words in the song, it was already too late. 'Dammit Krys.' she thought to herself, as she put on a fake grin and bore it. The song was called 'Just Hold Me' and it was by Maria Mena. Yet again, another song that they couldn't hold the notes for.

'Comfortable as I am

I need your reassurance

And comfortable as you are

You count the days

But if I wanted silence

I would whisper

And if I wanted loneliness

I'd choose to go

And if I liked rejection

I'd audition

And if I didn't love you

You would know

And why can't you just hold me

And how come it is so hard

And do you like to see me broken

And why do I still care

Still care

You say you see the light now

At the end of this narrow hall

I wish it didn't matter

I wish I didn't give you all

But if I wanted silence

I would whisper

And if I wanted loneliness

I'd choose to go

And if I liked rejection

I'd audition

And if I didn't love you

You would know

And why can't you just hold me

And how come it is so hard

And do you like to see me broken

And why do I still care

Poor little misunderstood baby

No one likes a sad face

But I can't remember life without him

I think I did have good days

I think I did have good days

And Why ...

Why can't you just hold me

And how come it is so hard

And do you like to see me broken

And why do I still care' Hermione looked at Krys questioningly for a minute, before she laughed.

"You're a weirdo. You know that?" she asked.

"I'm not weird." Krys insisted. "I'm different." Ares and Hermione laughed and nodded. "Here- I have some Motioncity Soundtrack. The good stuff. Three good- _grrreat_ songs." Hermione nodded, while holding down her chuckles. Krys nodded and put on the music. The first song on the three were 'Everything is Alright' by Motioncity Soundtrack.

'Tell me that you're alright

Yeah everything is alright

Oh please tell me that you're alright

Yeah everything is alright

Give me a reason

To end this discussion

To break with tradition

To fold and divide

'Cause I hate the ocean

Theme parks and airplanes

Talking with strangers

Waiting in line

I'm through with these pills that make me sit still

Are you feeling fine?

Yes I feel just fine

Tell me that you're alright

Yeah everything is alright

Oh please tell me that you're all alright

Yeah everything is alright

I'm sick of the things I do when I'm nervous

Like cleaning the oven

Or checking my tires

Or counting the number of tiles in the ceiling

Head for the hills the kitchens on fire

I used to rely on self medication

I guess I still do that from time to time

But I'm getting better at fighting the future

Someday you'll be fine

Yes I feel just fine

Tell me that you're alright

Yeah everything is alright

Oh please tell me that you're alright

Yeah everything is alright

Give me a reason (I don't believe a word)

To end this discussion (Of anything I've heard)

To break with tradition (They tell me that its not so hard)

To fold and divide (Its not so hard)

So lets not get carried (Away with everything)

Away with the process (From here to in between)

Of elimination (The long goodbye)

I don't want to waste your time

Tell me that you're alright

Yeah everything is alright

Oh please tell me that you're alright

Yeah everything is alright

Tell me that you're alright (Hi everything's great)

Yeah everything is alright (Everything's fine)

Oh please tell me that you're alright (hi everything's great)

Yeah everything is alright (yeah everything's fine)' (Sorry about all the lyrics, I just want you guys to hear my inspirational songs. Just skim through if you like- you'll do it anyway.) The next song was 'Resolution' by Motioncity Soundtrack.

'I like the universe, but she messes with my words

I'm not talking planets or galaxies and the distance just makes it worse.

I know what you're thinking, this probably sounds rehearsed.

So let's give it up for the New Year

Did this party of two have you slightly confused?

Now that our things are divided

She refuses to speak and I'm drifting to sleep at the wheel.

Liquids, powders and pills, not quite taken against my will.

The tastes test of girls, from all over the world

who refuse to except my excuses.

She put up with so much of my madness and my self-abuse

She would tend to my wounds and fill me with food when I'd stumble in drunk for breakfast,

She was right to take off before she was consumed

So let's give it up for the New Year

Did this party of two have you slightly confused?

Now that our things are divided

She refuses to speak and I'm drifting to sleep at the wheel.

So let's give it up for the New Year

Did this party of two have you slightly confused?

Now that our things are divided

She refuses to speak

I'm drifting to sleep

Let's give it up for the New Year

Did this party of two have you slightly confused?

Now that our things are divided

She refuses to speak and I'm drifting to sleep at the wheel.

I like the universe, but she messes with my words

I'm not talking planets or galaxies and the distance just makes it worse.

You're totally right, every action was well rehearsed.' The next song was a song that Krys and Hermione loved. 'When you're around' by Motioncity soundtrack. Hermione looked at Krys and gave her a smile that said 'thanks for making me feel better'. Krys rolled her eyes in a way that let Hermione know her signature line 'please, you're my Bon-bon.'

'Midwest love affair

I bend when I am bored

Late night liquor blue

Will lead me to the floor.

Can we fake it?

Can we make believe?

I'm so full of love

It deeply sickens me.

But all I could do was close my eyes

And cross my heart and hope to die

'Cause you don't fucking listen

When I'm around.

The least you could do is take it back

All the vicious remarks and verbal attacks

'Cause I can't fucking stand it.

When you're around.

Midwest aftermath, the rumors start to rise

Did I truly do the things that you've described?

They must hate me, every single one

It just sickens them, what I consider fun.

But all I could do was close my eyes

And cross my heart and hope to die

'Cause you don't fucking listen

When I'm around.

The least you could do is take it back

All the vicious remarks and verbal attacks,

'Cause I can't fucking stand it.

When you're around.

But all I could do was close my eyes

And cross my heart and hope to die

'Cause you don't fucking listen

When I'm around.

The least you could do is take it back

All the vicious remarks and verbal attacks

'Cause I can't fucking stand it.

When you're around.

No I can't fucking stand it, when you're around.

No I can't fucking stand it, when you're around.' By the end, Krys and Hermione were rocking their heads and singing every word. Ares was laughing at them, as he stared ahead. They finally stopped again, when Hermione had to use the bathroom. So, she and Krys got out of the car and walked to the rest stop bathroom. Krys looked around and almost died, it was so disgusting. When Hermione walked out, she seemed relieved, yet traumatized. She washed her hands, and shuddered as she looked around again.

"You're stronger than me." Krys said, making Hermione laugh, before they walked out to the car. Ares was still in the driver's seat, drumming the wheel.

"And smarter." Hermione said. "I mean… this is one of those cases where he was actually only a jackass, because he's afraid that you won't _like_ him. Love him, much? Yeah, you do." Krys looked at her.

"What are you talking about? And why are we talking about me instead of you?" she said.

"Because I've decided that…-"

"You're not giving up on Ron, are you?" Krys asked, with a voice full of fear.

"Are you crazy?" Hermione asked, relieving Krys of all her previous thoughts. "I mean- I can't. But I somehow think he's giving up on me… so- maybe I should get smart." Hermione sighed, making Krys sigh. "Krys, I don't think he wants me anymore." It came out as a small sob, but Hermione took a deep breath and stabled her breathing.

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Ron lied in his bed with puffy red eyes, and looked up at his ceiling. He was clutching the engagement ring so hard in his hand that it was disgustingly drawing blood. He was hugging a pillow, clutching it to his chest, and each time that he thought about what he'd done, he put it to his face and muffled his sobs. After two hours of crying, he got up and took a shower. When he was done getting dressed, he started to bang on Harry's door. He stood there banging on Harry's door so hard that he swore he would break his hand. When Harry finally answered the door, he looked livid.

"What?" he asked, through gritted teeth.

"We're going out." Ron said. "Come on, Harry! We have to leave now- I can't stay here anymore. I really- we have to go, Harry." Harry groaned.

"Jesus." he said.


	41. What It All Comes Down To

"Krys, what… I mean… are you- why doesn't anyone seem genuinely sad about me and Ron?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"No one seems genuinely sad." Krys shrugged.

"Of course I'm not happy-"

"Sad. 'Not happy' doesn't mean sad." Hermione said. Krys took a deep breath.

"Well… maybe this is happening for the best. I don't know, Hermione." she said. "I was happy when you and Ron got engaged, but… what the hell can I do now? I can't fix everything- I can't fix a lot of shit. I mean, there are things that I can do, but… the results wouldn't mean much if I do it. Your whole lives would revolve around a lie." Hermione nodded and sat down.

"If he doesn't come back, it wasn't meant to be. If he does come back, we'll be happy." she repeated. Krys looked at her and sighed, before she left Hermione lying in the king size bed. When she opened the door, Ares was about to knock on it. Krys smiled, then walked out, pulling him along with her.

"She needs space… and time." she said.

"Do you really think this is happening?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Do you really believe that its over for them?"

"I don't know. I don't know what to think. I mean- I'm torn between two. I'm on Hermione's side, where she's in love with him. And they're happy. And all that other shit. Then I understand Ron, and although I'm happy that they're happy, _marriage_?"

"What do you mean, Krys? Remember- when its right, you just know." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Do you honestly believe that?" she asked.

"Sometimes." Ares looked at her. "Krys, you're gonna hate me for mentioning this again-"

"Ares, I know. You're sorry. You didn't mean to treat me like that, when you were with Emily. Yadda, yadda, yadda." Krys took a deep breath. "I can't- I don't know… I'm going to say this again. I have no idea what was going through your mind those days. I have no idea what was happening with you. I have no idea why you were being such a dipshit and how you went from nice to mean, from hot to cold, from sweetheart to jackass, but… I do know that you're back to sweetheart again. And I missed sweetheart." Krys said, making Ares smile. "Now, the next time you apologize to me without having to- I'm gonna shove my foot so far down your throat, you'll be shitting toenails." Ares squinted. "I just came up with it, too." Ares smiled.

"I'm back." he said.

"Good. I have a split personality, too." Ares laughed. "Do you know what they say about people that are unanimously bad?"

"What?"

"That they just need someone to seriously love them. See- Emily had _one_ really good thing about her."

"What?"

"Her loyalty to Kay. Other than that, Emily was a fucking _demon_." Ares nodded.

"Yeah." he said softly, before looking at her. "I just want you to know… about all that shit I said before…" Krys looked at him. "I don't know where it came from."

"I do." Krys said, pounding his heart.

"No, Krys… I mean, I really have no idea where it came from."

"Its okay, Ares. The way I see it… don't say sorry, just don't do it again. Are you gonna do it again?" Ares shook his head. "Then there's no need for any more apologies." She pecked him on the cheek. Ares looked at her and grinned, before Krys stood up. She took her phone off her clip and it rang a second later. She put it to her ear and muttered an 'mm-hmm'. "What? Okay… put him on the phone." Krys started to do weird drum cadences and tap her foot, before she spoke again. "Yes. Please do." Then she hung her phone up.

"What's going on?" Ares asked. Krys shook her head and didn't answer, she just looked drowned in a thoughtful state. A few minutes later, Ron and Harry walked out of an elevator with the doorman. Ron looked at Krys.

"Where is she?" he asked. Krys pointed to the bedroom behind her. Harry walked out, and Krys saluted the elevator man, after tipping him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Krys asked.

"Ron spent an hour after you guys left, crying." Harry said, making Krys nod.

"Okay."

"And so he starts banging my goddamn door down talking about how he couldn't stay there anymore. Then he said that we had to leave. So… we hopped into the Corvettie and came here, where he told me to bring him." Harry said, making Krys nod.

"Okay… so either the wedding is back on, or we'll all have to chip in to make sure Hermione doesn't go crazy." she said. "Which one is it?"

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Ron walked into the room, and stared at the bed from afar. He had no idea what to say to her. How do you redeem yourself when you hurt the person you love the most? He took a deep breath and walked forward, making himself visible. As soon as she saw him, Hermione covered her face with a pillow.

"Hermione, I'm sorry." Ron said softly, making her move the pillow slightly. "And I know that sorry- that's just a word, I know that. But… I want to marry you. And I need you." Hermione still didn't say anything, she just continued to look at him from the pillow. "Hermione, I'm sorry and I love you. I- please, say that you'll wear the ring again. Please say that we'll still get married next week." Hermione continued to stare at him from the pillow. "Please say something."

"You come here… after telling me a bunch of crap about how you don't want to lose me, _but_…- and you expect me to forgive you?" Hermione asked.

"Um…- Hermione, I don't know what else to say except, I'm sorry and I love you."

"Find something to say, Ron. Find the words." Hermione demanded.

"Please marry me. I mean, I'm… I ha- I… please, forgive me, Hermione. I love you." Ron said, after getting on his knees and walking over to her. He looked at her. Hermione glared at him, then gulped.

"Ronald Weasley, if you hurt me off again… I'll get Krys to kill you. Slowly." she said, before she put her hand out for the ring. Ron smiled, then put the ring on her finger, before kissing her face repeatedly.


	42. I Understand

Krys sat in the radio station with DJ Crank, Tip, and Pop, the three people of the hottest Hip-Hop music station.

"We have Krystathaili Rodriguez here. And she is looking better than anyone in the station. And it turns out, she really looks like this." Tip said, making Krys laugh and looked down. She was wearing black, low rise seven jeans and a white fitted t-shirt. And as usual, her hair was in its curly ringlets.

"Thank you. But please, call me Krys." Krys said.

"Okay, Krys." Tip said. "So, what's going on with you now? Last I heard, you did a shoot for a magazine."

"Oh, yeah. I did an issue of Maxim."

"And when does that come out?" Pop asked. Krys looked thoughtful.

"Late January. I think… I could be wrong." she said.

"So, what're your Christmas plans? What's going on with you?"

"Yeah, we know that you live in Californ-_i-a_. What's going on? What're you doing up here?" Tip asked.

"Oh- I'm just hanging with my friends. Living in Cali doesn't help me build snowmen. Plus, I can't stand another Christmas without playing manhunt in the snow." Krys said, making them laugh. "I'm serious. Plus- in Cali, you can't play football either. 'Cause you feel it when you get knocked down."

"Yeah, I remember when I went down to Atlanta- we played football and this big dude tackled me… I couldn't walk for a week." Pop said.

"Manhunt in the snow is where its at, though. And the best game… hide and seek. Turn all the lights off and give each person a flashlight. Fun as hell." Krys said. "And you haven't played tag, until you've played slush balloon tag."

"What is that?" Tip asked. Krys laughed.

"Okay- you buy some water balloons… and you fill them up with water. Then you…" Krys paused and laughed. "You put them in the freezer for forty five minute-" Krys almost got drowned out by their laughter, before she finished her explanation.

"You actually play that?"

"Yeah, why not? Its not bad, because… okay certain freezers, it'll be frozen. But a few fridges say it'll just be slushy." Krys said. Pop looked at Krys, and pulled out the tabloid.

"Aw man, Krys, you got that look." he said, making Krys laughed.

"You know what we about to ask you." Tip said.

"Yeah, I do." Krys said.

"So what's going on? Is this brother your boyfriend or is this brother your boyfriend?" Tip asked, as he pointed to Ares, then Eric.

"Okay. _Nunya_." Krys said.

"You're not about to break us off with that." Pop said.

"Man-" Krys started.

"Ma, come on. Who are you with?" Tip asked. Krys laughed.

"See- three years ago, nobody gave a damn, and now ya'll are killing me." she said.

"Krys." Tip and Pop said, before they both started to pester her. Krys laughed and looked at them before she took a deep breath.

"Alright. Okay." she said. She took another deep breath, and her whole attitude and voice changed. "The one that is with me is the one that loves my mind, body, and spirit. He loves the things that he hates about me. He loves that I'll curse him out in a second, and he doesn't want our relationship to have any secrets. The one that's with me will one day find himself more in love with me than he ever found humanly possible. And… he's insanely sweet and sexy." Tip and Pop both looked at her.

"So which one is your boyfriend?" Pop asked.

"I already told you. If you didn't get the answer, that's your problem." Krys said.

"That's cold." Tip said. Krys laughed.

"That's not cold." she said.

"Alright, Krys. We're about to get into the real questions." Pop said.

"Oh God. What are those? What questions do you have for me?"

"In honor of you, we're prepared to play five of your favorite songs. So- _what are_ your five favorite songs?" Krys groaned.

"Oh my God- alright. You cannot ask me that questions. Alright- yeah, you can. 'Renegade' by Jay-Z and Eminem… 'Toe to Toe' by Big Pun and Cuban Link… 'Money, Cash, Hoes Part I and II' by Jay-Z… and 'They Don't Know' by Jadakiss and Bubba Sparxx." The guys nodded.

"Alright. We'll play the song in scheduled time before you leave. Right now, we have some more questions." Tip said.

"Oh God." Krys teased.

"This may seem weak as hell, but… it genuinely interests me." Pop said. "If you could have any three things in the world, what would they be?"

"From a selfish or selfless perspective?" Krys asked.

"Selfless." Krys looked thoughtful for a moment.

"One, I would wish that all talent was recognized and acknowledged. I wish everyone had someplace warm to go and feel safe. And… I would wish for good people to live genuinely happy, prosperous lives." she said.

"What does that mean? Can you break that down for us? Not the obvious ones- but, you know."

"For the talent to go acknowledged- I basically think that anyone who is talented should have a right to show and do something with that talent. But most people don't get a break. You have girls that can hit and master notes that aren't-… you know what I mean?" Krys said, making them nod.

"What about selfish?" Tip asked. Krys grinned. "See- the devious smile. She has a total world domination thing going."

"I do not." Krys said. "Well- one, getting my way and a way to enforce it upon the entire universe. Have the little Martians from Mars in check." The guys laughed. "Because everyone knows that if I had my way, the whole world would be a better place. Anyway, second… for everyone to have real home. And… to have a happy life." Krys nodded.

"What about fears? What are you afraid of?" Pop asked.

"Nothing." Krys said. "I ultimately believe that I have to leave my mark, and I don't have enough time here to be scared of anything."

"Seriously? No fears? Not one?"

"Actually, I'm lying my ass off, right now." Krys inhaled. "I am scared s-h-i-t less of roaches." The guys laughed.

"Nah- we're talking about serious deep emotional fears."

"And I would tell you this, because…?" Krys asked.

"I won't tell anyone." Tip teased pushing the mic closer to his mouth. Krys laughed.

"Alright… real fear. Well- first off, I'm not about to be here saying that fear is weak. I personally think that I'm weak for not being able to fear anything. Or not thinking that I fear anything. Why? Because chances are that it's a big ass front. But… if I have to name a fear- a fear that I believe I have, I would have to say that I'm afraid to be afraid. The only thing to fear is fear itself. And a whole bunch of people have that up on me. They're not afraid to be afraid."

"So you don't worry?"

"I don't believe that a fear and a worry are the same thing. See- I worry that my shoelace is untied, 'cause I don't wanna get up and bust my ass. I'm not afraid that my shoelace is untied, because I'm not afraid of busting my ass. What- what the hell did I just say?" Tip and Pop laughed. "Ugh. Okay, I worry, of course. I have my problems and my concerns, but it is what it is. I can't help but worry about some things. When I see something happening to someone that I care about, I worry that they won't be okay. Am I gonna bust my ass over it? Not if _can't_ help it. That sounds effed up, but I'm not about to bust my ass over something that I can't control. I think that's what fear is. Its what you can't help get worked up and effed up over. You know what I mean?" Krys asked.

"Think so." Pop said.

"Yeah. What you fear is just what you fear. And if you can't control how you feel about that, you fear it." Tip said.

"I think that's right." Krys said. "I don't know for sure, and I'm not about to tell you something untrue."

"Okay- so I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect this." Tip said. "I honestly expected you to come here and feel uncomfortable or to feel uncomfortable around you."

"No- I'm wonderful." Krys said.

"But- we have people in the _hood_ who just have a nasty feel to them. You grew up in this privileged home, and I feel more comfortable joking with you than I do with some of the hip hop stars that come here. How did you manage that?"

"Truth be told, I have to be reminded, on a day to day basis, of who I am. Because- alright, I'm Puerto Rican, and… when you go to certain places where they don't know who you are, they label you as 'window shopper' or as a thief. I _love_ it. You pull out your wallet and they stare at you for a minute, like you just lifted somebody's money a minute ago, and I enjoy lodging my complaints about those motherf- ha…" Tip and Pop laughed. "And _that's_ when you drop your name. _Once_- I've only done this _once_. I was in- where was I? Balenciaga, Gucci, Fendi, Givenchy, Prada- one of those, buying my best friend a handbag. So in in there, and I know I was wrong for doing this, but I was wearing these big ass Pepe jeans and a humongous hoodie, with the hood on. So I walk in, and I look through the displays, and this woman is doing everything to watch me, short of walking behind me. She went as far as to stand on a chair, so she could see farther out. So, it was like Pretty Woman all over again, but my best friend wanted this bag so badly for her birthday, and I was pissed, bit I grinned and bore it. Until. This f- hmm. I get to the counter, and you know that in these stores, there isn't anything in the store but displays. You have to go tell them the number of the stuff you want, an- its ridiculous.

"So… I get to the counter, and sheer coincidence… what do I see but a tabloid with my face right on it? So I ask her for the handbag. And she's just- she just looks at me, as if she expects me to say 'psyche' any minute. And she's on some bull sugar. Itch-bay had the nerve to tell me that that bag was exclusive and that only people with an exclusive membership card. So I'm about to punch her… but I decide to just calm my ass down. So, I nod, pull out my wallet and hand her the card. She looks it up and down, like she's about to ask where I got it from. Again, I'm about to punch this itch-bay. Finally, she said some crazy ass something- about how along with the card, I have to have platinum card and a some other shi- thing. So, I finally just take my hood off and stare at her. I'm like, 'are you seriously this bitchy? Ass, you work on commission. This hand bag is exclusive- it effing something thousand dollars. Are you kidding me?' Then this next lady walks out from the back, and she smiles at me. She's just _making_ the sale. I bought eight handbags, just so she would get the commission."

"See- it's the truth. People just don't know how to act. And its crazy, because its about to be 2010." Tip said.

"Thank you. It's the truth. Now, when I go into my stores-" Krys started.

"Where _do_ you buy your clothes?"

"See- I can't give particular stores, because truth be told… all I need to do is see something I like. And it can cost as little as $2 or $2000. And that's just me. I'm not about being materialistic. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like nice clothes… but I'm not about names."

"How much do you think you spend on clothes in a week? The average week." Pop said.

"Um… on clothes along… I don't go shopping every week. I mean… okay- but if I did, it would probably be about… $2,000. And that's honestly horrible. But the truth is that sometimes I go shopping to donate. So, I'll go shopping and I'll donate it to the salvation army, or even just a shelter. I figure that if I'm not gonna wear it, I won't make anyone else. Why would I give someone something that I don't want?"

"I like that." Pop said.

"We'll take some calls from the fans. Some questions, maybe." Tip said. Krys nodded. "Alright, we have somebody on the line."

"Hello." said a teenage girls voice. "Hello, am I on?"

"Yup." Krys said.

"I'm on with Krystathaili Rodriguez?"

"Yeah, ma." Tip said.

"Okay. Yes. I'm Rhonda. And Krys, I only wanted to know which one you're dating and where I can find the other one… because they are both so fly." Rhonda said, making Krys laugh.

"Okay. Now as much as I would love to tell you that, I will not." Krys said. "And you may hate me for it, but… you can find guys that look a lot bet- no… guys that look better than that no longer exist. You have any other questions that I can answer?"

"Where did you get that butterfly top?" Rhonda asked. Krys laughed.

"See- I would love to tell you that, but… Tip, put Rhonda through, so I can tell her." she said.

"Okay, Rhonda, you hang on and we'll tell you." Tip said. Krys looked at him, then covered her microphone.

"Get her address and size, so I can send her one. **Please**." she said. Tip nodded.

"Aiight, Krys, you have another caller." Pop said.

"Alright." Krys said.

"Hello." said the voice of another female.

"Hello?" Krys said.

"I'm Maya. And, well- I've been following _all_ articles about you. Everything that I've seen about you, I've studied and read. And I was wondering… a lot of people say that what Persephone Bryant said was a publicity stunt to get the company more attention and recognition. And a lot of people think its true, because you don't seem extensively torn about everything that happened. I was wondering what you think of that. Ooh- and what exactly is your relationship with Persephone Bryant?" Maya said. Krys nodded.

"That's a good question. Good questions." she said. "The honest to God truth is that whatever the hell Persephone Bryant did- what her reasons are, I don't know. And I really don't care, because… it was low as hell, and she's a real b-…bitter lady. All I know is that I would rather have people believe that it didn't happen, because I've been happy doing just that. As for my relationship with Persephone and her daughter… oh my. There are a lot of things that I want to say but can't say on the air. But think of it this way… find every bad word that you know- every noun, and use that to describe the two."

"Another question that I have is how many tattoos do you have?" Maya asked, making Tip and Pop look at Krys. Krys laughed.

"What?" she asked, feigning obliviousness.

"Tattoos. I've seen a few in pictures. I just wanted to know how many you have."

"I have a few." Krys said.

"How many is a few?" Tip asked.

"I have more tattoos than I have piercings. Is that good? Does that answer the question?" Krys asked.

"Thank you. And I just wanted you to know that I idolize you." Maya said.

"Maya, I am no one to be idolized. I am just a person. I have no real talents. And I can't sing or dance. But if you must… you must." Krys teased. Maya laughed. "Truth be told, I just can't take a compliment. Thank you."

"Okay, we have time for two more callers, before we hit a few of Krys' favorite songs." Pop said.

"Hello. Yo what's good? Am I on?" it was the voice of a male.

"Yeah, you're on with me." Krys said. "Hello."

"Hey. My name is Trent."

"Hi, Trent. I'm Krys." Krys said. "So what's going on?"

"I just wanted to say that whoever you're with, it doesn't matter. 'Cause you might as well be with me." Trent said. Krys laughed.

"And why exactly would I do that?"

"Because the man you described is me."

"Okay, here's what I'm gonna say. I don't know what to say. As nice as that is… damn, I'm flattered." Krys said, blushing slightly.

"Okay, Trent, my man. You deserve a medal, you just made Krystathaili Rodriguez blush. And she is blushing crazy like right now." Pop said.

"Shut up, Pop. 'Cause number one… number one… I have nothing to say. But you know what? We're not friends anymore. See- you lost me." Krys said, making them laugh. "Alright, you know what, Trent… there are better looking girls out there with much more to offer. And… you want someone that's- you don't want me. Tip and Pop know that I'm impossible to hang out with, much less date. And… big problem with me is that… I'm weird."

"Yeah, who the hell uses slushy balloons to play tag with?" Pop said.

"Hey… its fun until someone goes numb." Krys said.

"Bye, Trent. We have time for one more caller." Tip said.

"Hello?" a female voice again.

"Hello." Krys said. "Hi, I'm Krys. And… I have no idea who I'm talking to."

"Hello, I'm Erica."

"Hey, Erica. What's going on?"

"Well I just wanted to tell you that I think you're who we need our girls to look up to." Erica said.

"Oh- thank you." Krys said.

"And that whole Maxim thing is going to have a lot of controversy and a lot of people complaining, but I'm by you 100 percent. You are funny and I saw you on those talk shows, and I thought you were amazing. And even my mother thinks so. And she doesn't like anybody. I just want to say that you're an amazing role model for today's youth, just by the way you speak alone. I've seen that you know and have mastered the art of differentiation. Yo- oh, you're great." Erica said.

"Thank you so much." Krys said. "And I swear, I'm gonna remember you forever. Thank you so much. You have no idea what that means to me. I mean, a few months ago, when the first paper came out about me- I went to the Cheesecake Factory. And I'm there, and I was so happy because nobody seemed to recognize me. So I was thinking that I was inconspicuous as hell, until my waitress comes out and stares me down. So… I order, and they honestly bring my order back in half a minute. Their entire waiting crew- I ordered a plain cheesecake and a soda. So they leave, and this little man comes up to me. He was like fifty something years old, and he smiles. And he says 'Um, excuse me, are you Krystathaili Rodriguez?' and I'm like 'Yeah, do I know you?' and so he smiled and shakes his head. Then he says 'Um- no. I read the article that they did on you, this morning… and even though I don't know you, I think that considering the circumstances, you've come out a fine young woman.'. And I swear, I wanted to cry, and I remember his name. All I have to say is Mr. Thomas, if you're listening, I'd like to say thank you. Same with you, Erica, thank you. See Trent, I told you I was impossible, I talk to much." They all laughed. "Maya, thank you. And thanks to you too, Rhonda. See- if I wasn't afraid that there are crazies out there listening, I would give you my number. But… there _are_ crazies out there. I love you all…simply because you like me… and, thank you."

"Alright, Krys… I've decided that you get one more song to dedicate to your man." Pop said. "You choose."

"I don't know. I don't want people all up in my business." Krys said. "And you're _embarrassing_ me." Krys looked thoughtful. "She's like the Wind. Lumidee and Tony Sunshine."

"Personalize it." Pop said.

"Papi, this is for you. What the hell am I supposed to say?" Krys said. "Just play the damn song." They laughed, and did just that.

O0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0o

"What do you think she meant by that?" Ares asked Hermione and Thai.

"Ares, calm down. Just tell her." Hermione said.

"I can't tell her. What if she's in love with Josephs?" Ares said.

"What does that matter?" Angel asked.

"I don't want to put her in an awkward position. I wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable." Ares said. "'Ooh- Krys I'm in love with you.' 'Sorry… I'm in love with Josephs'- then in the next few years; Josephs proposes, they get married, they have kids- and Uncle Ares isn't near mommy when she's by herself. That's how it goes."

"Ares, Krys is your best friend." Thai said. "I mean- if she's willing to let go the night before your wedding, I doubt she'll hold that against you. I mean… she's still talking to you. You're halfway in. I would've left your ass hanging a while ago." Ares looked at Hermione.

"You told her?" he asked.

"She was depressed." Hermione said.

"Why were you depressed?" Angel asked Thai, gazing at her lovingly. Thai shook her head.

"I wasn't." she said. Ares looked at Hermione.

"This is how you know I'm lonely." he said. "I'm jealous of the seventeen year olds." Hermione laughed.

"Ares, come on. The moment that you tell her, she'll be jumping into your arms." she said.

"No. No she won't. Hermione, you know her well, but I _know_ her." Ares said. "And she forgives and she tries to forget… but its still there."

"But she's not mentioning it." Hermione said. "That's enough."

"Ares, come on. Even Angie can see how you guys feel about each other." Thai said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ares asked them.

"Um… I'm her goddaughter. My loyalty lies with her." Thai said.

"She's my maid of honor. I couldn't." Hermione said.

"It wasn't my business." Angel said.

"_He_ knew?" Ares asked, pointing at Angel. "I mean, I could be happy-"

"Hold on, hold on… everybody told you to go back to her." Thai said.

"Okay- if you were there for the breakup, you'd know why." Ares said.

Flashback

When he got to the bedroom that he and Krys shared, he gave an involuntary grin. He looked around and gazed adoringly at her when she walked out of the bathroom. She raised her eyebrows and he instantly knew that something was wrong. He put the flowers down on the dresser.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Ares asked. Krys shook her head and rubbed her eyes before laughing sardonically.

"This isn't working." she said.

"What? What happened?" Krys looked at him and gestured between the two of them.

"Its not working. We're going to different schools, we're going in different directions." she said. Ares laughed. She was obviously playing a joke on him.

"Krys, come on. We're late." he said. Krys inhaled deeply and did an almost shrug.

"I don't want to be with you anymore. I don't love you anymore." she said, shaking her head.

"You're kidd-"

"Ares, don't you get it?!" Krys shouted, fire blazing in her eyes. "I don't love you! I don't even _like_ you. You were just an easy way to get good sex and easy jewelry. But I'm leaving now- I'm above this. I'm above you."

"Krys, you don't me-" He could see how angry she was getting.

"You don't mean _anything_ to me! _Nothing_! You were just here to occupy my time, until I got good enough for someone else." Ares moved closer to her, shaking his head. When he got within a couple of inches of her, he reached out to her. "Ares, just stop. Its pathetic." Krys whispered. She took a deep breath. "Just leav-"

"Krys, I lo-" He was going to plead.

"Ares, just get the fuck out of my house!" Krys shouted. "I just told you! Okay- I felt sorry for you! It was pity! Don't you get it?! I was just hoping that I could learn to give a shit." Ares didn't say anything for a minute. He just held his hands in his pockets. "Ares, didn't you hear what I said? Get the fuck off my property before I call the cops and tell them that you're stalking me!" He still didn't move, so Krys picked up a picture by the bed. It was of the two of them. She lifted the frame and threw it so that it hit the wall. "Get out, Ares! I mean it." He still didn't move, and Krys stood up. "Get out, Ares. I don't want you! I don't need you! You wer- you're nothing to me. You don't mean shit. You didn't mean shit. Just get out. We're done." Ares finally nodded slowly and walked out. When he hit the kitchen downstairs, he looked around and got a bottle of Patron out of the liquor cabinet. He opened it and took three big gulps before putting it into a sports bottle with some Vodka, and walking outside to roam the streets. He walked through the streets of Los Angeles, just holding the bottle, before he got into the Planetarium. He walked to the auditorium and laughed psychotically. There, in the middle of the auditorium, was a table set for two. After a minute, A.J walked out and looked at Ares, who was now taking big, generous gulps of liquor. A.J walked to him cautiously before sitting in one of the seats. Ares sat next to her and a few tears rolled down his cheek. A.J looked at him and bit her lip.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Ares looked at her and shook his head.

"Nope." he said, before he took another big gulp. He took a deep breath. "You remember when Raphael left?" A.J shook her head. "Well- this is worse than that."

"I can only imagine."

"She doesn't love me, A.J." Ares said, before he leaned his head on her shoulder.

"I don't believ-"

"Well, believe it." Ares said. He was trying so bad to hold it in. "I don't know how you can be on top of the world one minute and just looking for pills and a sharp knife the next."

"Ares, if she doesn't love you, that's her problem. Because I do. Okay? You are the best brother in the world and I love you, okay? So, please don't do anything stupid. For me?" A.J said, with a scared look in her eye. Ares inhaled, then covered his mouth while he coughed. He tried his best to hide the fact that the coughs were sobs. After a minute, he looked at his bottle and started to chug the rest down. All types of crappy emotions filled him as he gave a fake sneeze. He continued to sneeze, trying to come up with an excuse for the excessive tears pouring down his face.

End Flashback

"I had my reasons for not jumping in her arms as soon as she walked through my mom's door." Ares said.

"Although you admitted that you would've done it a week or two before." Hermione said.

"Hermione, she means everything to me. She meant everything to me then, too. If she would've come to me and said that she wanted to get back together, I'd have jumped for joy, no questions asked." Ares said.

"Why?" Thai asked.

"Because then she would've been coming to me." Ares said. "The time that we broke up… I did everything that she wanted me to, so that she could see that I wasn't about to rush her. I mean, sometimes I couldn't help it. We had our moments. But, I would've done anything to make her see that I was there for her. I was apologizing for anything that I did, when I was helping her adjust and be okay with everything that was happening to her. If she came to me, I would've considered it the same thing."

"But now, since you know why and how she really felt then, you're happy?" Thai said.

"She didn't mean it, of course I'm happy." Ares said. "I love that girl. I mean, I hated myself for loving her when I was with Emily. I hated myself for loving her when I was having sex with all of those girls. By the way, we're not still going to visit Stephanie, are we?"

"I don't think Krys wants you guys near each other anymore." Thai said. "You know, old habits die hard." Ares looked at her. "Sorry."

"Does everyone know?" Ares asked.

"You mean other than the fact that I was at the house?" Thai asked. "Other than the fact that I heard your drunk slurring and saw Stephanie leave with you?" Ares looked at her.

"How long have you known?"

"Since then."

"So you pretty much knew everything first?"

"Pregnancy, yeah. You and Stephanie, actually, you and Stephanie knew that first, but I'm not dumb."

"How'd you find out?"

"She left like twenty pregnancy tests in various bathrooms. And when I went to find her, she was packing and crying. The worst part is that she was packing and wearing your clothes." Thai said.

"Man." Ares said. "Did you know that she was at my wedding?"

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, she told me this the day before yesterday. She went to my wedding and punched Emily in the face."

"Her dream." Thai said.

"What was up with your fiancé?" Angel asked.

"I don't wanna talk about her." Ares said. "I knew I was in trouble before the wedding. I still hadn't finished my vows." They all looked at him.

"What did you write?" Hermione asked.

"Like I'm gonna tell you." Ares said.

"Come on. Its not like I told Krys. Thai won't tell her either."

"Its not like she would believe us." Thai said. Ares rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet before pulling out a folded piece of paper. Hermione took it out of his hand and unfolded it before gasping. A boat fell from between the pages, and Ares put it away.

"Ares." Hermione said. On the folded sheet of paper was Krys twirling in a wedding dress. Her hair was out and moving with her. When she stopped twirling, she mouthed 'I love you', then blew him a kiss before continuing to twirl. "These were your vows?"

"I'm a loser." Ares groaned.

"No, you're not." Hermione said. "You're a little weird, but that's normal." Ares laughed.

"Why couldn't I have just been happy with her the night before the wedding?" he asked.

"'Cause you're dumb." Thai said.

"Yeah… I am dumb." Ares murmured, before lying back. Krys' words flooded through his mind. 'I wouldn't've suffered emotional trauma, if you stayed. I had you, Ares. I could've kept you, but you would've hated me in the long run. So- I made a choice, and I sent you to school. I let you have your dream, and I didn't hesitate to send you away. I didn't even think about me for _one minute_. All I thought about was you.' And it was obvious that all he was thinking about was her.


	43. Real Love

When Krys got back to the hotel room, it was around twelve am. She'd gone shopping and hid the gifts in the car already. She'd also gone to visit her cousin and uncle, alone. As soon as she got into the room, she smiled. Ares was pacing in front of the door- almost crazily. As soon as he saw Krys, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"You- you don't call?" he asked.

"I'm sorry." Krys said. "Are you guys ready?" Ares nodded.

"Yeah. Packed and sleeping." he said.

"Okay." Krys said. "If you want, we can stay tonight."

"Its okay. I can carry the bags."

"Not necessary."

Krys and Ares finally figured a way to get them all in the car without waking them, and Krys took the first driving shift.

"If you're tired, you can sleep." she said. Ares shook his head.

"I'd rather keep you company." he said. "So… do you mind me asking where you were?"

"No." Krys said.

"Where were you?"

"I went to visit Stephanie and Jose."

"And… how were they?"

"Jose is still in remission. And Stephanie has a little girl." Ares looked at her. "Don't worry, she's not yours." Krys teased, with a smile. Ares playfully glared at her. "_I_ thought it was funny." Ares chuckled softly.

"That could be awkward." he said. "So why'd you visit Stephanie?"

"Its something I'm doing. Tomorrow, I'm going to the ministry with my proposal to reopen St. Eris."

"That's great."

"I'm trying to wash away sins and wrongdoings." Krys said. "I'm also going to visit Gem. I have a full schedule. After the ministry, its Gem, Ailen, Array, Lavender, Romilda- a bunch of people."

"Krys, what happened?"

"Nothing. Its just… I'm too old for the petty rivalries." Ares looked at her and smiled.

"I think we're growing up." he said.

"I think so too. St. Eris Clinic is in Buenas Aguas. There's a story about the land where its built. They're supposed to be pure healing waters. I think that I should run a deal with some healer programs… to recruit. And build." Ares nodded.

"I like the sound of that. What about your orphanage?"

"Joint. Dual. A hospital and an orphanage. That's gold. St. Eris Hospital and St. Eris Home of the Children. Its gold." Ares laughed.

"Sounds perfect." he said. Krys looked at him and smiled, before turning back to the road. "I got you something."

"Hmm. What?" Krys asked.

"You're gonna have to wait?"

"That's not fair."

"I wanted to give it to you the other day. You said I would have to wait. I got you something else today, too."

"You're gonna spoil me. I don't need to be spoiled." Krys said. "But if you insist." Ares laughed.

"What about you?" he asked.

"What about me?"

"You spoil me too."

"But you're worth it."

"And so are you."

"I don't think so." Krys said softly.

"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"Will it kill you? Not knowing."

"Yeah."

"I don't know." Krys said. "I'm a little miserable. A little pissy… and I have no idea why."

"Well… what do you want me to do to make you feel better?" Ares asked softly.

"Anything?"

"Within reason."

"Answer something for me."

"Yeah, what happened?"

"Wilson dropped as Section 1 auror." Ares groaned. "Why didn't you accept the next promotion?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Because I do. I'm listening."

"How did you know?"

"Harriet and your mom were hanging out with Michael Stevens and his wife. I went to drop off your mom's gift. How come you didn't tell me? Instead of Section 2 leader, you got the choice to be a Section 1 auror. Why didn't you take it?"

"Because I didn't." Ares said.

"Excuse, excuse, excuse me… don't start with the tone, because I'm asking a simple question. I'm fine with whatever the hell you choose, because if you're happy with your job, then _yea_. I just want to know why you didn't choose Section 1 and why I have to hear about it from the drunk Auror head." Krys said.

"I just got the first one. And he only wanted to give it to me, because I cracked a bigger case than Josephs. Its nothing." Ares said.

"Really?" Krys asked. "I think its because you don't want to be a small fish in a big pond."

"No, its because-"

"You don't want to be a small fish in a big pond."

"No. Its because-"

"_You don't want to be a small fish in a big pond_." Ares looked at her.

"Why do you care?"

"Excuse? Do you know how much I _love_ you, Ares? I want to see you happy. And isn't it your goal to be the head of the auror department by the time you're thirty? Won't this help you reach your goal?"

"How am I supposed to have time for a social life if I'm always working?"

"You want a social life?" Krys teased. Ares laughed. "You have me. You need more of a social life?"

"Of course I do." Ares said. Krys laughed and licked her lips. "Oh- I got you something for now."

"What did you get me?"

"Chewy Granola bars." Krys looked at him and smiled.

"I gained five pounds on those." she said.

"But you liked them." Ares said, making Krys laugh. He handed her a chocolate chip granola bar and laughed at the face that she made.

"You're trying to get me fat, huh?"

"That's impossible." Krys laughed.

"Remember the buffet we made that summer?"

"Cut up granola bars, Godiva chocolate assortments, Belgian and Swiss chocolate, Hershey's Kisses and M&Ms." Ares said.

"I can't look at chocolate without thinking of what we did after that." Krys said, making Ares grin.

"Good to know you never forgot me." Ares said. Krys laughed.

"I wasn't likely to regardless." she said. "But that made you more memorable."

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The next morning, when Krys woke up she went straight to the bathroom. After she brushed her teeth, washed her face, took a shower, and washed her hair, she went to her closet. She chose a silver gray silk pantsuit with matching round toe pumps, before she pulled her hair back into a low tight bun. She chose simple pearl earrings and a pearl necklace, before she put the suit jacket over her cream white blouse. When she walked out of her room and into the living room, complete silence. She smiled and walked into the kitchen, where Ares was sitting at the counter eating cereal. Krys looked at him.

"Delgado, heads up." she said, before she threw a paper ball at him. Ares playfully glared at her after the paper ball hit his head. Then suddenly, his eyes widened and he stared at her. "What?"

"You look… gorgeous." Ares said breathlessly. Krys laughed and threw another paper ball at his head.

"You know that I can't take a compliment." she said. Ares laughed and looked at her questioningly.

"So, you're leaving right now?" he asked. Krys looked at her watch and nodded.

"I have an appointment in an hour. I should leave now." she said. She stood up and looked at him. "Do I really look okay?"

"You look beautiful." Ares said, making Krys blush slightly.

"Um… really can't take a compliment." she said nervously, before she kissed his cheek. "See you later." She lifted a briefcase off the table.

"Guess what." Ares said.

"I don't know. What?" Krys asked.

"You're number one on the 99 most desirable women list." Krys raised her eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's a very good picture too."

"Oh wow." Krys said.

"Okay- listen to me." Ares said, cradling her face. "Relax. Breathe. Just act like you're talking to me. Remember that night that you danced for me." Krys' face started to heat up and she laughed. "I'm serious. The night that you danced for me."

"I remember." Krys said.

"Okay. And we talked about everything that night. _Everything_. Just imagine you're talking to me. You don't even have to present like you're uptight. I know that your paperwork is up to par, so you can present any way that you want. Just be real and tell them what you want." Ares said. "Just like you did the night that you danced for me."

"Can you stop bringing that up?" Krys asked through her laughter. Ares kissed her cheek, then her hands.

"I know you'll kill it." he said. "Go." Then he pat her on the butt. Krys looked at him and stuck out her tongue, before she disapparated. O0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0o

"Ron, I'm ready to talk now." Hermione said, as she walked into their room. Ron looked up at her and smiled.

"Of course, love." he said. Hermione started to pace.

"Okay- I've forgiven you- slightly. Mostly because I'm not looking for a big fight. I wasn't looking for a fight at all. But, Ron, you pissed me off _beyond belief_. And you never explained your reasons. So start explaining." she said. Ron looked at her.

"I just… when I was looking at you, I thought about how much of a risk it was for you to be marrying me. And I looked in your eyes and I saw Krum. I just got scared and jealous." he said.

"And…?"

"I don't ever want you to feel pain, Hermione."

"Yet you caused some."

"And I'm sorry for that. I love you, Hermione. I just- I started to think about all the bad things that could happen, and I thought about you and Krum… it was a bad mixture. And I thought that maybe it'd be easier for you- it was stupid." Ron said. "I'm so sorry." Hermione blinked twice.

"That's okay." she said. "I forgive you. Fully." Ron smiled and got to her eagerly, before kissing her cheek. "I also meant what I said about getting Krys to kill you."

"I know." Ron said.

"Just so you know." Hermione said.

"I do."

"_Okay_." Hermione said in mock nastiness. Ron laughed.

"Okay." he replied.

"Okay- so we went through the apologies, and what comes after a big fight?" Hermione asked, with a glint in her eye. Ron grinned.

"Making up?" he asked. Hermione looked at him, then put on a cute thoughtful look.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure." Ron said, placing his hands on her waist. Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Um… I think you're…… right." she said, before she kissed him.

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Hermione woke up to the sounds of cheering and laughing. She rolled over, and saw that Ron was gone. After rubbing her eyes, she trudged to the bathroom and brushed her teeth before leaving the room to see what all the noise was about. Krys was sitting down, drinking what looked like champagne, and they were all smiling.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"I got authorization. They start building the orphanage on Ares' designs _tomorrow_." Krys said. Hermione's eyes widened, and she smiled. "And the hospital and clinic, I already renovated. As soon as I finish the base hiring and clientele, it opens." Hermione smiled.

"Oh my God, Krys." she said. "Jesus Christ- I'm so proud of you."

"Don't be." Krys said. "Only a fourth of the work is done."

"Well- we already have the book of owls." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but… you have to remember that I now have a lot of enemies. And its in Puerto Rico."

"Krys, we apparate."

"I know that. But some people aren't licensed to work between continents."

"Everyone from Nemonora is. Anyone with an Advanced Healers stamp, at least." Hermione said. "Alright, lets make a list."

"Of course. I already have six people in mind." Krys said, as she pulled a notepad out of her briefcase.

"Here they go." Ron mumbled, making them all laugh.

"What the hell are you guys doing? There's a game on." Krys said. "They told me that they could be done building the orphanage by next week."

"Well, that's good." Hermione said. "Magical builders are the best."

"And I even got a good deal with NA and European schools." Krys said. "Plus, you'd be surprised how many magical orphans there are out there. The one's that never get to go to school, or never have homes."

"Well- on the road to fixing that." Hermione said, as she looked through the book of Owls. The two huddled heads together, and started to list people that they believed suitable to work with. After three hours, the others were tired of trying to keep up, so they left the girls in the living room to talk strategy in running the place. At one am, the two girls were still writing everything down, when Ares walked in with juice. Hermione held her hand out and Ares shook his head.

"This is not for _you_. This is for Krys." Ares said. Hermione's eyes and mouth widened and she laughed.

"That's cold." she said.

"I was joking." Ares said, as he handed Hermione the juice. Krys was on her Blackberry, paging someone, while writing letters. "She's really not taking a breath, is she?"

"Nope." Hermione said. "She's already written to every newspaper. And she's written to the schools, talking about recruits and scholarships. She's written to the ministries, about tracking magical orphans. And she's written to some Nemonora friends… and some of the people that weren't too happy with Gem's behavior. Two hundred and sixty seven letters. All personalized, all handwritten. Just by her."

"What have _you_ been doing?"

"I've been keeping her company. My hand hurts."

"So, this makes about eight hours that she's been doing this. Straight?" Ares asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yup." she said, before she turned to Krys. "Cookie, I love you. But… I'm really sleepy… and very hungry. So, I'm gonna leave, and then I'm going to sleep." Krys nodded, but didn't look up from what she was doing. Hermione looked at Ares and raised her eyebrows, before she left the room. Ares stared at Krys, who was still writing a letter. She stopped and looked thoughtful, before she put it in an envelope. She looked at her notepad, and went through six pages, before she stopped and checked something off. She finally looked up. When she saw him, she smiled.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey." Ares said quietly.

"You wanna sit down?"

"Um… I can see that you're bus-"

"No, no, no. If you wanna sit-"

"Are you busy?"

"Do you want to sit?"

"With _you_? Yes." Ares answered.

"Too busy for _you_? Never." Krys said, with a smile. Ares blushed slightly, and slowly walked to her, while Krys moved the papers over for him. Ares looked at her.

"Working hard."

"No."

"Wasn't a question. You are in fact working hard." Krys looked at him. "This is the first break you've taken in eight hours. Come on." Krys gave him a questioning look.

"What?"

"Lets go."

"I can-"

"Krys, come on. You have to be hungry. You left without eating. You came back and drank some sparkling cider, before going straight to work. And its now 1am and you still haven't eaten. Come on."

"I can't take a break no-"

"Come on." Ares demanded. It wasn't a suggestion. It wasn't a coax. He _demanded_ that she follow him.

"Alright. God." Krys whined, as she stood up. Ares took her hand, and led her to his room. When he turned to her, he loosened her hair, and took off her jewelry. After placing them on his dresser, he started to take off her jacket and unbutton her shirt, making Krys look at him weirdly. Look at him weirdly, yet not stop him. When he got her shirt off, he smirked at her Bugs Bunny undershirt, before he put a big t-shirt over it. He looked down at her pants, then lifted the shirt slightly, before unbuttoning and unzipping them. He helped her out of them to reveal her regular sized boxers. Boxers that he doubt she had on until a moment beforehand. No words were exchanged for the entire time that he did this. When he finally lifted her up bridal style, she shrieked. "You don't expect anything but a midnight snack, do you?" Ares looked at her and laughed. "Okay that sounds perverted. But, you don't expect me to have sex with you, do you?" Ares looked down at her, then lightly threw her on the bed. "_Ouch_."

"I was gonna say 'don't make me drop you' but I liked dropping you better." Ares said. "Throwing you." Ares walked over to her and picked her up again, before walking out of his room and into the kitchen. Inside the kitchen were Thai and Angel, Ron and Hermione. When Ares walked in carrying Krys, they were given the two couple's attention.

"Hey." Krys said.

"Hi." Thai said, smiling slightly. "Krys, did you know that you're number one on the 99 most desirable women?" Krys looked at her.

"Yeah. I mean, why wouldn't I be?" she joked. "But why do you know that?"

"Oh- its fun as hell to search you. Its crazy when you see how little they know about you." Hermione said, as she cut up her cookie.

"They have a poll on the internet. Its between you and Lorraine McGilla. Who would you do? Most people said you." Thai said.

"Wow. I'm flattered." Krys said.

"Um… Angel, lets go." Thai said. Krys looked at her.

"**Bed check**." she said in Spanish. "**And you'd better be alone.**"

"Okay." Angel said. "**I'm too afraid of you to do any of that.**"

"Good." Krys said, before the two walked out of the kitchen. "Has she told him that she loves him yet?"

"We can hear you, Krys." Thai said.

"I know." Krys answered. "Did you?" No answer. "She didn't. Punk." They all looked at Krys. "Excuse me, I can do whatever the hell I want."

"Why are you still holding her?" Ron asked, making Ares look down. Krys rolled her eyes and Ares let her down. Krys hopped on a stool and opened the cookie jar.

"You're finally taking a break?" Hermione said, making Krys look at her. "You do realize that you're on vacation, right?"

"Yes, so what? Vacation just means a leave. To vacate. Vacancy. It doesn't mean that you should become a lazy bastard with nothing to do." Krys said. "And plus… I find the work relaxing."

"Whatever." Hermione said, before she hopped up. "I'm going to bed."

"And I'm following her." Ron said, walking out after Hermione.

"That's disgusting." Krys said, making Ares laugh.

"So, what are you eating?" Ares asked.

"Um… I only have ten more minutes."

"Until what?"

"Until I get back to work."

"Krys, just pick up where you left off, tomorrow." Ares said.

"No."

"It wasn't a question."

"And what am I? A doggy?" Ares looked at her pointedly. "Besides the point."

"I didn't mean it like that. I just… you're gonna be busy enough when the vacation is over. Maybe you should just enjoy it."

"Ares, nothing has changed, except the atmosphere." Krys said.

"So maybe you should enjoy the atmosphere." Ares said.

"Two more hours." Krys said.

"Kr-"

"Ares. Two more hours. Just two."

"Fine, Then I'm timing it. And as soon as the two hours are over, you have to stop. Nothing to do with the hospital _or_ orphanage." Krys nodded, then took Ares' hand and the cookie tin, before walking back into the living room. As soon as she got into the living room, she looked at her checklist. "What's next?"

"Well… I have to look through the medical equipment catalogue. But… I have to skip that. The next thing is deals. Michael Stevens told me that he only signed the deal with Gem's hospital because I was there. But… I don't want to take that business away from Gem." Ares looked at her.

"I understand." he said.

"Then again, I want to piss her off." Ares laughed. "But that would make me a snake. I'm not gonna coax him. I'm not gonna persuade. If he chooses to change the medical plan and comes to me, then I'll make the deal. Otherwise, I'm not gonna talk business with him." Krys said.

"I'm proud of you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"_Why_?"

"Because. This girl… one of your friends was having sex with Josephs, after you guys went out. And yet, you're going to make amends, and you're not gonna screw her over, even though you can."

"That's not what our problem was about. I didn't like the way she treated you." Krys said. Ares looked at her. "Oh God, I shouldn't've said that."

"Why not?"

"'Cause now you're starting to feel guilty. And you're gonna ramble on about the whole Emily thing. And if you do that, its gonna piss me off. And if you start again, I'll shag ass out of here _so fast_, that they'll name the new broom after me." Krys said, making Ares laugh. "Okay… even if I'm not talking business with Stevens, there is the rest of the ministry. Your mom said she'd speak to the minister about the health plan. And I have the SA ministry, too."

"Really?"

"Yup. The minister is Brazilian. I wrote him a wonderful letter in Portuguese, and he responded. All he asks for is a chute in all major areas, so that the people can get to the hospital. And chutes come in bulks, so I'm pending a good deal on those. But, I'm okay with starting off small. All I really have as of now is six definite healers and some interviews lined, along with about two continents." Ares looked at her. "I'm way in over my head. Holy shit, I'm gonna fail, and I'm gonna disgrace-" Ares put his finger to her lips and shushed her.

"Shhh." he said. "I don't know anyone better for the job." He kissed her cheek, then her hands. "Look- maybe you really should take a break." Krys nodded, and started to clean up. She took all of the letters and threw them in the fireplace, before throwing floo powder in after them. Then all of the letters disappeared. When she was done cleaning up, Ares looked at her. "Come on." He took her hand again, and gently led her to her room. When they got there, he lied her down on her bed, he kissed her cheek, then he left.

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As soon as Ron and Hermione got into their room, Hermione looked at him.

"Do you think-" she started.

"Don't." Ron said, making Hermione laugh.

"Why- what happened?" Hermione teased. Ron shook his head, and lied down next to her before kissing her. When he pulled back, he moaned slightly, before he leaned in to kiss again. And yes, that night, they captured the true essence of what they missed during their teenage years. Snogging, talking, and laughing, _without_ sex.


	44. Discoveries

"Krys and I are going out tonight." Hermione said, as she clipped her hair back. Ron looked at her.

"Where?" he asked.

"None of your business." Hermione teased.

"None of my business?" Ron asked.

"None of your business." Hermione confirmed.

"But- you're my fiancé." Ron whined.

"Krys and I are going to dinner together. Then she's taking me to a strip club." Hermione said, causing Ron's eyes to widen and his face to redden. "See… it'd have been better if you didn't know."

"Hermion-"

"We're leaving, because tonight Harry and the guys are taking _you_ to a strip club." Ron didn't say anything. "Oh- nothing to say now, huh? That's _interesting_."

"Its not that. You just seem really calm."

"I need to be calm. Krys and I now have a rush meeting with three excellent healers. Possible employees." Hermione said. "Listen… I trust you. And, I hope that you trust me. So… I can look past half naked women dancing and gyrating in your face for money. And I won't talk about strip- dancers as if its something low and disgusting, because they're people too. But I will say that you'd better not enjoy it too much." Ron laughed. "And you'd better be thinking of me."

"Of course, darling." Ron said, kissing Hermione's cheek.

"How do I look?" Hermione asked, twirling around slightly. Ron smiled.

"Beautiful." he said. Hermione was wearing an all black pantsuit, with black round toe pumps with a yellow gold rim around the heel. Her earrings were yellow gold strips, and her gold choker and bracelet were also yellow gold. She smiled.

"Thank you." she said, before she picked up her briefcase and walked out of the room. Krys was sitting on the couch with black slacks and a white dress jacket. She looked at Hermione and gave a thumbs up. She stood up and Hermione smiled. Krys was wearing a white dress jacket, with nice roomy black slacks. On her feet were the perfect white leather pumps. Her hair was in a tight bun, with no hair out of place… and she looked strict and beautiful with her reading glasses on. Hermione raised a questioning brow, making Krys laugh.

"Are we ready?" Krys asked, as she looked down at herself. "I'm scared as hell, and I probably need a nap." Hermione laughed.

"We're ready." she said. "Are you sure that they didn't have a problem with this, Krys? It's the 21st. Its three days before Christmas."

"Hermione, that's four days to Christmas, but whatever. And we're working around their schedule. _We_'re accommodating _them_." Krys said. She looked up and smiled. "Okay… I'm calm, confident, collected." Krys inhaled deeply, then liked like she was about to have a panic attack. She tried to breathe deeply, but her breath hitched and she looked like she was choking on her own breaths. Hermione looked at her, before walking up to her and pointing her wand to her throat. Krys started to gasp for air, then she pulled her inhaler out of thin air before pumping twice. A second later, she nodded. "I'm okay." she said in a falsetto voice.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "I just need a couple of Granola bars. I don't know why, but they calm me down." The two walked into the kitchen, where Ares had the box of chocolate chip granola bars out already. Krys looked at him.

"I'm debating on whether or not you want Oreo granola bars also. I said maybe, so there are a few in the box, too." Ares said.

"You think you know me _so well_." Krys teased. Ares looked at her.

"I know you like the back of my hand." he said.

"You know all the deep shit. You don't know the superficial things." Ares laughed and nodded.

"Yes I do." he said.

"Okay, you probably do. But guess what?"

"You don't have anything to say." Ares said. Krys laughed and said,

"I _always_ have something to say." at the same time that Ares did. He got everything down to the stress on '_always_'. Krys huffed playfully, then blew him a kiss. Hermione just sat back and watched the two.

"You guys are weird." she said.

"I'm leaving." Krys said. "Come on, Bon-bon." Krys looked at Ares and puckered her lips slightly, before taking Hermione's hand and the Granola bars, and then disapparating. When they got to the magical restaurant, the two walked to the host. As soon as he saw Hermione and Krys, he pointed to a table outside. The two walked to the table and smiled. There was a woman sitting there. She was in her early twenties, and she had blonde hair and dark brown eyes. She looked professional, but the two could tell that once she was off the clock, she was a party girl. She looked up and smiled.

"Hello, Madam Rodriguez, Madam Granger." she said, shaking Krys' hand then Hermione's.

"Um… no- just Krys." Krys said, sitting down.

"And Hermione is fine." Hermione said, sitting down next to Krys.

"So, Brenda Carrie- Madam Carrie-" Krys started.

"No, Brenda is fine." Brenda said.

"Okay." Hermione said.

"Yeah, after the introductions its _awkward_." Krys said, making the two laugh. She opened her briefcase and pulled out Brenda's résumé. "Well- I think that we should be frank. I'm not gonna B.S. with you, because there is no time for that. Your résumé looks amazing. But… a lot of things look wonderful on paper. Why should we hire you? That is my main question."

"We want to know what makes you the person for this job. What is it that you can bring to the table, as head healer of your department? Why should you be Head Madam of the Spell Damage Department?" Hermione asked.

"I have four years of training, after staring off with a regular healers stamp. I have done volunteer work in four different hospitals, from which I've received commendations. But more simply- most simply, because I care about what I do. I just- I love the feeling that I get when I save an auror's life from a spell gone wrong. And, of course I could say that the pay doesn't matter, but I'd slightly be lying. But… that feeling almost does it all." Brenda said.

"Well- you don't have any references here." Hermione said, looking over the résumé.

"As soon as you ask." Brenda said. Krys nodded.

"Well, can you get them to me? By the end of the week?" she asked.

"Absolutely." Brenda said.

"Would you be okay with a regular healing job?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Being the head of the department- I just want to help people." Brenda said. "And, if I were you, I'd think I was B.Sing too, but… I chose to be a healer, because of what I've had to see. And… I love what I do, no matter what people want to call it."

"It says here that you specialize in damage by Harsh magic spells." Hermione said. "What treatments have you done?"

"Well… I've done very few. I won't lie, because I've only done three. I did a full body draining with the Blood Clotting curse. I did a full mend for the Bone Shattering curse. And I've had to spike someone after the Heart Blowing Curse." Brenda said.

"Full recovery?" Krys asked.

"For two of the three. The Heart Blowing Curse… after I spiked him, his heart couldn't pump the blood, so it didn't work."

"It was a mix?"

"First stages of the blood clotting, but he rapidly started to show affects with the Heart Blower. For the Heart Blower, he was already in the fifth stage and his pulse was weakening."

"So you didn't see it, and you fixed one without the other?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Its common. But not common that someone can fix one of the two. They're all risky procedures." Hermione said.

"I agree. I hope I didn't offend you." Krys said, looking over the résumé again.

"Oh no, you didn't." Brenda said.

"I just- I wanted to know what went on."

"Totally understandable."

"Now, I know this seems unusual, but what about Brenda, the _person_? I mean, I have no doubts that you're an excellent healer, but we need dedication, and- hell, I'll just come out and say it, we need _love_. You say that you love what you do. And I believe that a mediocre healer becomes magnificent just by having that. We're looking for a good atmosphere along with quality health care. Because I remember that I was scared shitless of my healer during school." Brenda and Hermione laughed.

"I can't just answer that. Because, of course I'll act a certain way in front of you two. I want this job." Brenda said. "And, I believe that I'm a good person. And although I'm dedicated, I demand my personal time when I'm not being paged or on the clock."

"Oh- no, Brenda, we all understand that." Krys said. "I mean, if I'm not on the clock or being paged, I don't want any of you guys bothering me." Brenda and Hermione laughed again. "Oh- are you hungry?"

"Oh… no. I had a really big dinner last night, and I'm still trying to get over that."

"Okay." Hermione said. "Well- Krys, are there any more questions?"

"No." Krys said.

"Well- we'll write to you." Hermione said. Brenda smiled and stood before shaking both of their hands. Then she disapparated. Hermione looked at Krys. "What did you think?"

"Well… either way she's good. She's either a good liar, or she cares about her job." Krys said. "What about you?"

"I think she should make it anyway." Hermione said.

"Yeah. I think she'll definitely get a job. Mostly because we have a hospital, and about two healers." Hermione laughed, and smiled. Krys looked up and smiled also. Handsome man, good build, nice teeth, slight beard and five o'clock shadow. He wore a nice cloak and carried a briefcase. His hair was dark brown and looked freshly cut, and his eyes were a deep brown. He looked twenty seven at the oldest.

"Madam Granger." he said, shaking Hermione's hand. "Madam Rodriguez." He shook Krys'. "I'm Roger Wells. Its very nice to finally match the face and the letter."

"Well, Mister Wells. Please sit." Krys said. Roger sat and smiled.

"No, no… its Roger." he said.

"Okay, Roger, its nice to meet you." Hermione said, looking over his résumé. "It says here that you're an alumnus of the Meriwether School of Medical Health."

"That's true." Roger said. Krys looked at the résumé and then pulled out an Oreo Granola bar. She opened it, then started to eat it, making Roger and Hermione look at her. She looked up at them with the deer in the headlights look and pulled another two out of her bag before holding them out, and making the two laugh. "No thank you, Madam Rodriguez."

"Um- its Krys." Krys said after she finished chewing and swallowing.

"And Hermione." Hermione said.

"But- okay, Roger. I think that its more important for you to be a good person with a good nature, rather than just being an excellent Medi-wizard. It doesn't matter whether I'm a good Medi-witch or not. It matters what I bring to the table. The fact that I care about this, and the fact that I don't care where I am when I answer a page- that's what makes me ready for this job. And it can make me sound like a bitch, and it can make me sound vain and egocentric, but its what I'm ready for, and that's just the way that it is. Of course I expect you to have your own personal life. Of course I expect you to put your family first… but we have to know that you're dedicated. Are you dedicated?" Krys asked.

"Yes I am." Roger said. "When I'm off the clock, I'm a family man, but once I get that page, and I have to help a patient, that's what I'm all about."

"Okay." Hermione said. "It says here that you specialize in cumulative magical damage."

"Yes, Mad- Hermione." Roger said. "Four years in St. Mungo's. The head of my department."

"Impressive. And why didn't you continue?" Krys asked.

"Sexual harassment."

"Did you sexually harass or did someone sexually harass you?" Hermione asked.

"I was sexually harassed."

"_Okay_." Krys said awkwardly. "So, the job that we're offering doesn't pay as well as your job at St. Mungo's. Granted, its only a 1 pay cut, but… it still doesn't pay as well."

"Actually, I believe in what you said about dedication and who I am as a person being the most important things. But- if I'm reading my son his bedtime story and he's still not tired and he doesn't want me to leave, I will not answer the page. My family comes first." Roger said. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"You're so good at this." she said. Roger laughed. Krys looked at him and Roger nodded.

"Truth be told, my son knows the deal. And he's told me that he's fine with it, and I always make up for lost time." he said.

"Okay. What remedy do you believe is best for Dragon Pox?" Hermione asked.

"Close watching and testing different potions over different amounts of time. Because everyone has a different reaction to the different potions for that ailment." Roger said.

"Okay. What types of potions?" Krys asked.

"Well, calming potions."

"Why?"

"Because Dragon Pox come mostly from stress. And skin rejuvenation, because the pox are just a reaction from what's going on inside and- the pox are usually symptoms."

"Okay. Why should we give you this job? Aside from your commendations and your career history, why should we give you this job?" Krys asked. Roger looked thoughtful.

"Because I love what I do, and I'm good at it." he said.

"Okay." Krys said, as she looked at Hermione. "Any more questions?" Hermione looked at Roger and shook her head.

"We'll call you." she said. Roger smiled, then shook both of their hands before disapparating. Krys looked at Hermione.

"We don't have good questions." she said. "Maybe we should have an audition type of thing. A demonstration, like in Nemonora. They used to set up little stations."

"Yeah. But, we'd have to do a bunch of things to get that."

"No, not really. I do have a house. Then again, I don't want them to know where I live. Just in case they end up striking." Hermione laughed. "But, we do have the hospital."

"Very true."

"And we could set up the stations." Krys said. Krys and Hermione looked up when someone cleared their throat. Standing in front of them was a fully cloaked and suited Nic. "Hello, Madam Nieves. If you'll please have a seat." Nic smiled and sat down. "So, what's going on, Nic? You writing to me and asking for a job… that's nothing but suspicious, considering your best friend hates me."

"Gem had sex with Mike." Nic said, as she looked through the menu. "Do you guys have time to eat and talk?"

"Well… considering you're our last interview, why don't we just go back to the cabin?" Krys said.

"Okay." Nic squeaked. Krys looked at her and almost groaned. Nic was crying and wiping her eyes.

"Come on, Nikki." Hermione said, slinging her arm over her shoulder and disapparating. Krys left some money on the table then disapparated also. Nic and Hermione were sitting at the kitchen table, and Nic was sniffing.

"Okay." Krys said, sitting on one of the stools. She looked at Nic. "Look at me." Nic looked up and sniffled. "Listen to me. Hear me?" Nic nodded. "What happened?"

"Well… for the past three weeks, she's been giving me the nightshift and she's been taking the dayshift. Well- two nights ago, I left one of my patient cases in my bedroom, because I was studying it. When I got there, Mike and Gem were… they were… they _were_." Nic sniffled and looked down. "And I don't know what to do, because I have nowhere else to go… and I swear, I'm _not_ going back there. Krys, why would she do this to me?"

"Shit."

"I mean, she's- I thought she was my best friend."

"Nic, some people just do fucked up shit." Krys said.

"You don't." Nic said.

"No, that's not true." Krys said. "Nic… maybe this is a good thing. Mike is a piece of shit, and he's a dick- choosing Gem over you. Gemini- _happy pants_ Gemini." Nic and Hermione laughed.

"Krys, I don't know what I would do without you." Nic said.

"Well… you'd be homeless and unemployed." Krys said. "And you wouldn't have anything to do tonight." Krys stood up. "But… this house without magic has about ten bedrooms. But… the house with magic has twenty-five bedrooms. So… you can have a room. And tonight… we're going out to dinner, then to see naked men… so you have a full schedule." Nic laughed.

"Krys, thank you." she said.

"Whatev, babe."

"So, what're you doing for Christmas?" Hermione asked Nic.

"Nothing really. Mike and I we-… we were gonna go to the Bahamas." Nic said.

"What happened to your parents, Nic?" Hermione asked.

"My mom kicked me out when I was sixteen, because she got remarried and her new husband tried something with me. And my dad… he died when I was ten." Nic said.

"Come on, lets get to the room." Krys said, as she hopped up. They walked through the house, and Krys pointed Nic to a room. "Clothes in the closet, babe."

"Thanks, Krys." Nic said, before Krys and Hermione walked away.

"Shit." Hermione said. "I cannot believe Gem did that to her."

"The worst part is that Gem did it because Nic still talks to me. Who the fuck can be that cruel?" Krys said.

"I don't know. I'm gonna go talk to Ron." Hermione said.

"He left. He had to go do something." Krys said, making Hermione look at her.

"Oh… then I'm gonna go take a nap before out girls night out." Hermione said. Krys smiled and nodded.

"See you, _baby_." she said. Hermione laughed, and walked to her room. For a minute, Krys stood in the hallway, then she walked to Ares' room. When she got to his room, she heard the shower running. Krys knocked on the bathroom door, and heard a muffled,

"Come in." When she pushed the door open, her eyes widened and she smiled involuntarily. Ares taking a bath in the glass shower… a sight to see. As her eyes traveled down, Ares turned to her, resulting in Krys' immediate blush.

"Sorry." Krys squeaked. Ares turned off the water, and wrapped his towel around his waist. Oh my God, it had to be the sexiest thing in the world. The guy had water running down his chest- oh God. And his hair was plastered to his head, while a droplet of water hung off his eyelash.

"Its okay. I did say to come in." he said.

"You could've warned me that you were naked."

"Krys, did you not hear the water running?"

"I figured that you'd be behind a shower curtain." Ares shook his head.

"Nope." he said. "So, how were your interviews?"

"They were good." Krys looked at him again, and again, the eyes traveled down the partially naked body. Ares looked at her, and Krys looked away hurriedly.

"You know, you can look." he teased, making Krys throw a pillow at him. "What, you like the sexy body. Its okay. I look too." Krys looked at him.

"You know what? Its _not_ sexy. I was looking and… okay, the body _is_ sexy. I'm lying. So what? Its sexy, I admitted it. There." Ares grinned.

"Well… when you catch me looking at you, what do I do?"

"You don't stop. You're a pervert." Krys said, with a full smile and laughter in her voice. Ares laughed, and sat down next to her. "Stop, you're making me nervous." Ares looked at her questioningly.

"Why?" he asked, in genuine confusion and concern.

"Just…" Krys looked at him and touched his chest. "Three days before Christmas. What do you want?" She asked this while looking at his chest, and tracing a little pattern in water.

"Krys, I love you."

"I know."

"And don't take this to offence."

"Oh God." Krys said, as she started to rub her hands with hand sanitizer.

"No, its just… do you think I'll like or love you more if you buy me things?" Ares asked, making Krys snort with laughter. When she stopped laughing, she looked at him and held her palm to his cheek. She lightly stroked it with her thumb, making Ares close his eyes. Sensitive and emotional Kodak moment.

"Oh, baby. Ares, you're my best friend. What I buy you, I buy because I think you'll like it. Or because I want you to have it. And Ares, I don't think its possible for you to love me any more than you already do. If you did, our friendship would be slightly disturbing." Krys teased. Ares raised his eyebrows awkwardly.

"So, what do _you_ want for Christmas?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"Ares, do you buy me thing hoping that I'll love you more?" she teased.

"You're horrible." Ares said, as he gazed at her. Krys looked in his eyes and smiled cutely.

"Did you know that your eye color is almost indefinable when you're not wearing anything but a towel?" she asked. Ares just stared at her.

"Did you know that when its snowing, your eyes turn into a navy and gray blue. I think its slate blue. Like a sapphire, electric, navy and slate blue, then a smoky brown. And when its sunny, your eyes are sapphire blue, and sparkling brown. But at night… your eyes turn shades darker, but both colors are definable." he said. Krys started to wiggle her eyebrows, making Ares laugh. "And, when you do that… I can see how the brown and blue mix in the first section of this eye." Ares pointed to her left eye, the one on his right side. "Where the blue sort of mixes in with the brown around the edges."

"Thank you for pointing out the flaws in the creepy eyes." Krys teased. Ares shook his head.

"They're not creepy." he said. "And the other day… I was wrong. I kept calling them sexy. In reality-"

"I know. They're kinda disg-" Ares held Krys' lips together, and shook his head.

"They're beautiful." he said softly. Krys' eyebrows furrowed and Ares let her lips go, before he gently placed his palm to her cheek. "Say something." Krys' furrowed eyebrows went back to normal, and she looked at him.

"Do you have any more chocolate?" she asked. Ares smiled.

"You mean besides the chocolate that you inhaled like a vacuum cleaner?" he teased. Krys laughed, and pinched his cheek after rubbing her hands with hand sanitizer.

"Stop." she said. Ares laughed and pulled a box out from under his bed. He handed her the big box of chocolates and watched her smile sweetly. She sat up and started to eat them with him. After five gigantic chocolate squares, they both stopped eating. "We should stop."

"You're right." Ares said, as he held his stomach. Krys looked at him. She pointed to his top lip.

"You have chocolate there." she said. Ares started to wipe it away, when Krys started to wipe it away for him. "Are you going to the strip club tonight?"

"I don't think so." Ares said. "Why?"

"I don't know. I'm supposed to be taking Hermione to a strip club, because I don't want to go to BU. But, I…"

"Krys, when you were on the radio… what tabloid did Tip show you?" Ares asked.

"Um… there's this magazine. And I'm in the club on the cover. And there's the picture of me and you dancing. Then there's a picture of me and Josephs kissing. Then there's a question mark… and they want to know who I'm with." Krys said. Ares raised his eyebrows.

"People think we're together?"

"Actually, there's a poll online. Voting to say who they think I'm with."

"Oh." Krys looked at him.

"I hope you don't mind. I'm sorry… I mean, I'm putting you in the spotlight, and I don- why would you want people to think we're together. I'm sorry."

"No. I don't mind. But you know what would make this easier?"

"What?"

"Us actually being together." Krys laughed and punched his shoulder.

"Stop being stupid." she said. "Will you do something for me, though?"

"Anything." Ares said softly, looking at her with slight concern.

"Don't tell Josephs about the articles. Its bad enough that people think that way." Krys said. Ares nodded slightly.

"Yeah, sure." he said. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"You know, Mr. Delgado, I don't know what I would do without you." she said. Ares looked at her and smiled.

"You'd probably be amazing, and beautiful, and sweet, and brilliant." he said, making Krys laugh.

"Are you saying that I'm none of those things?"

"No, I'm saying that you're all of those things by yourself." Krys looked at him and shook her head.

"No." she said. "I know how my life would be without you, and trust me… you're the best thing that I have." Ares stared at her for a minutes, before he wrapped his arms around her. "Ares, stop being so sweet and emotional, you're giving me lady wood." Ares burst out laughing, and Krys laughed with him.

"You need help." Ares said.

"No, I don't. I really don't." The two were still hugging, when Krys bit his shoulder. "You know that you're only wearing a towel right?" Ares laughed.

"You like it." he said, before he pulled back. Krys stared at him and nodded.

"You know it." Ares laughed. "Oh baby. Ooh baby, yeah." she said monotonously. Ares laughed, then started putting boxers on under his towel. "Don't guys lotion? I mean, at all?" Ares laughed, then put on his jeans, before sitting back down. "Okay, baby." Krys leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I'm gonna go get dressed- undressed, _then_ dressed, before I come back… and spend the day with you." Ares sat up a little too eagerly, and his eyes lit up.

"Really?" he asked, just as eagerly. Krys looked at him and smiled, before Ares cooled down and gave a laid-back grin. "_Really_?" Krys laughed, after trying to contain it.

"Yes, really. And we're gonna watch movies, and you're gonna dance for me. And I'm gonna put money in your boxers." she said making Ares laugh. "I love you, Ares. A lot. I want you to know that."

"So tell me again."

"I love you."

"Again."

"No."

"Please."

"No." Krys smiled and blew a kiss to him. "I love you, Ares Delgado." she said, before she skipped out of the room.

When Krys got back to the room, Ares was lying on the bed. As soon as Krys sat down, Ares' pager went off. He groaned and looked at it.

"Shit." he said. "I have to go in."

"Okay." Krys said, nodding.

"You wanna come?" Krys looked at him.

"W-"

"Paperwork." Krys nodded.

"Sure. Of course." she said, as Ares took her hand and disapparated. After getting into the ministry and to Ares' office, Krys sat down on his couch.

"Are you thirsty? Do you want anything?" Ares asked, from behind his desk.

"No, I'm good." Krys said, as she looked around his office. He didn't have any pictures up, or anything in particular except for a dartboard, a ficus, and one picture on his desk. Krys stared at it wondering who the hell the picture could be of. After an hour of an extremely comfortable silence, Ares stopped writing and looked up at Krys.

"Are you bored?" he asked.

"No." Krys said. "I'm watching you work, how can I be bored?" Ares looked at her and smiled.

"Is that sarcasm?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"Nope. I'm completely sincere." she said, looking up at him and smiling. Ares laughed.

"Okay." he said. "Well, I'm don-" Ares stopped because his office door was being knocked on. He looked at Krys, who nodded offhandedly. "Come in." The door opened, and there stood a pretty dark-haired woman. She was wearing her auror robe open to reveal a skirt. A skirt that revealed legs. Long legs.

"Oh- hey, Ares." she said.

"Hey, Crystal." Ares said. "What do you need?"

"Oh- I just wanted to discuss something with you." Crystal then looked at Ares and walked to his desk, before sitting on it. She crossed her legs and smiled at him. Ares cleared his throat and looked at her.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" he asked.

"You know, I wanted to talk to you about a pay raise." Crystal said, as she scooted closer to the left to sit in front of him. Ares looked at Krys, who was looking at him with her eyebrow raised and an expression on the verge of laughter. Ares slightly blushed and Crystal looked behind herself. Her face showed a look of surprise. "Oh. Hello."

"Hey." Krys said.

"Um…" Ares said. "Sorry, Crystal, but I have to go."

"Oh. Okay." Crystal said, before she hopped off Ares' desk and closed up her robes. "Um- Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Ares replied.

"Happy Hanukkah." Krys said.

"Um- I'll just be leaving." Crystal said, rushing out of Ares' office. As soon as the door close, Krys looked at him.

"If that is Ms. What's Her Booty-"

"_Stop_ calling her that."

"Okay, crazy. What're you gonna do? Tackle me?" Ares looked at her. "Whatever. If _that's_ her, then what the hell are you waiting for? _She_ wants it." Krys said. Ares shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"That's not her."

"Well aren't you slightly interested?"

"Not my type."

"The girl is sexy." Ares shook his head.

"Not my type." he said.

"So what are you looking for?" Ares looked at her.

"Stop asking me questions." he said, nudging her arm gently. "We leaving?"

"Sure." Krys said, as she walked out of the office before him. As she walked out, people looked- blatantly stared at her. "_Okay_." Ares walked out and grabbed her hand, before he dragged her out.

"Merry Christmas, Ares." a group of women chorused as they made their way out. Ares turned around and smiled.

"Merry Christmas." he said, before he turned around and continued to drag Krys out. Krys looked at him.

"So, who is it?" she asked.

"Who do you think it is?"

"Oh- you're back to blondies?" Krys asked, looking at a woman with shoulder length blonde spikes.

"No. I don't like light hair. I like dark hair. Like this." Ares said, gently tugging on one of Krys' curls.

"You're too damn picky. You should test the waters and get some, before you go into a long term relationship where you might not get any for months."

"Krys… why are we talking about my sex life?"

"Because I put it on the map." Krys said. "You know what you should do? You should go and asked Ms. Wha-" Ares put his hand over Krys' mouth.

"Krys." he said. Krys looked up at him.

"What?" she mumbled, through his hand.

"No. What would you like? How would _you_ want a guy to get your attention?" Krys looked thoughtful, then started to walk again. This time, she dragged Ares along. When the two got back to the house, Krys didn't say anything to him.

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"Krys, where are Thai and Angel going to be? They're only seventeen." Hermione said, as she looked through Krys' closet.

"Um- who's Thai?" Nic asked. "Is she that kid that was always with you?"

"Yup." Krys said, as she read through her bed full of letters. "Thai and Angel are staying here. By themselves." They all looked at her. "Can't tell you. If you wanna know, ask her yourself." Krys stamped something. "I don't know- Hermione, do you mind if I stay here tonight?"

"Thai's not gonna do anything." Hermione said.

"No, I have some more letters to answer. And interviews to set up. And I have to furnish the hospital and orphanage." Krys said, before looking up to find Ginny, A.J, Hermione and Nic glaring at her.

"Krys, number one; you're gonna give yourself a heart attack. Number two; are you f-ing kidding? Bachelorette-" Hermione started, before Krys put her hand up.

"Okay. Jesus." Krys said, as she started to clean up the letters. "Nic, maybe you should talk to Gem." They all looked at her. "Maybe she wants to come."

"No." Nic said.

"I never liked that girl." A.J said.

"Well- I don't know what to say." Krys said.

"About what?" Hermione asked. Krys shook her head.

"I don't know. I'm just talking shit right now." she said, before she got up. "Alright, I'm going in the shower."

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"Krys, come on!" Hermione yelled. "I wanna leave already." Ron came up behind her and hugged her waist.

"You'd better not get any lap dances." he said. Hermione laughed.

"Huh. Now I'll have one, on _you_." she said, taking some money from his wallet. "All pound sterling? Forget it." Ron laughed.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes. Simply because I haven't been with anyone but you. And if I get to see a naked man dancing, then I won't stray when we're in our old age. _You_ were a bed hopping slut."

"Hey, hey, hey. I was not." Ron said indignantly. Hermione looked at him, then smiled.

"Yes you were." she said, as she nodded. "But its okay. Because, I gave you a blood test the first day that we saw each other." Ron looked at her. "What?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"You're crazy." Hermione nodded. "I like it."

"Okay, can you guys break this up?" Ginny asked. "I'm feeling very uncomfortable." Hermione looked at her.

"Sorry." she said.

"Okay- we're ready." Jason said. "Lets go." Ron kissed Hermione's cheek.

"Now remember what I told you." Hermione said. "You'd better not enjoy it."

"I promise." Ron said, making Hermione laugh. "Can I get a kiss?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why turn you on then send you to a stripper?" Ron laughed, and Hermione kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ron said, before Harry dragged him away. They all stopped when Krys hopped down the stairs. "What the bloody hell is she wearing?" Ron whispered to Harry. Krys hopped down the stairs in nice and sleek, yet Catwoman-like black leather pants. On her top was a top that was black opaque material on top of the black transparent flyaway bottom. Layman's terms, she was wearing a spaghetti strap top that tied in the front and opened in the bottom, only covering the _bosom area_, and accentuating it magnificently. On her feet were black leather Chanel boots with a small heel. Krys' hair was pinned up, and she looked gorgeous and mysterious. She picked put on her leather jacket and looked at them all staring at her.

"**You're wearing a thong. I see no underwear line.**" A.J said. Krys looked at her.

"You need help." she said. "Lets go." Krys tossed a set of keys to Harry, then caught the set that he was throwing to her. She threw him keys to the Bentley, and he threw her keys to the Ferrari.

"Hold on, where are _those_ cars?" Jason asked.

"Mind yours." Krys said.

"How many cars does that make this?"

"They're investments. Don't have to buy the kids any." Jason laughed.

"You know I want that car, right?" he said.

"Which one? We can take one back to Cali." Jason looked at her. "I'm serious."

"I couldn't."

"Whatever." Krys said. "Lets go."

"No, I want the car."

"No. Okay, lets get the hell out of here." Krys said.

"Where's Ares?" Ron asked.

"Where's Josephs?" Harry asked, before he and Krys looked at each other and ran up the stairs. When they got to the room, Ares and Josephs were in a heated fistfight. Ares was bleeding, Josephs was bleeding more. Neither Harry or Krys did anything for a while. Finally Krys walked up to them- hold on. _Imagine_ this. Two grown men. Both at _least_ 6 feet, over 150 pounds. Krys is 5- 5'1, 122 pounds at the heaviest. Krys walks up to Ares and Josephs, her clothes and hair changing as she does. She walks up to them in this heated brawl, and tries to pull one off the other, before she gets hit in the face by Josephs. When he and Ares realized what was going on, they both dropped the other to run to her aid. Of course, Harry was there already, but it's the thought that counts. When Josephs and Ares held their hands out, Krys looked at both of them, before getting up by herself.

"What in the blue hell is going on?" Krys asked, as they all stared at her. Her eye was puffy and turning black.

"Yo, why is it that my man Mike is telling me that you two were in this bitch's office-?" Josephs asked Krys.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. Are you talking to _me_?" Krys asked him.

"Yeah, I'm tal-"

Krys scoffed. "Really?" she asked. Josephs exhaled and his facial expression softened. "Number one; fuck Mike! Yeah, I said it. Fuck him. I don't like him. He keeps tryna talk to me. And I'm not telling you to drop your friend, I'm just telling you to keep him the fuck away from me. Number two; do not ever, in your _goddamn_ life- ever- _don't_ yell at me. I will kill you. And I don't give a shit of you're an auror or not. I will fucking kill you. Its simple." Krys looked at Ares. "What happened?"

"You're asking this bi-" Josephs started, making Krys look at him.

"Josephs, what did I just tell you? You're pissing me off, and this is the only way that I can keep my cool. So just sit back and shut the fuck up. And I'm so serious right now. I'm so serious right now, that I can't even laugh bout this sit later." Krys said. "Just stop." She turned to Ares. "What happened?" Ares rolled his eyes and sat on his bed.

"I'm not going anywhere with this punk bitch." Ares said.

"Who you call-" Josephs started.

"I'm calling you a punk bitch, bitch." Ares said, as he and Josephs started to get in each other's faces again. Josephs pushed Ares, who punched him in the face, before Krys stomped on the floor and both of them pushed hard into the walls, before being hung up and pinned. By then, they were all upstairs and watching.

"Look. Both of you." Krys said. "I don't care if you two don't like each other. I don't care if you talked about each others girls, mommas, sisters, aunts, uncles- I don't give a shit. No- really. I don't give a shit. You will get the fuck out of this house, into that car, and to that strip club."

"I'm not going anywhere with him." Josephs said. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"I love how you think this is negotiable." she said. "You're going."

"No-"

"You're going." Krys repeated in the most normal yet scary voice in the world. Then she looked at Ares. "You too." Ares scoffed.

"No, I'm not." he said. Krys laughed.

"What did I say?"

"But, Kr-" Ares argued.

"What did I say? No. You're going. This is not about you guys. This is about him and her." Krys said, pointing to Ron, then Hermione. "Now, apologize."

"I'm not apologizing to hi-" Josephs said.

"I didn't say him. Apologize to Hermione and Ron." Krys said. Ares and Josephs hung their heads and apologized to the couple. Krys looked around and stomped again, dropping them to the floor. "Let's go." Nobody moved. "Let's go." Her voice had normal volume, but the tone alone sent shivers running up and down spines. Ares and Josephs got up and followed out after as her clothes and hair changed back to her previous outfit. When they all got downstairs and were all staring at each other, Krys looked at Ares and Josephs. Both who looked mad as hell. "Smile." They both looked at her. "You heard me. Smile." Josephs gave a devious smile and Krys shook her head. "No. _Smile_."

"What happened to your eye?" Hermione asked. Krys felt around her eye and rubbed around it, making it go back to normal. She then looked at Ares, who was looking at his hands.

"Are there any problems?" Krys asked. No one said anything. "I'm talking to Josephs and Delgado, so I should get some response."

"Fine." Josephs said, as Ares continued to stare at his hands.

"And you?" Krys asked Ares. He looked up and nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"Good. Wait here." Krys said, before she and Harry started to walk down to the garage. Krys hopped in the Ferrari as Harry nodded as he got into the Phantom Bentley.

"Padfoot, I love this car." Harry yelled out the window. Krys laughed, as Harry revved the engine. Krys laughed and opened the nice underground garage door, and pulled out first. When the pulled around to the front, everyone was already outside, including Angel and Thai. Hermione, Ginny, A.J and Nic got into the Ferrari, while the guys got into the Phantom.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked, as soon as they drove off. Krys looked at her for a millisecond before she turned back to the road.

"Nothing. I don't-" she started.

"It was about Krys." A.J said.

"No, it wasn't." Krys said.

"Yes it was. Come on, Krys. You know that Josephs and Ares have never liked each other. Even when you were considering Josephs, they didn't like each other. When we were younger, remember that?" A.J asked.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Alright, well, because Josephs was three years older than me, Ares thought it was fishy that he wanted to go out with me back then." Krys said. "I thought so too."

_Flashback_

They sat in Transfiguration class. Krys sat across from Ares and next to Jason. Stacy James sat next to Ares and stared at Jason the entire time.

"Who can tell what determines a person's animagus form?" asked Professor Regal. She was a middle aged black woman, with short brown hair and a skinny face. She was witty and sarcastic, especially with her favorite students. Krys raised her hand. "Krystathaili?"

"Okay- so… the animal that you become- it depends."

"On what?" asked Professor Regal. Krys laughed.

"Okay- well, that also depends. It depends on parents, attitude, physical features, _attitude_, intelligence, _attitude_, common sense-"

"And let me guess," said Professor Regal. "Attitude?" Krys nodded.

"Twenty points to Professor Regal." she said. The class laughed, as did Professor Regal.

"I hope you're as funny in detention, Ms. Rodriguez. Though- actually, you're always funny." said Professor Regal. Krys laughed. "Continue answering."

"Well- it depends on a lot of things. But- it really depends on your reactions and reflexes. Say… you insulted me, and I had a _wicked _comeback. That would be really significant. Cunning, wit, how verbal you are- loquaciousness, speed, talent… _everything_ that you are, goes into it. And- if one parent is an animagus and the other isn't, you'll most likely become the same animal that the parent was. And- if you're like both of the parents, there will be something that signifies the other parent, somewhere with your animal form." said Krys. Professor Regal smiled.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." she said. "I award forty points to Phoenixtear." All the Phoenixtears, excluding Array, clapped. Krys did the beauty queen wave, and Jason threw a paper ball at her. "Seems like you just accepted your invitation to my detention party, Mr. Eirson." Krys looked at Ares.

"You coming to the party?" she asked him. He shook his head as he smiled at her.

"Ms. Rodriguez, I'll ask you to refrain from sucking the good seed into your poisonous plant pot. Mr. Delgado, you also have detention. Next time you'll ignore her." said Professor Regal. Krys smiled at Ares, then turned to Professor Regal and laughed. "Can you give me an instance?"

"Okay- I hope to think that I'm loyal, or even somewhat of a decent human being with morals, ethics, and integrity. I also hope to think I'm somewhat intelligent and playful. I've also been called vicious, ruthless, vengeful, spiteful and facetious- none of which I'm proud of. But- these are all characteristics of a dog. Again- dogs have a million other things about them, so do I… so- no one can really predict their animagus form. They can only hope that their characteristics turn into something seemingly attractive and… _cuddly_." Professor Regal laughed. "But- if I had to pick an animagus form that pertains to me, it'd be dog." Array raised her hand.

"What does any of this mean? She just started talking about herself. How is this going to help me during O.W.L's?" asked Array. Krys raised her hand, while looking at Professor Regal.

"Allow me, Professor." said Krys, as she pointed her wand at the board. In big writing on the middle of the board, 'Animagus Form depends on Traits' appeared. "See Array, everything about you, every feeling that you have, every thought, every insecurity, every emotion, just everything- everything about you, meshes together and its like reincarnation, without the dying and changing of the souls. You can become a roach in your animagus form- its just like, your attitude decides what you are." Professor Regal started to clap.

"Krystathaili, that was incredible. That's why so many people _try_ become animagi. In your animagus form, you can be how you feel. What makes it so wonderful- to me, is the sense of accomplishment. Its such hard work. And- it takes a lot. Jealous and promiscuous- or strict and complicated witches, can go around the place as an actual cat. Grungy people, can be scruffy bears- its like a way of expression." she said. A loud bell rang, and Professor Regal stood. "Ms. Rodriguez, Mr. Eirson, Mr. Delgado- come up to my desk please." Krys looked at Jason and Ares, then walked up to Professor Regal.

"Okay Professor, let's just note that I was only trying to answer your question." said Krys defensively. "Eirson was just trying to downsize my ego, and Delgado- he was just being the innocent loser that he's always been." Ares glared at her playfully, and Krys puckered her lips.

"You're not really in trouble." said Professor Regal, as she looked up.

"Oh- okay." said Krys, as she hopped up on a desk. "So- what happened?"

"You three are my top students for the class. This may seem weird to some fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years, but- I don't care. You've already taken the programs, Krystathaili. You've been taking it for your entire time here. I need you three to run the after school study hall for the students." said Professor Regal.

"That sounds like fun." said Krys. Ares and Jason looked at her. "What?"

"If word gets out that I know things, my reputation will go down the drain." said Jason.

"Yes, God forbid _anyone _finds out that you have a _smidgen _of intellect." said Professor Regal sarcastically.

"Exactly. Now you know how I feel." said Jason. "Plus- I have a few- _you knows_, in that class. If they find out that this," he said, pointing at his body and face. "is more than just that, they might not love me." Ares and Krys laughed as Professor Regal looked up at Jason.

"Ms. Rodriguez, Mr. Delgado, Mr. Eirson- I've listed your strong points in the subject and highlighted what you should cover." she said, as she handed them the papers.

"Professor, all of the subjects and units are highlighted on mine." said Krys. Jason and Ares looked at Krys' paper.

"Well Krystathaili, can you assume what that means?" asked Professor Regal. Krys looked at her.

"Professor, you want me to help fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years, in every unit for three subjects?" she asked. Professor Regal looked up.

"With some help of course." she said. Krys looked at her. "Your other Professors have agreed that you guys can do this."

"When?" she asked.

"Well- the study session is every night in the business week One session today. No session on Fridays. The next session is next week Monday. The first hour is reviewing Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then Charms, then Transfiguration." said Professor Regal. "It starts in an hour. Are you okay with all of the units and the subjects?" Krys looked through it.

"Yeah- I'm alright with them." she said.

"What about you guys?" asked Professor Regal. The guys nodded.

"We're good." said Jason. Ares nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"Okay- well, it's in the Library, at 4pm. It ends at seven. This is a list of things that you should definitely know." said Professor Regal. "Make sure that at least one of you knows each question on the list. Now- get ready." Krys hopped off the desk, and they walked to the dorm room. Krys plopped on Ares' bed next to him.

"Okay- so… we have to cover N.E.W.T and O.W.L subjects, before any of us have covered them in our _own _classes." said Krys. The guys nodded. "Alright, I was just making sure." Ares laughed.

"Okay- so we have to make sure we know all of this. Um… this sounds like something they'll need to know. Dementor Control. How do you fight off a Dementor?" said Ares. "How _do_ you fight off a Dementor?"

"Oh- with a Patronus." said Krys. Ares and Jason looked at her.

"And what is that?" asked Jason. Krys looked at him.

"Um… it's a shield. Well- it is a _charm _that casts a shield." she said.

"What's the incantation?" asked Ares.

"_Expecto Patronum._"said Krys.

"How about we let _you _cover that unit?"said Ares. Krys laughed. "How do you know that shit anyway?" She shrugged.

"I don't know. I just do."

"Well- what else do you _just know_?" asked Ares. Krys looked thoughtful for a minute.

"Someone's at the door." she said. That's when the door knocked, and A.J walked in. "Apolla Jade." greeted Krys.

"Krystathaili." greeted A.J. She looked at Jason and Ares. "Jason- Ares."

"Hey A.J." said Jason.

"Hey." said Ares. A.J sat on a chair next to Jason's bed.

"So… what're you guys doing?" she asked. Krys looked up.

"Running the study session for fourth year and up." she said.

"Oh- that's nice." said A.J. "A lot of older guys. You're gonna get asked out like a hundred times during these few weeks."

"No I'm not." said Krys.

"I'll bet that at least one of the seventh or sixth years asks you out. Throughout the entire program," said A.J. Krys looked at her.

"We'd like to be in on that too." said Jason. Ares glared at him.

"Yeah, whatever." he said bitterly. Krys looked at them.

"We bet that you'll get asked out at least once."

"So… you think that I'll go to this thing and get asked out at least once?" said Krys.

"You gonna do it?" asked A.J. Krys looked at her.

"Is Kryssie scared?" asked Jason. Krys looked at him.

"I'm not afraid of anything- and I never back down from a bet or a dare." she said. "What are the rules?"

"You let A.J dress you. And you have to act the way you usually do." said Jason. The two guys walked to A.J for a minute. They were whispering and nodding. When they came back, they were all smiling, except for Ares.

"If we win, you have to go out with every boy that asks you out, until you have a steady boyfriend-" started A.J.

"No. I'll go out with three a month. That's my final offer." said Krys. They all looked at each other.

"Three a month." said A.J. "Lets go get you ready."

"Nope. What do I get if I win?" asked Krys. They all looked at each other.

"What do you want?" asked Ares. Krys looked thoughtful.

"Cookies." she said. "Chocolate Chip- no nut products. Just good cookies. Only chocolate chip and chocolate, chocolate chip. For the rest of your natural born days- and no trying to poison me." They nodded.

"You ready?" asked A.J. Krys groaned, then hopped up. She walked with A.J to her room.

"A.J- I don't see why this is necessary." said Krys.

"Krys here- I won't make you too girly. I'll just make you wear… this." said A.J as she threw something at her. It was a black fitted t-shirt and light blue flare jeans.

"A.J- if these jeans are your size, then they'll be too tight." said Krys.

"Well- that's what we're aiming for." she said. Krys glared at her. "I'll leave while you change." A.J left and Krys put on the clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror and groaned. A.J walked in. "Wow- you look like a girl."

"That's not the word that comes to mind." said Krys. A.J laughed.

"Lets leave so that my brother can drool over you." she said. Krys looked at her.

"That's not how it is. You know it, I know it." she said. A.J nodded.

"Whatever." she said. They walked to Ailen and Array's dorm, and got Krys' sneakers. Krys put on her black uptowns. Then she put her hair into a low rippled and wavy side bun and wore a black hair band. She walked to Ares and Jason's dorm, and sat down.

"Don't you look like-" started Jason.

"The word 'slut' comes to mind." said Krys. Ares and Jason shook their heads.

"No- just… regular." said Ares. Krys looked at him. He looked weird, but a good weird.

"Are you insinuating that I didn't dress regularly before?" she asked. He nodded.

"That's what I'm saying."

"Oh-, okay." she said, before she looked at her watch. "Time to go." Ares and Jason hopped up. Krys reluctantly walked to the door. Ares dragged her out.

"Lets go."

"Dude- no pulling." she said. He laughed.

"I'll see you guys later." said A.J, as she ran to her dorm room. Ares, Jason and Krys walked to the library. There were over a hundred students in the library. They were all talking and hanging around. Krys walked to the front of the room, and whistled loudly. All of the students looked at her. That's when Professor Regal walked into the library.

"Good evening. This program will be run by these three." she said, pointing at Ares, Jason and Krys. A few students laughed, and a few raised their hands. "Yes Mr. Josephs." Eric Josephs was a seventh year Dolphintail and their Quidditch captain. He was black, with dark brown eyes and a toasty brown complexion. He was one of the most popular and best looking guys in school. He sat in the back, with a bunch of other Quidditch players and the popular girls.

"How old are they?" he asked.

"They're fourth years." said Professor Regal. Eric's eyebrow raised.

"Um- how can those fourth years teach me something that I don't know? I'm a seventh year, I've already passed classes that they haven't taken." he said. Professor Regal smiled.

"I know. Is that the question that you wanted to know also, Ms. Truman?" she asked. They all nodded. "Krystathaili, can you step up here?" Krys walked up to her. "Does anyone have a question? Anything that you don't know about a subject- a unit? Something that you're having trouble with?" A few hands raised. "Mr. Josephs- your question."

"Dementors. I forget how to fight against them." he said. Professor Regal looked at Krys. Krys was breathing deeply. There was a scattered, "yeah, me too." moving throughout the class.

"Well-well-. Huh." Krys took two panic pills from her necklace, and started to breathe regularly. She looked back at Ares and Jason. Ares puckered his lips, and made her laugh. She then turned back to the class. "Um- well the best way to fight against Dementors is the Patronus charm." said Krys. Eric rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't prove anything. I mean, can you _do_ the charm?" he asked. Krys looked at him with her eyebrow raised and her arms folded across her chest.

"Actually _yeah, _I can." she said with an attitude. She didn't even notice when Professor Regal left.

"Then show us." he challenged.

"Um- not right now." said Krys. "Can everyone hear me?" They all nodded. "Okay- I'm Krystathaili Rodriguez. You may call me Rodriguez. I don't know you enough to let you call me Krystathaili. I don't _like _you enough to let you call me Krys. Understood?" Nobody said anything. "Wow- you guys don't understand. Sad." A few students laughed. Krys looked behind her, where Ares and Jason were lounging. She looked at them, and Ares winked. She raised her eyebrow, and he smiled and shooed her.

"Go teach." he whispered. Krys smiled her cheesy smile and he laughed. She turned and looked at Eric.

"You're the dude that wanted to see my Patronus, right?" she asked him. He nodded. She thought about meeting her parents then took out her wand. "Expecto Patronum!" The shaggy dog pounced out of her wand and the entire room filled with a silver light. "Was that good for you?" she asked mockingly. He laughed, and started to say something to his friends. They all looked at Krys and nodded. She caught his eye and raised her eyebrow. "Now- who can tell me why that wasn't the smartest thing to do?" No one raised their hand. She looked around. "Anyone?" Again, no one raised their hand. "Note taking time." she said. Some of the students pulled out paper, others kicked back and didn't do anything. Krys hopped on the big desk in the front of the room. "Is everyone ready?" There were a few students that nodded. "Okay- now." said Krys as she hopped off the desk. She started to walk through the rows of tables and desks. "When a Patronus hit's a person directly, it gives the same affect as when a Dementor goes near a person. A person that gets hit by a Patronus feels like all the happiness has been sucked out of them…" Twenty minutes later, she had all of the students hanging on her every word. They all listened to what she knew. Soon, she passed the subject of charms and, finally it was time to review transfiguration. "Read all of the highlighted stuff and when you're done-"

"How did you get all of this highlighted in our books?" asked Eric.

"Protean Charm."

"Should've known." he said, as he smiled at her. She nodded.

"Yeah, you should have." she said, before she hopped on the table again. A few students in the back raised their hands. Krys got up and walked over there. "What?" Eric smiled toothily and his friends chuckled.

"Do you offer extra tutoring?" he asked. Krys shook her head.

"No." she said. He smiled again.

"Well then, are you _giving _dates?" he asked. A bunch of girls scoffed and Krys groaned. "Wow- am I _that_ repulsive?" Krys laughed.

"Yeah." she said, before she walked away. He stared after her. Krys hopped up on the table again and stood up. She whistled loudly and was given everyone's attention. "I'm sick of the silence. So- we're gonna do something else, and you're gonna read that on your own time. Are there any questions about Transfiguration?" A few hands raised. Krys pointed at Olivia. "Yeah, Ms…, sorry. I don't know your name." A bunch of them in the back laughed.

"You know my name." Olivia said though clenched teeth. Krys laughed.

"Okay, Jane- what's your question?" she asked. The same group laughed again. Olivia glared at her. "I'm sorry, I- my mind lets go of anything that's not important." None of the group could contain their laughter this time.

"What's the process for becoming an animagus?" asked Madison, making Olivia glare at her. "What, I wanna know." Krys hopped up on the table.

"Okay- so, has anyone ever seen DragonBall Z?" she asked. A few students raised their hands. Eric was included. "After Gohan and Trunks got the fusion earring, they had to do a dance _perfectly_, in order to be the perfect fusion, so- that they could beat Mahjan Boo." Ares, Jason and some of the boys in the back laughed, while some girls scowled. "Okay- so, what's complicated about becoming an animagus, is that it's a process. Its like a mind test." she said, as she hopped off of the desk. She started to walk around. "If its more than one person doing it, then each has to make a certain aspect of the potion. You can only become an animagus with three other friends at the most. Then you have to mix them and divide it amongst yourselves. Then, its something like making polyjuice potion. But this is only if you're doing it with more than one person. Becoming an animagus with a friend, is like a bond. When you get your share of the potion, you have to put some of each of the other in it. So- example, if its me, Ares and Jason becoming animagi- I have to get some of Jason and Ares. Ares has to get some of me and Jason. And Jason has to get some of me and Ares. Then- after the potion, you have to this complicated Old Welsh chant. If you mess up once, you have to start over again. Meaning you have to make the potions again, mix them again and start all the way from the beginning. It takes most people years." Krys looked at her watch. "Its time to leave. Yea." she said. All the students got up and started to file out. Krys sat on the desk and looked at Ares and Jason.

"That was a nice lesson. I missed that episode of DragonBall Z." said Jason. Krys laughed.

"I can't believe you bitches lounged the entire time." she said. They both shrugged.

"So… did you-"

"Rodriguez." she heard behind her. She turned around. Eric was standing at the desk. "So, you turned down my offer for a date. Then you called me repulsive. I'm _starting _to think you don't like me." he said, as he smiled at her. Krys shook her head.

"See, its not that I don't like you. Its more that; you're _old_." she said. He laughed. "And- even if I were to consider going on the date, I'd have to _know _you. Which I don't-"

"Then get to know me." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Which would _also _be considered a date. See what the problem is?" she asked. He laughed.

"Okay- tomorrow. Hang out with me and my friends at lunch." he said. Krys shook her head.

"No. Tomorrow, _you_ hang out with _me_ and _my_ friends at lunch." she said.

"A bunch of fourth years?" he asked. Krys nodded.

"You're the one asking _this_ fourth year for a date." she said. He nodded. "Here's how I see it. If they're too young to hang out with, then I'm too young to date."

"Nice. Throw it back in my face." he said jokingly.

"You know it." she said.

"Okay… tomorrow, you, your friends, your turf." he said, before he walked away.

"Whatever." she said. She turned around and Jason and Ares were staring at her. "What?"

"I leave you alone for one minute, and you're getting asked out by seventh years." said Ares. "That means- the bet." Krys groaned.

"I lost." she whined. She hopped off the desk. "Dude- lets go." she said, as she walked out of the library.

The next day at lunch, Krys sat with Ares, Jason and A.J.

"I can't believe _he_ asked you out." A.J said. "I mean, I would've settled for Michael Williams."

"Can I sit here?" asked a voice. Krys turned around. Eric was looking at her. She shrugged.

"Sit where you want, guy." said Krys. She looked at the others. They were all staring at her. "Um- guy, this is Ares, Jason and A.J." Eric waved, and they all waved back at him. A.J stood up.

"Maybe we should give Krys some privacy." she said. Krys looked at her. "Ares- Jason lets go." Ares looked back at her, and so did Jason.

"We'll see you later?" asked Ares.

"Is my name Krys?" They looked at her. "Yeah- of course you'll see me later." she said. She watched them walk away, then she finally turned to Eric. "So- what do you want from me?"

"A date." he said. Krys nodded.

"I don't see that happening." she said. He laughed. "What? I don't see it happening because- you don't know me, and I don't know you."

"Okay- I know that your name is Krystathaili Rodriguez. You're cute. You're smart. You're on the Quidditch team. And you're very good at Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration." he said. She looked at him with her eyebrow raised.

"And I know that, your name is Eric… something. You're three years older than me. You'll be able to vote as a muggle soon. You can do magic outside of school. You're the Quidditch Captain. And- you're not completely repulsive." she said.

"See- I've always thought that that was the basis of a relationship." he said. She laughed.

"I also know that you'll be gone in a few weeks." she said. He nodded.

"But that doesn't mean that I don't like you." he said. "Maybe I like you because I feel a connection."

"First you're a pedophile. Now you're Oprah." Eric laughed. "Plus, this would have to be a connection that we both feel. I don't feel shit."

"That was my reason for liking you. You're funny." he said.

"But you already know the truth." said Krys. Eric nodded.

"So- even though you've broken my heart, will you still hang out with me?" he asked.

"Now, why would you want to hang out with a lowly fourth year?" asked Krys. Eric looked at her.

"'Cause I like her."

"Ah. You're gonna make every other girl hate me, guy." said Krys.

"Why?"

"Well- Mr. Popularity wants to hang out with me. I mean… I have you telling me how wonderful I am, when the truth is; I already know. You're here, asking me questions about myself and everything. Plus- most of these girls already don't like me."

"And why is that?"

"Because of who I hang out with. Check it- I'm not popular, yet I hang out with the most popular fourth years. Its crazy."

"Well, now you have me to add to your list."

"Whoa." Krys said. "You want to be part of my entourage?"

"Slightly."

"Well… there aren't any openings. But, I can put you on the waiting list and I'll call you as soon as a position opens up?"

"So you're always a smartass."

"Better than being a dumb ass."

"I agree." Josephs said. "So, do you want to hang out with me next weekend?" Krys looked at him. "I'm not asking you out on a date. I'm asking you to hang out with me."

"Well… I don't think that that's harmful." Krys said. "But… people will talk."

"And do you mind?"

"No. And yes. But… you're old."

"Can you get past the age?" Josephs asked. Krys gave a thoughtful look.

"That could take some time. And possibly, by the time I'm done thinking about it- you'll be older." she said. "You see, I have this rule about dating. If I don't think that it'll be productive, I don't see the point in it. So… that's the problem."

"That you want to be serious?" Josephs said. Krys nodded.

"You're this older guy that goes out with the smuttiest and most popular girls in this school. And I know why it doesn't last. You have superficial relationships. You want sex. I'm not going to give sex. Therefore, you don't want me." she said. "So, I don't see it going anywhere."

"Well- what ever happened to the fun?"

"I don't believe in wasting time." Krys said. "We can all die at any minute, so everything that I do has to be worth something."

"So, you're saying that you don't want to go out with me."

"No. I'm saying that it would be pointless, because it won't make any difference. If we don't evolve into anything, then the date will have been for nothing. I don't see the point, when I can tell you from now that we _won't_ work."

"Why do you say that though?"

"Because number one; if my father ever found out, he'd get you taken care of. And can you honestly tell me that you'd be okay with going from a guy that's getting some, to a guy that isn't really gonna? I mean, I won't do anything. I probably won't even kiss you." Krys said.

"Hmm. Well… how about I walk you back to your common room and call you when you're older?"

"That sounds a lot smarter." Krys said, as she hopped up. "Hey." She looked at him and laughed. "Today is Friday. Why aren't you asking me out for tonight or tomorrow?" Josephs laughed awkwardly. "You've made your booty calls for the weekend, huh?"

"You're a smartass." Josephs said.

"Have you?"

"Will it affect my chances?"

"Your chances have already been affected. Its okay, you know? I don't really care who you have sex with. I'll just advise you to use condoms, simply because one; you need protection from the happy pants girls here, two; you need to help keep the population growth at a normal rate." Josephs laughed and they walked along the hallways.

"So what's your favorite color?"

"Black is a shade, but I love it." Krys said.

"Mmm."

"What, are you making note of that?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Maybe I want to get you something."

"Please don't."

"I said maybe. And just so you know, I don't get anyone anything. So, if I do get you something, it'll be because you're special to me."

"Which I'm not."

"Says who?"

"I don't know. Me, for one." Krys said. She looked at him. "Look- I'm sure you're a great guy and all that other shit, but you have to admit that its weird that you want to go out with me. I'll bet that when you leave, you won't even remember my name. And who's to say that you won't break my itty-bitty heart?" Josephs looked at her and laughed.

"Who's to say that you won't break mine?" he asked. Krys looked up at him. "You make it seem like that's so impossible. Just because you're younger? That doesn't mean anything."

"It means a lot. Number one; I'm younger. Number two; I'm inexperienced. Number three; you're smarte-"

"Hold on. Okay, the other two may be true, but smarter?" Josephs asked. "Not even. I already knew about you. I didn't know what you looked like, but I do know about you. Do you know what Professors used to tell us when we couldn't get spells right? They used to always bring up this young chick that could do them all, exactly how they're supposed to be done. Anyway- why aren't you in Dolphintail?" Krys looked at him.

"Because as brilliant as I am, I am just that stupid. For everything that I know… I'm just that much dumber." she said, making Josephs stare at her.

"But you're in the house of bravery."

"What do you think stupidity is?"

"That's not stupid."

"Look- I'm not dissing the house or anything, but bravery is selective stupidity. And I'm an asshole."

"I don't understand." Josephs said.

"Is jumping off a building stupid or brave?"

"Stupid."

"What about standing up to a person that can seriously hurt you?"

"Brave."

"Why?"

"Because, you're standing up to someone who has the potential to hurt you."

"Yeah. But jumping off a building can kill you. You're standing up to the building that has the potential to kill you." Josephs looked at her. "I'm an asshole. What makes something brave? What makes something stupid? Someone?"

"Okay." Josephs said, as they approached the Phoenixtear recreation room. Josephs leaned down and kissed Krys' cheek, making her look at him.

"You're not quitting, huh?"

"Nope."

"Come talk to me when I'm legal in the muggle world." Krys said, before she lied back next to the door. "You gotta go."

"Are you always this rude?"

"Did you hear me and Olivia yesterday?"

"Yeah. You're always this rude."

"By-" Krys was almost hit by the door, as Ares stormed out of it. "Hey, where the hell are you going?" Ares turned around and looked at her.

"Oh-" he started.

"Where're you going?" Krys repeated.

"Somewhere." Ares said.

"You're safe now?" Josephs asked Krys. She nodded, then Josephs walked off. When he was out of sight, Krys looked at Ares.

"Where're you going?"

"I have to go pick something up."

"Am I coming?"

"If you want to." Krys nodded, then strolled along the hallways with Ares.

"You know, Mr. Delgado?" she started.

"What? What is it that I know, Krys?" Ares asked. It wasn't in a harsh way, it just wasn't in his perfectly masculine and gentle way. Krys looked at him.

"Okay. Hostility?" she said. Ares looked at her, then took her hand.

"Sorry." he said.

"Okay."

"Um… so what's- um… you and Josephs are… what'd you guys talk about?"

"Nothing in particular. Why?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to know."

"Ares, if you have something to say, spit it out."

"Its just that… its none of my business, so should I say something that'll piss you off?"

"Well… lets think of it this way. We sleep in the same bed. You have as much say in my life as I have in yours. I tell you when to go to bed, when to get ready for bed, when to shut up, and when to hold me." Krys teased, making Ares look at her.

"I don't… um- I don't trust Josephs." Ares said tentatively, after a minute of silence. Krys looked at him.

"Are you saying that you don't think I should go out with him?" she asked.

"I'm just saying that… I don't trust him with you. You're too good for him."

"Hmm. Okay." Krys said. Ares looked at her. "What?"

"So- if you're not going out with Josephs, why don't you go out with me?"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. This is a date right now." Krys laughed, as Ares opened the doors to the kitchen. As soon as she stepped inside, the aroma of fresh baked cookies washed over her. A cute little house elf skipped over to Ares and handed him a big tin. "Thanks, Acreas." The house elf nodded and ran off. Ares turned around and started to walk out of the kitchen with Krys behind him. As soon as they were out the door, Ares turned to her. "Um… here."

"What is it?" Krys asked.

"Just open it, Krys." Ares said, making her smile.

"Okay." Krys opened the tin and smiled. Inside the gigantic tin was an abundance of double chocolate chip and chocolate chip cookies. Krys smiled and looked at him. "Why?"

"Because you love cookies. And… I love… the fact that you love cookies and gain no weight." Ares said, making Krys glare at him playfully.

"You know, Mr. Delgado, I swear, one day I'm gonna take all of these little witticisms to offence and we're never gonna speak again." Krys said. Ares smiled.

"You're my best friend, Krys."

"Same here, Delgado. No one in this world, except my dad, is above you. Then again, Jason and the others are exempt. But… I trust you above all." Krys said.

"Me too." Ares said, gently massaging her knuckles.

End Flashback

Krys told them all the story.

"Hold on… so you and Ares never got together?" Nic asked. "I mean, everyone knew how he felt about you back then." They all looked at Nic, then at Krys.

"You never told her?" Hermione asked.

"Told me what?" Nic asked.

"Ares and I… were practically living together after he graduated Levebons." Krys said.

"So, what happened?" Nic asked.

"We broke up."

"Why? Who would break up with Ares Delgado?"

"I wasn't ready to be Mrs. Ares Delgado." Krys lied.

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After dinner, the girls were prepared to have a nice little party in a strip club called 'Fantasy Palace'. Krys sat down along with the others and relaxed. After a minute Krys felt someone tugging on her shoulder.

"Krys, I'm scared." Hermione said, making Krys look at her. Krys looked around at the men in cutoff tuxedos with bikini briefs and nodded. One man was shaking it and gyrating in a woman's face.

"Yeah, me too." Krys said, as she looked around. They all looked uncomfortable. Even Nic looked uncomfortable. Krys looked around once more and stood up. "Okay, I'm not feeling this either. Lets go to the guys strip club." They all looked at her. "That way we can check up on them." The girls all hopped up and nodded.

"Yeah, lets go." Hermione said, as she led the pack. Krys and Gin looked at each other.

"Jealous much?" they said simultaneously, touching fingers. Krys caught up to Hermione and beeped the Ferrari.

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The guys sat around a table with girls dancing on poles in the center them. Krys had gotten them the private back room with their own private dancers, just like she'd done at Ares' bachelor party. The guys were all sitting, they weren't harmonious, but there weren't any fights. The problem is, the back room cost so much and was only for the elite. Meaning, it came along with everything, Free drinks, _lap dances_, food- you name it. All of the men started to get angry when the only one getting a lap dance was Josephs. Not because they were jealous, but because their homey, their family, their friend was his girlfriend. "You know what? I'm not about to sit here for anymore bullshit." Ares called the waitress and ordered a straight shot of Cuervo. "Not without alcohol." They all looked at him.

"You know, Ares mate, its been two years." Ron said. "Maybe you should just… leave it alone." Ares looked at him.

"Are you happy?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you happy? With your life." Ron nodded. "Okay. You're getting married. The girl that you love, loves you. And you're happy. That's why _you're_ not drinking." Ares looked at the waitress who was walking over with the drink on a platter. "_I'm_ drinking because I'm not happy." When the waitress set the drink in front of Ares, he took it down in one gulp. "Another one, please." The waitress nodded. "As a matter of face, just bring the bottle. And… some vodka too, please." The waitress nodded, then walked away as they all stared at Ares. When she got back, she gave him the shot glass and the two bottles, before Ares started to take the Cuervo to his head.

"Ice, come on. What would Krys say?" Jason asked. That question alone drove Ares to bang his head on the table, before taking a gulp of vodka. When he was done, he looked up at them.

"What does it matter?" he asked. He looked over at Josephs, who was being escorted to the private room by two dancers. "She's gonna end up marrying that jackass because I was a jackass." He lied his head on the table. "Ron, why didn't you tell me to forgive her?"

"Mate, I think we all did." Ron said.

"But you and me were the ones who were hurt." Ares said, after he tried to drink the vodka with his head down. Ron nodded.

"Remember what Krys always sa-"

"I don't want to hear about Krys." Ares looked at his drink, then fell asleep. Ron looked at Harry and almost laughed. A second later, his head was being smacked, and he looked up to see who the hell had hit him. Krys.

"What is he doing?" she asked, as she looked at Ares. She walked over to his dormant body and lifted his head. "Ares." She turned to Harry and the others before placing his head gently on the table. "You let him drink?"

"Let him? He's a grown ma-" Jason started.

"You just let him drink." Krys repeated. "You motherfu-"

"Yo, Krys. Don't start on me, because you know that you're part of the problem, Sorry no- you _are_ the problem." Jason said. Krys looked at him, and started to slowly walk to him. "Hold on, hold on. I'm sorry." Krys looked at Ares, then rolled her eyes.

"Fuck this- I'm leaving." she said, tossing the Ferrari keys to Jason and storming out of the club. Even when Harry tried to leave the private room, he couldn't. Krys' barrier was too strong. When they could finally leave, it was 3 am.

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"Where do you suppose she is?" Thai asked. "I mean… where do you think she is?"

"Well- I don't know." Harry said.

"Well- did you check the obvious places?" They looked at her. "We're in Massachusetts. How many places can Krys stay in this one state?" Thai quizzed. "Massachusetts."

"Little girl, just tell us." Josephs said, making them all look at him. Thai looked at Harry.

"Anyway." she said. "The condo." They all stared at her. "Oh- my God. Krys' condo. Its near Waverly Academy. The boarding school." They were all still looking at her. "That's also a possible place. They have a crazy field. And there's also the all night gym. You guys knew her three months before I did? You guys are so cracked out." Thai looked at Harry then shook her head. "Don't go to get her though. She's not in any trouble. She's good."

"Thai, she made us stay in the strip club until 3am. When she got there, it was only eleven." Harry said.

"Well- that's Krys." Thai said. "She's a nut job."

"She's out there by herself. She could be hurt." Josephs said.

"Like you fuckers care." they heard from the doorway. All of their heads whipped in that direction. Krys walked into the room with Robyn, and something big hidden under a sheet.


	45. Date Night

"Ron, as soon as we come back from our honeymoon, I think we should go house-hunting." Hermione said. Ron looked at her.

"You want a house?" he asked. "Shouldn't we wait-"

"Why, though? What's the point in waiting, when we can find a house and have things set? Why wait and procrastinate, when we can be prepared?" Hermione said. Ron looked at her, then his face washed over in a thoughtful look.

"Yeah, alright." he said. "We should look for a house." Hermione smiled, then got up. "Where're you going?"

"I'm going to hang out with Krys. Because as much as I love you, if I spend every waking moment with you, I'll end up choking you." Hermione said, before she kissed him.

"That bruised my ego." Ron said.

"Plus- we're going to dinner tonight." Hermione said. "I have to go talk to Krys about the hires." Hermione skipped out of the room, and found Krys on the couch with Robyn, Ares' younger sister. "Hey."

"Hey, Bon-bon." Krys said.

"Cookie." Hermione replied, making Robyn look at both of them.

"Okay- there's Bon-bon, Cookie, Pumpkin, Brownie, Mahogany, and Nic?" Robyn said. Krys and Hermione nodded. "So… that's Nikki, A.J, Ginny, Hermione, and Krys?"

"Yup. And Thai is Mahogany. " Krys said.

"Okay." Robyn said.

"Hey, Hermie, we were just looking through furniture for the orphanage. I got a letter. Orphanage is built. Its gigantic and lovely, and the money from the ministry came in. Not quite what I was expecting, but you know." Hermione looked at her. "And the best part is that, because its built from complete magic, it has add-ons, luxurious room sizes, its wonderful. "Plus- me and Prongs excused all of the house elves, and they wanna work for us. Of course they get paid, and room and board are free."

"Um…" Robyn said, making Krys and Hermione look at her. "When is it opening?"

"Well… as soon as I have the employees. The ministry has already got two hundred orphans in custody." Krys said.

"Do you think you'd have room for me?" Robyn asked. Krys looked at her.

"Now why would you want to live in the orphanage, when you can just live with me?" she asked. Robyn furrowed her eyebrows.

"You would let me live with you?" she asked.

"Yeah. Consent from your mom, or her kicking you out. You need one of the two." Krys said. "Which do you have?"

"That's why I called you." Robyn said. "She kicked me out." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. "I don't really see a problem with that."

"Are you serious?" Robyn asked. Krys looked at her.

"Do I look serious?" she asked. Robyn nodded. "Okay then."

"There's a problem, though." Robyn said. Krys groaned and looked at her. "I kinda used magic to get the portrait."

"What portrait?" Hermione asked.

"She lifted the portrait of Ares' dad." Krys said.

"It got taken down once she started to date again." Robyn said. "And… I wanted it."

"Is it still a living portrait?"

"No."

"Okay." Krys said. "Go do what teenagers do." Robbie looked at her. "You're not old enough to drive. Okay… mall." Krys looked around. "Thai!" A minute later, Thai walked into the living room with fitted, yet not excessively tight stonewashed jeans, a green long sleeved t-shirt, and jade Uggs. Her hair was in a cute messy bun, and she was wearing emerald studs.

"Yeah, Krystathaili?" she said, as she skipped in cutely.

"Think you're cute 'cause you got a man now, huh?" Krys teased, making Thai and the others laugh. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"Doing his homework." Thai said.

"You wanna leave him? We're going to the mall." Thai looked at Krys pointedly.

"He doesn't need me right now." she said, making them laugh. "I'm gonna go get my coat." Thai left the room and Hermione laughed.

"I can't believe they finally got together." she said.

"I know." Krys said, as she looked at the couch. "To think; her life has meaning, and I don't have shit."

"Your fault." Hermione said. "Look- um… go warm the car up. I have to go talk to Harry for a minute." Krys nodded, then took Robyn's hand.

"Thai! Meet us in the car! Which one?!" Krys shouted.

"Minivan! More space!" Thai yelled back. Krys smiled, then dragged Robyn outside. As soon as she left, Hermione ran to Harry's room and started to bang on his door. A minute later, Harry opened the door and looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Ares' little sister is trustworthy?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded.

"She's good, yeah." he said.

"How trustworthy?"

"You, trustworthy."

"Can I talk to you?" Hermione asked. Harry rolled his eyes and nodded.

"What happened?" he asked, as he opened his door wider. Ginny was lying on the bed.

"Krys… she's killing him, isn't she?" Hermione said.

"Who? Ares?" Harry said. "He's just a little depressed."

"A little? He hasn't touched a drink in two years, Harry. Someone needs to tell her the truth." Hermione said.

"Well- maybe you should do it, then." Harry said.

"We're going to the mall. Do you need anything?"

"Just some stilettos for dinner. I broke my heel on Harry." Ginny teased, making Hermione and Harry look at her. "What?"

"Nothing." Hermione said. "What color?"

"Gold- something gold-like." Ginny said. Hermione nodded, then left the room, before knocking on Jason's door. Jason answered the door without a shirt on. Hermione looked at him.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." Jason said, as he opened the door wider. A.J was lying on the bed with a book in her hands.

"Okay. So… do you guys think that we should just tell Krys the truth?" Hermione asked. "I know that its not my business, but… Ares seems genuinely depressed." Hermione looked at A.J.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." A.J said. "He… I don't know what to say, Hermione."

"I just- he's giving himself to her- throwing himself, and she just plays baseball, when in reality its supposed to be catch." Hermione said.

"Hermione, you have to understand it from all points." Jason said, making A.J and Hermione look at him. "Krys and Ares have always been like this. They were like this when he was with Emily, too. So, because he rejected her, and she remembers, she just thinks that they're being them when he acts like he does. Its how they are."

"Oy." Hermione said. "A.J, we're going to the mall. Do you need anything?" A.J looked up and shook her head, before saying

"Ooh- I need… nothing." A.J said. "Thanks though. You should check with Nic, though."

"Shit. We forgot that she was here." Hermione said. "I'm gonna go invite her." Hermione left the room, then ran to Nic's room, only to find it empty. Hermione shrugged, then walked to Ares' room. Ares and Nic were laughing and talking about something happily. "Hey."

"Hey, Hermione." Ares said, looking up at her. "Nic made me a hangover potion."

"Really? You should've lived with the goddamn headache." Hermione said. "Anyway, Nic, we're going shopping. Are you coming?"

"Um- no." Nic said. "I'm gonna stay here and hang with Ares."

"Okay." Hermione said. "Have fun. Nic, do you need anything for dinner tonight? Anything to wear?"

"Um… no- I have full access to Krys' closet." Nic said. "So, I'm fine." Hermione nodded, then walked out of the room. When she got to the front door, Krys was waiting on the porch with a trench coat in her hands.

"Its cold as hell." she said. Krys had her cute black trench coat on. "But, we'll be in the car, and shopping with a coat on… its hell." Hermione smiled, then skipped with Krys to the Dodge Caravan. When the two got inside, Thai was talking to Robyn about what stores they should hit first. "Aw, you guys are getting along. I thought I was gonna have to knock a few heads."

"Don't worry about it, babe. Thai and I have a mutual understanding." Robyn said.

"And that is…?" Hermione asked.

"There isn't actually a mutual understanding. We're just getting along now." Robyn said, making them all laugh.

"Aw, she's learning." Krys said. "Okay- here's what I'm thinking. Robbie, Thai… you guys don't run this ship. I do."

"That's what she says, when all she really means is that they're her suggestions. Sorry- that sounded fucked up. What it really means is that she thinks that we'll like the stuff in other stores better." Thai said.

"And what happens?" Robbie asked.

"Well… she's always right. You'll find the best things in her stores. One rule that you should know… Krys knows all. This girl is rarely wrong." Thai said. "Especially about clothes."

"So, why isn't Nic coming?" Krys asked. Hermione looked at Krys, then laughed.

"Nic is hanging out with Ares. She made him a hangover potion, and she wants to hang out with him." she said. Krys looked at her.

"Him and Nic?" she said. "Cute."

"No, I'm serious."

"He must not remember her. That's understandable. She has changed."

"What?"

"Its Ares." Krys said. "Quidditch Captain."

"So- she was in his fan club?" Hermione asked.

"Was she ever? You remember how she looked when he asked Gem out instead of her." Krys said. "But Nic is cool. She's the one that you can really have a conversation with. Granted she isn't as smart as Gem. But she does work harder."

"Is that all that you can talk about?" Hermione asked.

"You know what I wanna do? I want to keep the walls white… and on the first day of tutoring… all of the kids can design their own rooms. Fuck that- that sounds stupid." Krys said.

"No, it really doesn't. But… maybe you should just do what you did for Angie all over again. And Krys, you have to remember what these little kids want. Mommies and daddies. Give them the home feeling. Don't make it like a jail." Thai said.

"That's what Benton's was like." Krys said.

"What's Benton's?" Robbie asked.

"Yeah, what is that?" Hermione asked.

"Um… St. Benton's Home for the Children." Krys said, holding one hand on the steering wheel and scratching her head. They all looked at her. She drove like a guy, with one hand on the steering wheel and that one free hand doing nothing in particular. When she backed up to give a passing snowplow space, she turned her whole body and looked behind herself, while placing her arm on the headrest of Hermione's seat. She said it so offhandedly. She turned around and looked at the road, before laughing. "Dude, they used to give a lights out at 8:52. That was my unit. Anyone two to twelve were in the same section. Babies had their own section, and as soon as you could walk and talk, they would put you in the two to twelve unit. Then thirteen to eighteen were in the same unit. They had a lights out at 10:59. Wow. Benton's was a fucking cesspool. They were the most negligent fuckers, ever. I mean, I'm allergic to roaches, and because of my asthma, I can't be around them. Well- it was a slum, St. Benton's. It was a clean slum. Fucking weird." Krys looked at the man in front of her, and honked the horn. "Learn how to drive the goddamn Toyota, okay!" She rolled her eyes, and drove around the man, before she looked back and gave the man a smirk. "Okay- so Robbie, here's what I'm thinking. You need shoes and a handbag. Parents don't tell their teenage daughters this, but every girl needs one good pair of shoes with a matching handbag. Okay. That's one thing that you need. You also need… an abundance of underwear. That includes thermals. Undershirts, slippers. Dress earrings, regular earrings, hair care products, lotions, stonewashed skinny jeans, faded skinny jeans, light blue skinny jeans, black skinny jeans, white skinny jeans, same for boot cut, flare, and stretch. Shirts… halter, tees, beaters. For sneakers- these are the essential, you _need_ these … four Uptowns, two K-Swiss, two Reeboks, four Adidas. Tims… constructs, regular tan, regular black. Airmax… I don't know if you're into that. School shoes… my special white Hush Puppies, and a pair of black, too. You see something that you want- fine and good. As long as we get the essential. We need them. Also… cute slipper shoes. Then there's the new book bags… and I can always go to your house to get your school books. So- is there anything that you want to get in particular?"

"No. Your plan sounds better than wonderful." Robbie said. "Than-"

"Don't. Its nothing. It embarrasses me." Krys said.

"Thank you." Robbie said speedily, causing Krys to playfully glare at her.

"And… skirts. Do you do skirts?"

"I do skirts."

"I figured. You're one of those _girlies_."

"No. But… there has never been anything wrong with looking like a drop of sunshine." Robbie said. Krys and the others laughed.

"Okay." Krys said. "I like that." She stopped in the traffic and groaned. "Okay. Name bracelet, name chain, name earrings, name ring. Your eyes are hazel, right? Green hazel… so emerald is your stone. Okay. Make a mental note of that, Krys." Krys honked her horn at the gray BMW ahead of her. "Learn how to drive the fucking car, goddamnit!" She swerved around him. "Um- slacky cargos. Black, white, gray, blue, green."

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When they were done shopping, they all stood in Robyn's room and coordinated outfits. They got everything that they needed and almost everything that they wanted.

"Okay…" Krys started. "Black thermal hoodie, white tee, regular bootleg jeans, and white on black Adidas." She put the whole outfit on one of her special hangers, then put it away. She, Hermione, Thai and Robyn continued to do this until Robyn's door knocked. "What?"

"Um… can I come in?" asked the voice of Ares. Krys looked at Robyn and shrugged.

"Ask Robbie. Its not my room." she said, before she looked through the closet and pounded her fist on its door. "Okay, Robbie D. Your closet is universal. It connects to the closet in my house, and your trunk in Acklemeyers. So… its like a lovely little portal. Its also an easy way to send me letters." Robbie nodded, then looked at Krys awkwardly.

"You know… I just wa-" Robbie started.

"No." Krys said, before she waved then started to walk out of the room. On her way out, Ares caught her by her arm, earning himself a look.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you mad at me?" Ares asked, before Harry popped up right in front of them.

"Padfoot, come on. Moony sent a 911." Harry said. Krys looked at him questioningly. "He's not in danger, but he said that we should get to Potter Manor."

"Alright. Whatever." Krys said, as she disapparated. When she did, she disapparated and landed in the dining room, where Tonks was waiting with Moony, Moody, and McGonagall. "Wow. What happened?" A second later, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ares, Ginny, A.J, and Jason landed in the dining room.

"Alright." Moony said. "So, according to the legends and studies, you guys should be getting more powerful according to each year that's a right to passage. Even though it's the magical world, it somehow still follows through with the years that you think are right to passage ages. I don't know why, but your energy levels say that this is a right to passage age. So… you two need to duel again." Krys looked around, then shrugged. "Alright, lets go." Moony started to walk through numerous rooms, until he walked down into a basement. In the basement was a gigantic dueling cage, along with numerous weapons. It looked like a lair. It was the perfect example of how a training place should look. Krys looked around and nodded.

"Pretty nice." she said, as she tied her hair up. She looked down and her cute and fashionable outfit turned into big black sweatpants and a matching hoodie.

"What happened to the catsuit?" Hermione teased, making Krys glare playfully at her.

"You ready, Prongsie?" Krys asked, as she hopped into the dueling cage first. Harry nodded and walked in after her. Krys stretched her arms over her head, and then stretched her legs.

"Are you good?" Harry asked.

"Wonderful." Krys said.

"Are we ready?"

"Hit me." Harry looked at her, and his wand became visible in his wrist holster. Krys looked at him, as her wand popped up in her hand.

"By any means necessary until the other gives up!" Moony yelled in. Krys and Harry looked at him and nodded. Then the two looked at each other.

"Are you gonna hit me or not?" Krys asked. Harry smiled.

"Not." he said.

"Fine." Krys said, as she stomped her foot and made Harry fly ten feet in the air, before landing with a gigantic and painful thud. Krys walked towards him, before red light shot out of Harry's wand. Krys flipped backwards, and avoided the spell.

"Expelliarant!" Harry yelled, taking Krys' wand, and making her shoot across the cage and crash into the barrier. She got up immediately and walked towards Harry. "Do you give up, Padfoot? I have your wand."

"Like that means anything." Krys said, before she stomped on the floor. Harry jumped out of the way, but the floor didn't shake. Instead, by surprise, Krys smashed him across the head with a wooden floorboard, making him fall. She heard shrieks behind her and could only imagine them on Hermione and Ginny. "Do you give up?" Harry groaned, but shook his head, making Krys pick him up by his hair and toss him across the cage. She thrust her hands in front of her and fire shot out of them, colliding with the water that was coming from Harry's hands. As the whole cage filled with smoke, all that could be heard were crashes. When the smoke finally cleared, the others saw Krys colliding with the cage in a fashion that would kill any other girl. But when she was done rolling down the cage walls, she landed on her feet and her shoulder looked horribly dislocated. She walked over to the cage and set it manually, disgusting all of them with the cracking noises as she put her whole arm through one of the bars and pulled it out speedily to pop her shoulder back in place. She looked at Harry, and grabbed hold of the cage walls, before a lead pipe formed in her hand. Then she disappeared. When Krys reappeared, she was on Harry's back, and choking him with the lead pipe. After a minute of being choked, Harry grabbed Krys by her hair and threw her on the floor. It took less than two seconds for her to hop up like a ninja and kick him in the face. While Harry endured the impact of the kick, a rope appeared in Krys' hands, before she snapped her fingers. Harry was tied in glowing orange rope, and Krys set her hands on them. The ropes flamed up and Harry looked at her. "Do you give up?"

"You're crazy." Harry said, with laughter in his voice. Krys nodded and smiled back at him.

"No. I'm a fucking nutcase." she said, before she put her wand on the ropes, and started to beat and swing Harry from side to side, making him hit each and every corner of the cage. After he hit each corner about seven times, Krys stopped. "Do you give up?"

"Do you?" Harry asked, as he popped out of the rope and tried to trip her. Krys hopped over his leg, and stepped on his stomach. Brutally.

"I love you, Prongsie." she said, as she aimed to knee his groin. Harry rolled out of the way and pushed his hands out, tossing fire at Krys. Okay… problem with Krys. She's a pyro. She's _worse_ than Pyro from X-Men. And even worse for Harry, she was born to be a pyro witch, where he was made into a pyro wizard, _because_ _she_'s a pyro witch. Krys smiled, and manipulated Harry's fire, building it up until it looked like she could beat Johnny from the Fantastic Four on his trip to supernova. Finally, she looked at Harry, who looked slightly frightened. "Do you give up?" Harry stood up and shook his head. "Have it your way." Krys smiled and the fire disappeared into her hand, before she decked Harry right across the jaw. His jaw had a burnt imprint of where her fist hit and it looked like it damaged some of the bones. Harry was still in shock, before Krys gave him a scissors kick to the face. Harry's nose was bleeding, his eye was black, and his jaw was probably broken. Krys looked like she'd been through hell and back, with her disheveled hair, her torn clothes, and the smudges of blood on her face. She tackled him, then started to strangle him, before Harry kicked her off. Krys held her stomach, then spit out blood and coughed up blood clots, before she looked at him. "Are you gonna stop holding back?"

"Are you?" Harry asked. Krys looked at her hands and nodded.

"Yeah." she said.

"Then come on." Harry said. Krys nodded, before she raised her hands, lifting Harry off the ground. Then she punched her hand, making Harry crash into the ground. Not fall. Crash. He was pounded into the ground. And left an imprint. Krys walked over, and dragged Harry out of the ground. She held him by his face, before she snapped and took a chain to his neck. Then she ran across to the other end of the cage, before running and climbing up it like Spiderman. She hooked it through one of the parts of the cage, before hanging him. Krys hopped down from nine feet up, landing on her feet, before she started to pull on Harry's legs, stretching and torturing him. Harry started to swing her off, and Krys crashed into the cage wall, before Harry let himself loose. When he got to her, he smiled, before stomping on the floor. Everyone prepared for the worst, and what Harry did was worse than anything you can imagine. When he stomped on the floor, dust, roach and rat droppings, pollen, and bees swarmed the cage, and surrounded Krys. Now, everyone knows that Krys was a sickly child- is a sickly person, allergic to shitload of things. Aside from being deathly allergic to bees, she has asthma. Her asthma is horrible. And its not exertion asthma. Its asthma to dust, rat droppings, and roach turds. Harry knows how bad it is. He had to save her life, when she collapsed in a hallway of Hogwarts. Krys tried looked at him, as Harry manipulated the bee to get closer and closer to her. Her eyes were watery, she was puffy, her skin turned blotchy, her nose was running, and her chest was tightening up. Krys looked at the bee, then at Harry. Now, it wasn't that she was afraid of bees. She just knew that one could kill her. Krys looked at him, then the bee, before she started to wheeze. It got so bad, that she started to cough up blood. Finally, Krys snapped and started to pump her inhaler, before she disapparated. She landed right behind Harry and kicked him right between the legs. Harry fell to his knees.

"Do you-" She started to talk through her coughs and wheezing. "Do you give up now?" she asked, as she started to scratch the blotches on her skin. She kicked Harry, and turned him over. "Do you give up now?" She put her foot over his groin threateningly. "Do you?" Harry didn't say anything, so Krys pressed down. "Do you?" Harry nodded and groaned, making Krys picked her foot up, and Harry curl up into the fetal position. Krys looked at him, before she started to pop pills. All of the others ran into the cage and looked at the two. "What?" Krys asked through her newly swollen lips.

"How did your lips get swollen?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." Krys said, before she started to sneeze. They both looked at Harry, who was still in the fetal position on the floor. Ginny was by his side. Krys walked over to him, and picked him up roughly by his hair. She steadied him, before she decked him again.

"Krys! What did you do that for?" Ginny asked. Krys looked at Harry, who was standing on his own, and looked happier than ever. "Um- what happened?"

"Um- the punch, it takes away all the damage." Krys said, through her gigantic swollen lips. Harry looked at her and punched her shoulder, taking away all the damage that he did. Krys walked out of the cage and walked over to the evaluation controls. Moody was looking at her.

"Potter-Black, that was some fight you gave." he said.

"What can I say? I'm a pro."

"You could've been." Moody said.

"I know this isn't the best time, but I was wondering if you could check out Dora." Moony said.

"That's what you're calling her now? Cute." Krys teased, making him blush. "Just tell her to call me, and I'll make a house call."

"Well… could you do it tomorrow?" Moony asked.

"Um… sure." Krys said. "Just write me down for some time in the afternoon." Moony nodded.

"Th-"

"Don't. See you, mister." Krys said, before she skipped away.

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"So, what's the deal with you, anyway?" Thai asked Robyn. "You're Ares' little sister. But your mom is a bit… cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs."

"That's putting it lightly." Robyn said. "I mean… she tricked my dad into marriage anyway." Thai looked at her and nodded.

"You're serious?" she said. Robyn nodded.

"Yeah, I heard her talking about it one day. Just a few years ago. She was talking to one of her girlfriends." Robyn said. "She was a secretary for the auror ministry. She was my dad's secretary, and she spiked his drink with Amortentia. Resulting in him cheating on his wife, and she destroyed his life. She broke the oath."

"That's heavy." Thai said, making Robyn laugh. "So, little one, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No. See- boys haven't started to notice me yet."

"Okay. But that's more dependent on you."

"I know, but I'm shy."

"Do you speak Spanish?"

"No. My mom is… you've met Jennifer, imagine where she came from." Robyn said.

"Well… I have nothing to say." Thai said. "So, your mom got married again, right?"

"Yeah." Robyn said. "Some hothead named Delkat. Two years ago, he got hit with a flyaway curse, in the middle of an inter-ministry battle. He sued the N.A ministry by going to the National Ministries. The N.A is supposed to give him 100,000 galleons next year." Robyn sighed. "Enough about my crazy ass mama. What the hell is the deal with Krys and Ares?" Thai looked at her and laughed.

"You can tell about that already?" she asked.

"I don't know who can't tell."

"Try Krys." Robyn looked at Thai.

"She doesn't know?" she asked.

"If she does, then she pretends that she doesn't." Thai said.

"So, why'd they break up anyway?"

"Not my business."

"Okay."

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Krys sat in her room with Hermione. The door barged open and Ares stood there looking at Krys.

"Why aren't you talking to me?" he asked.

"Oh- you're not slurring your words." Krys said. "How nice."

"Krys,-"

"Don't." Krys said, before she looked at Hermione. "Okay- here's what I'm thinking. You get to choose the furnit-"

"Krys." Ares said, making her look at him.

"Krys, you can at least hear him out." Hermione said, making Krys look at her.

"Okay, Ares. What happened?" Krys asked.

"Why are you so mad? _I_ screwed up my two years of sobriety." Ares said.

"Okay- think back to the day that you told me about your drinking." Krys said. Ares nodded. "What did you say to me that night?"

"I don't know. I don't remember." Ares admitted.

"Okay. I said that if you were gonna start drinking again, that you may as well just take a knife and stab it through my heart. An you told me that you had no intentions of going back to _the bottle_. Then you promised me. Not even swore. You _promised me_." Krys said, before she got up and walked out.

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"Krys, why are you so mad at him anyway? You're the one who drove him to the bottle, on both occasions." Thai said, making Krys look at her.

"How can you put that on me?" Krys asked in outrage.

"Okay- lets look at this." Hermione said. "You dumped him, the day he was gonna propose."

"That's number one." A.J said.

"And number two?" Krys asked. No one said anything. "How can you blame me for his drinking?"

"The same way that you can blame him for your learning to knit and crochet like a pro." Thai said.

"By the way, I made your mom a whole bootie set. All different colors and styles. Plus, I made a few little hats and mittens." Krys said, making them all look at her.

"You know that she's having a girl, right?" Thai asked.

"Seriously? Another girl?" Ginny said.

"Yeah. I wonder what it'll do to Angel though." Hermione said.

"Nothing. See- Thai's the oldest. Angel's the genius. Jamie's the only boy. The next one will be the baby. Angel's already used to someone getting more attention, she has Jamie." Krys said.

"Hold on- get off that subject." Hermione said. "You're the reason that he had the drink, maybe you should cut him some slack."

"Hold on. How did I get pinned with his drinking?" Krys asked, as she held an asymmetrical black skirt to her waist.

"So, where are you and Josephs going tonight?" Thai asked.

"Some damn restaurant near Boston." Krys said.

"Krys, maybe you should look at this from Ares' point of view." Hermione said.

"Where are you and Ron going to dinner?" Krys asked.

"The same place that we went yesterday." Hermione said.

"What about you and Jason?" Krys asked A.J.

"Bed and breakfast." A.J said.

"Ooh." Thai said.

"What about you and Angel?" Hermione asked.

"We're not going anywhere." Thai said. "He wants to cook for me, but I'm a takeout kinda girl. Plus- we're not exactly seeing eye to eye." They all looked at her.

"Okay." Krys said offhandedly, making them all switch to looking at her.

"Krys, aren't you going to ask why?" Hermione asked.

"Nope. Frankly, I don't care." Krys said, shocking all of them.

"Are you serious?" A.J asked.

"No. But- he's right." Krys said.

"Who?" they all asked in some way or another.

"Angel is right." Krys said.

"Hold on." Hermione said. "What's it about?" Thai didn't say anything. "Thai." Thai still didn't say anything. "Krys."

"Not my business." Krys said.

"Again. Thai." Hermione said.

"Angel doesn't want to… until I tell him that I love him." Thai said, making them all look at her.

"Okay, lets talk to people with actual problems." A.J said.

"What do you mean?" Thai asked in outrage.

"Okay… he doesn't want to have sex with you until you're completely ready. What the hell kind of problem is that?" A.J asked.

"He-"

"Do you love him?"

"Yes."

"So say it."

"Its not easy." Thai said. "I get stuck on the 'lo' part." Krys laughed.

"Anytime he doesn't get what he wants, Ares confronts. Like when I couldn't tell him, we had this big argument. He gets results. The patiently waiting gets long run results, but who wants those?" she said. They all looked at her.

"Okay- while you're basking in the glory days, I have a crisis." Thai said.

"What kind of crisis is that? He won't have sex with you. Big fucking deal. Try having your ex-boyfriend go on a date with your cousin, an hour after you two break up, and a day after your dad's funeral." Krys said.

"Yes, if I tried that, I'd also try being the one that made all of that shit happen." Thai said.

"Why can't you tell him that you love him?" Krys asked. "Its not like your parents have any issues with expressing their feelings."

"Maybe I just can't do it." Thai said. "Its just me, I think." Krys looked at Thai, and walked up to her.

"Okay. Say it, using my name." she said.

"Krys, I love you." Thai said.

"Now, with Angel's name." Krys said. Thai took a deep breath.

"Angel, I love you." she said. Krys waved her hand over her face, and turned into Angel.

"Now." she said.

"Angel, I love you." Krys snapped, and turned back into Krys.

"Well… I don't know what your problem is, but… one day, he will grow tired." she said.

"Ginny, where're you and Harry going?" Thai asked.

"Some restaurant." Ginny said.

"And… where's Ares going tonight?" Hermione asked.

"He's staying here." Krys said.

"And Nic?"

"I don't know. She's staying here too." Krys looked at the off the shoulder black sweater, and held it up to herself. "Do you like this?"

"Lovely." A.J said. "**When're you going to admit to being in love with my brother**?" Krys and Thai looked at her, while the other stared, lost.

"**What are you talking about**?" Krys asked.

"**Just leave it alone, Krys. You love Ares. He loves you. Its simple.**" Krys looked at her skirt, then her sweater, before she walked into her closet. "**Denial**."

"**She's right, you know, Krys.**" Thai said. Krys walked out with her shoes, and put them down in front of her outfit, before she sat down.

"What were you saying?" she asked.

"You should just… Krys, what's the problem?" A.J asked.

"What are you even talking about?" Krys asked.

"**Krys, why are you avoiding it? You love him. He loves you. You two should just get married, have babies, and live your happy yet **_**annoying**_** lives.**" A.J said.

"**A.J, of course I love him. The honest to God truth, I breathe him. But he's already made it clear that **_**he. Doesn't. Love. Me**_**. And I don't know why everyone has to remind me of it everyday. I've had enough trouble trying to forget it.** So, why don't you guys just leave me the hell alone. Yeah, and I mean all of you. This means you too, Thai. Okay- you got older, you're no longer exempt." Krys said. Krys got up and walked out of the room. They all looked at each other.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked. "I mean, I caught a few things. I caught _difficulty_." Thai laughed.

"You _know_ what it was about." she said.

"You guys need to stop bothering her about this, before she goes postal on your asses." Ginny said. "I'm smart enough to leave her alone, when she gets like this."

"Yet you piss her off the most." A.J said. They all laughed, before Thai stood up.

"I'm gonna go talk to Angel." she said.

"Good luck." Hermione said.

"Now I'm nervous." Thai said. "Thank you, Hermione." Hermione blew her a kiss, then laughed.

"You'll be fine." she said. "Especially because you look gorgeous."

"This old thing?" Thai asked, as she looked down at her black long sleeved t-shirt, fitted beige pants, and black Uggs. "Thank you, darling." Then she skipped out of the room.

"That girl is cool. Especially for a seventeen year old." Ginny said. They all looked at her and laughed.

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"So she's not talking to you." Jason said.

"Exactly." Ares said.

"And you don't know what to do." Harry said.

"Exactly." Ares said.

"And you have no idea if she'll ever speak to you again." Ron said.

"Exactly." Ares said.

"Man, what's the deal with you and Krys, anyway?" Angel asked. "_You_ were getting married. You were the one that she wanted, and now she's in a relationship, and you're the one who'll jump through hoops just for a kiss on the cheek?" Ares looked at him.

"Why are you here?" he asked him. Ares turned to Harry. "Why is he here?" They all looked at each other and laughed. "Five months ago, I was happy enough. Five months ago, I was getting some. Now- I'm being whipped by a girl who has a boyfriend, I'm about to crawl over broken glass to make her forgive me, and I have a headache. And… its getting foggy in here- she's gonna kill me."

"Ares, I hate to say it, but I told you so." Harry said. "We all told you over and over again." Ares looked at him.

"I should let you read my wedding vows." Ares said. "Then you'd know." Jason started to laugh, making them all look at him.

"What?" Harry asked.

"He started off his vows with the line 'I've loved you from the first minute I saw you. I love the way you blow your bangs out of your face. I love the fact that you have the darkest natural hair color that I've ever seen.'" Jason recited. He looked at Ares, then at the others. "Okay- lets look at this. Number one; when you first met Emily, what was she doing?"

"She was… I don't know." Ares said.

"And, when have you ever seen her blow her bangs out of her face?" Harry asked.

"I don't know."

"And… Emily's hair was blonde, right?" Ron said.

"Okay- so I was writing about Krys. So what? I'm giving up on her. I am giving up on her." Ares said.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked.

"As sure as she is fly." Ares said.

"Okay. Hate to admit t, but you're pretty sure."

"Yeah. Whatever, mate." Harry said.

"I couldn't care less." Ron said. Ares looked at them.

"You're not gonna talk me out of it?" he asked.

"Its Krys." Jason said. "She cannot drive you this crazy." Ares looked at him.

"I'm gonna say this one last time." he said. "Angel, wrong or right, Krys is…"

"I have my girlfriend." Angel said. "But Krys _is_…"

"See- you all know that she's not only the sexiest girl you've ever seen, but she's the coolest." Ares said.

"And you're gonna leave her alone. You already said it." Ron said. "So- I have to go and get Hermione a wedding gift. I'm thinking about a bracelet or something."

"Talk to Padfoot about that." Harry said. "She can help you."

"You guys are shitty friends." Ares said. They all looked at him and nodded, before going on with what they were talking about.

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Thai strutted into Angel's room and sat next to him on his bed.

"Miss me?" she asked, before he kissed her cheek.

"Of course I missed you." Angel said. "I love you."

"Okay- that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Thai said. Angel looked at her.

"Alright. What happened?" he asked.

"Okay- so you know how I feel about you-"

"No, not really. See- because you haven't told me how you feel about me." Angel said.

"Okay- well how do you feel about me?"

"I love you."

"Okay- see, that's how I feel about you." Thai said. Angel nodded.

"Okay." he said.

"I just have a problem saying it. And since I can't say it, I don't feel right with you saying it to me."

"So you _don't_ want me to say it."

"Not if I can't say it back. And I'm not about to say 'thank you'. I'd feel fucked up." Thai said. "Angel, I feel the same way about you, I really do. But… its so hard to say it to you. So- we have to find another way for me to say it." Thai looked at him. She touched her heart, then kissed her hand, before touching Angel's heart.

"Too complicated." Angel said.

"Then-" Thai kissed her hand, before touching her heart, and repeated those actions three times, before she acted like it was an arrow, and shot it at Angel. He laughed.

"Okay. This is weird, but okay." he said, before he kissed he touched his heart and kissed it, and acted like he was tossing it to her. Thai laughed.

"Okay- I like that." she said. Angel looked at her.

"Oh yeah?" he said. "Well- I like that." He pointed to her lips. Thai looked at his finger and smiled.

"Really?" she said. Angel nodded, then kissed her, before they both lied down.

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The guys all waited downstairs in the living room, waiting for their dates.

"So… Eric, what training program did you go to?" Harry asked. Josephs looked at him.

"I went to N.A Excellence." he said.

"Yeah, I heard of them." Ron said.

"They're the best training program in North America." Josephs said. Ron nodded awkwardly, then looked down. He was wearing a dark blue suit. The man looked good. They all looked up when Thai walked in and sat down.

"So… what're you kids doing tonight?" she asked.

"Dinner." they all said in one way or another.

"Same place?"

"No." Thai nodded.

"Okay." she said, before she looked around. Finally, Krys walked out of the back, and looked around. She walked over to Harry, as if she hadn't just made a grand entrance, and as if they weren't all staring at her. Krys was wearing a silk black asymmetrical skirt with a silver vine and lily pattern. Up top she was wearing an off the shoulder sweater, that showed off her perfect smooth shoulders. On her feet were black and silver open toed stiletto heels. Krys' hair was perfect as her bangs went over her left eye, and the right side was tucked behind her ear and falling over her shoulders perfectly. Around her neck was only the constellation necklace, and the Marauder chain. On her wrist was her 'Daddy's little girl' bracelet, and on her finger was the ring that Ares gave her. Her lips were transparent pink and glossy. She looked at them, then sat down.

"Are you ready?" she asked Josephs. He nodded stupidly.

"Yo- you look amazing." he said.

"Thanks." Krys said regularly, before she picked up her phone. "You ready?"

"Um- yeah." Josephs said, standing up and holding his hand out to her. Krys took it and stood up, before she looked at the others.

"Don't wait up." she said, before she walked out with Josephs.

"I don't like him." Ron said, making Thai laugh.

"Yeah? Neither do I." Thai said.

"Look- I don't like him any more than the rest of you guys, but the truth is that we all know Padfoot. And the more we don't like him, the more she'll try to see the good, and the longer they'll be together." Harry said. "If we don't meddle, maybe she'll see what a jackass he is, and…" Harry stopped talking when Ginny walked down the stairs in a long black dress. She smiled at him, then laughed, as he hopped up, grabbed her arm, then dashed out of the house, before yelling a simple "Don't wait up!"

"Ill." Ron said, as he kicked his feet up. He almost repeated Harry's actions, when Hermione walked down the stairs in a nice long halter dress. Ron hopped up and rushed over to her, before taking her hand and dragging her out of the house. Thai looked around and noticed that Jason was gone too. She laughed and kicked her feet up, when Ares walked out into the living room.

"They left?" he asked. Thai nodded. She looked at his face. "All of them?" Thai nodded sympathetically.

"I'm sorry." she said.

"Its okay. I don't-"

"Maybe you and Nic should go to dinner." Thai suggested. Ares looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"And leave you and your boyfriend alone?" he asked. "Yeah, I think takeout will work." Thai laughed.

"I don't want to be alone with him, Ares." she said. "I'm just saying, instead of moping about Krys, go out and have fun. I'll go too."

"You're a young'un." Ares said.

"Hey- so what?" Thai asked. "But like I said, you have to go pick the food up, or you have to order from the resort."

"How is that 'like you said'?" Ares asked.

"Its still about going out." Thai said.

"I'm not going anywhere." Ares said, sitting down on the couch.

"You're a lazy one." Thai said.

"So what?"

"Well- how exactly do you intend to 'get over her' if you don't live your life?" Ares looked at her.

"Do you and your boyfriend tell each other _everything_?" he asked in outrage.

"Of course. We love each other."

"Wow." Ares looked at her. "You guys aren't…right?"

"Why would I tell you that?"

"Because Krys isn't around to tell me anymore."

"So, you guys tell each other everything too." She looked at him and laughed. "As if I didn't know that." she added as an afterthought.

"She's gonna marry Eric, isn't she?" Ares asked.

"Most likely, _eventually_." Thai said, making Ares look at her. "What? You asked for the truth. And the truth is that Krys is going to marry a tall, dark, handsome auror, who went to Levebons. He's gonna be smart, and he'll love her more than anyone imagined that they can love another. Plus, he's really sexy."

"Are you trying to hurt me?" Ares asked. Thai looked at him and laughed at his hopeless attitude.

"If you love her so much, why don't you just tell her?" she asked.

"Because she might not feel the same way."

"And if she does?" Ares didn't say anything. "Yeah, then you might miss out on the greatest thing ever. I mean, would you be happy with Krys?"

"I am happy with Krys."

"So you're okay with just being her friend." Thai said, making Ares nod.

"Of course I am. Its Krys. I'd be okay with being her doormat."

"But you're not."

"Not that lucky."

"She's nicer to you than she is to anyone. What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should stop spray painting sneakers. The fumes aren't good for me." Thai looked at him.

"Ares, come on." she said.

"Thai… I can't tell her."

"Why not?"

"Because if I tell her and she… if she rejects me, then I have no idea what I'll do. It'll destroy my whole friendship with her, and it'll be worse than the breakup, because, what reason would she have? I can't face her is she doesn't love me." Ares said softly.

"Oh my sweet Merlin! You _are_ in love with Krys! I knew it!" Nic shouted, as she made herself visible. Ares looked at her, then at Thai.

"Yeah, me too." Robbie said, as she walked out from behind Nic.

"Why am I here?" Ares asked.

"This is your intervention, Ares." Thai said, earning herself a look from him. "Ares… she's in love with you." 'Thai, she's gonna kill you.' said the voice inside her head.

'Yup, Harry. She probably will.' Thai thought.

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As the soon to be married couple got their food, Hermione's soon to be husband started to dig in.

"Shouldn't we say grace or something?" Hermione asked. Ron looked up at her.

"Grace?" he asked.

"Yeah, like a small prayer before we eat. Thanking God and Merlin for what we have." Hermione said. Ron shook his head.

"Maybe we should say grace after." he said. Hermione nodded.

"Okay." she said. "Don't think I'm being neurotic, I just think that it'll be easier saying it now, than getting into the habit later."

"Why would we even get into the habit later?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I just think that its something that married people should consider. Whether or not they'll go to church, say grace, go out for dinner once a week, have a date night- things like that." Ron looked at her. "I'm not being neurotic. I'm being laidback." Ron nodded mockingly.

"Sure." he said teasingly. Hermione smiled.

"Ronald, you have to think about these things too. We have to plan. We have to think and build." she said.

"Okay, well… on Sunday's we can… I don't know, Hermione. What? Take off a Sunday each month so that we can _always_ have just that day together? And if we get to have full days off together, then that's great, but we can always have that Sunday? I don't know-"

"That's a very good idea, Ron." Hermione said, making him look at her. "Its kind of weird having a civilized meal together, isn't it?" Ron laughed and nodded.

"No pizza pockets. I'm actually afraid." he teased. Hermione rolled her eyes and started to cut her food into small squared. "That'll work wonders when we have children. Can't choke." Hermione looked at him and puckered her lips slightly. Ron laughed.

"So, how does it compare?" Hermione asked. Ron looked at her.

"What're you talking about? Actually- no, don't tell me. You're not talking about Krys and Ares… I'm going to bask in this moment." he said.

"Hold on, I talk about Krys and Ares, because Krys talked about me and you. And I was talking about the fact that you're not at work. You're sitting here having dinner with me." Hermione said.

"It doesn't compare. That's a crazy question- being with you always wins." Ron said.

"Aw." Hermione said, before she laughed. Ron looked at her and laughed too.

"So… what're you getting me for a wedding present?" he asked.

"Who said I was getting you anything at all?" Hermione asked.

"You did."

"I didn't tell you that I was getting you something."

"Yes you did."

"When?"

"Two weeks ago."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No."

"Yes you did."

"Yes I did."

"See I told you." Ron said, making Hermione laugh.

"I don't like you." Hermione said, with a glint in her eye.

"Yeah, you love me." Ron said.

"Not enough to buy you a gift." Ron laughed.

"And already, _verbal_ _abuse_." Hermione wagged her finger and laughed.

"Don't bother me, woman." she said.

"You know, I don't think you should be talking to me like this. Especially since I'm thinking about what to buy you for a gift."

"You haven't gotten my Christmas gift yet, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I have. I'm talking about my wedding gift to you." Ron said.

"Oh… okay. Well- just get me something pretty." Hermione said with a smile. "Oh- you've already given me something pretty." Hermione wagged her ring finger, then took Ron's hand.

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Krys looked up from her plate and Josephs smiled at her.

"So, are you ready to talk about it?" she asked. His smile quickly dissolved.

"About what?" he asked.

"You _know_ what. There's a reason that your face was made up. Are you ready to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay- I'm done being nice. Talk."

"You think you're so damn tough, don't you?"

"No, no, no. I think I'm weak as hell. I only have a certain degree of control over myself. I _know_ I'm not tough. You know how weak you have to be to have no control of yourself?" Josephs shook his head. "So talk."

"The little boy needs to stay out my business." Josephs said.

"No. Stop talking shit. Ares' _only_ problem is that he doesn't know how to be selfish, and he's too good of a person." Krys said.

"Why isn't it your first instinct to defend me?"

"Because you already know that you never choose a bitch before your-… I'm not gonna continue that statement, because it includes a word that I'm avidly against, but its true. And no matter how I feel about you, unless you and me are wifey and hubby, I'm not choosing. I'm not defending him, I'm going on what I know to be true. And what I know to be true is that Ares doesn't bother anybody. And he won't even talk to most people because he's so damn shy that you have to know him before you can even get him to say three words to you. And I know that the only way that I even started to know that he doesn't like you is because of that fight, since he never said two bad words about you from the start. So tell me whose fault it is and tell me why."

"Its his fault." Eric said. "He got in my face, so I pushed him."

"And what was said?" Eric rolled his eyes.

"I don't know. He said some bullshit."

"You know what? I don't even want to know." Krys said, before she looked at her cake.

"So now you're not talking to me?" Josephs asked, making Krys look at him.

"Do I seem angry?"

"Yes."

"Well- I'm not." Krys said, before she looked at her watch.

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When Eric and Krys got to Eric's room, Eric whipped her around and kissed her. Krys pulled back and looked at him.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"Krys, I think you're amazing, and beautiful, and cultured… and perfect." Eric said, opening the door. "And I'm in love with you." Krys looked at him with wide eyes, before she bit her lip.

"I don't know what to say." she said. "I mean, I feel _strongly_ about you. You- we- its only been five months, I- Eric, I-"

"Krys, I didn't say it for you to say it back. I'm saying it because I want you to know that I eventually want you to be my wifey." Eric said. "And I don't want to scare you. I just want you to know that… you're it."


	46. Whats going on?

Hey guys. Look- I'm sorry about not having updated. But just so you all know, I intend to update by next week at the latest. Earliest- maybe I'll update later today. I don't know because I'm not done with my chapter yet, but I'm hoping that I will be soon, and maybe I just really need to touch it up and include a few sentences. I apologize to those of you who've been waiting for a very long time, and I apologize if I sound like a big headed asshole that's so vain. Tell me if I sound like a Prima Donna. I'm going to stop wasting your time. I have to get to class.


	47. Unwanted Reunion

As soon as Ron and Hermione got through their room door, a crap load of paperwork dropped neatly in front of them. Ron looked at Hermione, who smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Do your work." she said. "You owe me." Ron looked at her apologetically, before Hermione kissed his cheek again. "I'm gonna give you some privacy." Then she sauntered out of the room. She looked around the empty house and walked straight to one of the guestrooms. When she got inside, she walked to a drawer and pulled out a pair of pajamas, before changing. Hermione groaned. "I'm bored." She looked around, then left the room before going to the kitchen. She looked around the kitchen, with her hands on her hips. "Where are your hiding spots, Cookie?" she asked no one in particular, before she walked straight to the fridge. She felt around the top of the fridge, before she knocked a Snicker off. Hermione grinned and nodded, before sitting behind the counter and biting it.

"Three days before your wedding and you're being a fat ass?" a voice asked, making Hermione look behind her. Krys grinned. "Is that really justifiable?" Hermione laughed with her mouth full of chocolate.

"Hey." she said, through her mouth of chocolate. "I'm hungry." Krys laughed and sat down.

"Who am _I_ to call you a fat ass?" she asked. Hermione looked at her. "I was just teasing." Krys hopped off of the stool and sat behind the counter on the floor next to Hermione. "What're you even doing here? Shouldn't you be at dinner with your fiancé?"

"I could ask you the same about you and your stud of a boyfriend." Hermione retorted.

"Who says 'stud'?" Krys asked, taking Hermione's snicker and tossing it in the garbage.

"Hey!" Hermione shouted, slapping Krys' arm. "I wanted that." she whined.

"Well, then do it right. Come on, shake a tail feather." Krys said hopping up and walking over to one of the locked cabinets. She opened it and started to pull out tins and boxes, before she looked at Hermione and opened them. Inside the boxes were Godiva and all different chocolate assortments. Hermione looked at her.

"Who are you?" she teased. Krys laughed and shoved her lightly. "My wedding dress is ancient history." Krys walked over to the refrigerator.

"I want some chicken. But turkey will do." Krys said, taking out turkey and lettuce.

"Are you about to eat food?" Hermione asked.

"I'm hungry, and I got rid of most of my dinner." Krys said, making the hand gesture for throwing up. Hermione look at her for a minute. Krys started to put vinegar, salt and pepper on her turkey sandwich with potato bread. Krys was humming Pocahontas's 'Savages', while she cut her sandwich in fourths. Hermione watched as Krys ate small bites.

"Krys, do you have an eating disorder?" she asked seriously. "You're getting really skinny." Krys looked at her and, wiped her mouth.

"Why do you guys think something's wrong with me everyday? You're serious?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yes, Krys. You're getting skinny, you're vomiting an awful lot, and you're defensive." she said. "And I saw you the other day. You were working out like you thought- I don't know, but you were working your ass off. And you've been taking the rude humor a notch up when you talk about your weight and body parts." Krys nodded.

"Okay. All good reasons." she said. "I'm getting sick, because my body's not used to food. I'm used to the food injections, and they were basically to help me gain and keep weight. I'm defensive, because I was dependant on the food injections. I'm getting skinny, because I can't hold enough food to keep or gain weight. The working out, simply because the weight loss has taken its toll on my energy level and I was testing myself, seeing how hard I could work until I get exhausted. That's why I had to finish Prongs off faster. And I've been pissy with the humor because I'm me. Plus- I'm not really feeling too good tonight."

"I'm sorry." Hermione said, standing up. "What's wrong with you?" Krys looked at her and inhaled deeply.

"You… Eric told me that he loves me." she said, making Hermione's eyebrows shoot up.

"Wow." she said, before she held down a snicker. Krys looked at her, while she bit her sandwich.

"What's so funny about that?" she asked, through a mouth full of lettuce and turkey.

"I told you so." Hermione said, before she walked over to the sink and put water in a kettle, and started to steam milk. Hermione turned to see Krys with her head on the counter. "What are you complaining about?" Krys looked at her then set her head back down on the table. "Okay- so what's going on?"

"Eric and I discussed he and Ares' issue, and we then had a nice little conversation about what happened. And I asked how the conversation started- and when we got back, he told me that he loved me and that I'm the one." Krys said. "What the hell?"

"Krys, what did you _expect_ to happen?" Hermione asked.

"I expected him to cheat on me or something like that."

"So you walked into the relationship, thinking that it would fail." Krys looked at her.

"Yes." she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Hermione burst out laughing.

"Well… do you feel the same way?" Hermione asked, making Krys look at her like she was stupid.

"Its not that I don't _like_ him." Krys said. "_Love_. _Love_? Are you serious? Its still hard for me to tell Moony that I love him. It took me about a few days to tell Sirius that in his dad form. I can't-_love_?"

"Well… maybe you should tell him that."

"Do you know how fucked up it is to have someone tell you that they don't love you?" Krys asked.

"Do _you_?" Hermione retorted. Krys looked at her.

"Of cours-" she started.

"No you don't."

"How would you know?"

"Then who- by who?"

"Ares."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Ares told you that he didn't love you? _Those words_?"

"Y-… Hermione, can we get past the fact that you're a little bit psycho and concentrate on me?" Krys asked. "I have a real issue here."

"What's the issue?"

"That I don't love him and he loves me. And now, I'm probably just a tease in the relationship. Its been five months and there's been no sex. And now he's telling me that he loves me, so its weirder now. And what makes this so much harder, is that he hasn't initiated sex- he hasn't even tried." Hermione looked at her.

"So you think you have to have sex with him in lieu of not loving him?" she asked. Krys looked at her.

"Where did you get that?" she asked. "I'm saying that I- actually, no, but they're along the same lines. I feel bad that I'm now a tease. He's telling me that he loves me, and not only am I not responding, but I'm not having sex with him. What am I doing that's making him love me? I don't know." Hermione laughed. "Its not funny. And I don't know where I'm going to sleep, because I'll feel guilty telling him to go back to his room."

"Aren't there like, twenty five rooms in this house?"

"That's beside the point, Hermione. The point is that I'm probably leading him on."

"How are you leading him on?" Hermione asked. "You made it clear that-"

"Hermione, he and I are in a _relationship_. Should I be in a relationship if I have no intentions of falling in love?" Krys asked.

"Why don't you have intentions of falling in love?" Hermione asked with a smirk on her face. Krys looked at her.

"What's your problem?" she asked. "Are you enjoying this?"

"This? Your predicament- the predicament where you're torn between two lovers? Yeah. Yeah, I'm pretty happy watching this."

"What's wrong with you?" Krys asked.

"Okay- I have a question suggestion." Krys looked at her and laughed.

"A question suggestion. Okay."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying tha-"

"Are you saying that you love 'A'?" Krys looked at her.

"Do I have to?" she asked.

"No, because everyone knows the truth."

"Okay then."

"Go talk to him. See how he feels about you, then go-"

"Hermione, _that's messed up_." Krys said. "What kind of person does that?"

"I would've thought you did, but look at what I know." Hermione teased. Krys looked at her, and threw a piece of turkey at her. "Stupid."

"You're stupid, stupid." Krys replied. "Hermione, I'm not gonna play him. That's fucked up. And… I'm not the cheating type."

"But you have no intentions of falling in love with him. How can you say that that's 'playing' him, and this isn't?" Hermione asked. Krys looked down at her hands.

"Jesus." Krys muttered.

"So, I suggest that you go talk to Ares."

"I can't talk about this." Hermione looked at her.

"Why not? " she asked.

"Because. I just can't. I can't talk about this. I can't talk to Ares about this. I can't talk to anybody about this. Especially because Harry's not here. I can't even talk to you about this." Hermione looked at her. "Don't get me wrong Hermione, because I tell you pretty much everything. But… if I can't talk to Ares or Harry about something, then I can't talk to anybody about it. And its difficult enough." Krys inhaled deeply, then looked at Hermione again. "Who're our definite hires so far?"

"Nic, Michelle, Rene, Ashley, Jonathan, Roy, Trevor, Crystal, Cheyenne, Chantal, Chanel, Sunny, Devon Mitchell, and David Pierce. Then there are the other thirty people from the letters that you said you sent this morning. And now we're just waiting for our specialists and starting head healers to reply to. And, there are the older retirees that you said you wanted to hire for the orphanage. Not to mention the tutors." Hermione said. "Its hard to believe that you did all of that in a few hours."

"Close. I didn't go to sleep yet. I haven't gone to sleep in two days, really. I'm actually exhausted and I have insomnia." Krys said.

"Speaking of sleep." Hermione said.

"No. Don't _leave_ me." Krys said.

"Cookie, I love you. But… _I don't _have insomnia, and _I am_ sleepy." Hermione said, before getting up and walking towards the bedroom where she and Ron were staying. She dragged Krys along and dropped her off right in front of Ares' door. Krys shifted from foot to foot nervously. She took a deep breath and sighed, before she walked away, going to her room and falling asleep next to Eric Josephs, the man that she knew loved her.

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Krys sat up in bed next to a snoring Josephs. She'd been trying to get to sleep for the last hour and a half. It was two o'clock in the morning, when she finally dozed off.

……"_Ares, just get the fuck out of my house!" Krys shouted. "I just told you! Okay- I felt sorry for you! It was pity! Don't you get it?! I was just hoping that I could learn to give a shit." Ares didn't say anything for a minute. He just held his hands in his pockets. "Ares, didn't you hear what I said? Get the fuck off my property before I call the cops and tell them that you're stalking me!" He still didn't move, so Krys picked up a picture by the bed. It was of the two of them. She lifted the frame and threw it so that it hit the wall. "Get out, Ares! I mean it." He still didn't move, and Krys stood up. "Get out, Ares. I don't want you! I don't need you! You wer- you're nothing to me. You don't mean shit. You didn't mean shit. Just get out. We're done." Ares finally nodded slowly and walked out. When he hit the kitchen downstairs, he looked around and got a bottle of Patron out of the liquor cabinet. He opened it and took three big gulps before putting it into a sports bottle with some Vodka, and walking outside to roam the streets. He walked through the streets of Los Angeles, just holding the bottle, before he got into the Planetarium. He walked to the auditorium and laughed psychotically. There, in the middle of the auditorium, was a table set for two. After a minute, A.J walked out and looked at Ares, who was now taking big, generous gulps of liquor. A.J walked to him cautiously before sitting in one of the seats. Ares sat next to her and a few tears rolled down his cheek. A.J looked at him and bit her lip. _

"_Are you alright?" she asked. Ares looked at her and shook his head._

"_Nope." he said, before he took another big gulp. He took a deep breath. "You remember when Raphael left?" A.J shook her head. "Well- this is worse than that."_

"_I can only imagine."_

"_She doesn't love me, A.J." Ares said, before he leaned his head on her shoulder. _

"_I don't believ-"_

"_Well, believe it." Ares said. He was trying so bad to hold it in. "I don't know how you can be on top of the world one minute and just looking for pills and a sharp knife the next."_

"_Ares, if she doesn't love you, that's her problem. Because I do. Okay? You are the best brother in the world and I love you, okay? So, please don't do anything stupid. For me?" A.J said, with a scared look in her eye. Ares inhaled, then covered his mouth while he coughed. He tried his best to hide the fact that the coughs were sobs. After a minute, he looked at his bottle and started to chug the rest down. All types of crappy emotions filled him as he gave a fake sneeze. He continued to sneeze, trying to come up with an excuse for the excessive tears pouring down his face._

Krys woke up with her face covered with a mixture of tears and sweat. She turned on the light and looked around herself, before she looked down and saw Josephs eyes opening slightly.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked after a second.

"Bad dream." Krys whispered. Josephs squinted, then covered his head with a pillow.

"Krys, can you turn off the light? I'm trying to sleep." he said.

"Then _go to your own room_." Krys said, before she turned off the light. When she heard the snoring again, she rolled out of bed, and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the light and almost jumped back at the face in the mirror. Her eyes were red with bags under them, and she was as pale as a ghost. Her hands were shaking, and she looked horrible. She turned on the faucet and washed her face, hoping the cool water would rejuvenate her. She brushed her teeth, then walked around the bathroom for a minute. She looked at Josephs in bed and took a deep breath, before she walked out of her room and down three flights of stairs to Ares'. She crept in quietly and looked at his sleeping figure. He slept like- it was the most peaceful thing in the world, watching him sleep. He didn't snore, and he had a melodic breathing pattern. After a minute, Ares' eyes opened and he looked straight at Krys, before he turned on the lamp beside his bed. He looked at his nightstand and picked up his stuff before brushing mouthwash and gargled. He pulled a complete Krys, brushing his teeth before opening his mouth. When he was done, he patted the space next to him on the bed. Krys shook her head and broke down right then and there. As soon as she started to cry, he hopped out of his bed and hugged her.

"Hey- hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly, stroking her hair as softly as he spoke. Krys looked up at him and started to blubber.

"Y-y- wh-…" she started, before she softly broke down into more sobs again. Whenever she tried to speak again, she started to blubber out her words and sob, so it took an hour for her to stop crying. When all the tears and sobs were done, she looked at Ares with red rimmed eyes and tear streaks.

"What's wrong?" Ares asked. Krys didn't say anything. "I'm not going to sleep until you tell me, so, come on." Ares rubbed her back, and Krys laid across his lap, with her cheek on his knee. It took ten minutes for her to utter one sound. She didn't even make the weird noises that she usually did. Krys sat up and looked at him.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered. Ares furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I broke my pr-"

"Ares, no." Krys looked down. "I-… I spent so long accepting apologies from you, and making you apologize to me. The truth is that… I was so- I'm so sorry for everything that I said the day that we broke up." she whispered, as the tears fell down her face. Ares shrugged.

"Krys, I'm o-" Krys shook her head.

"No." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. Ares, I'm so sorry that I hur-"

"You didn't hur-"

"Ares." she cried lightly. "I'm so sorry. And… I- I didn't mean any of it. It was just a rough time for me." Ares looked at her and took her hand, before kissing and rubbing her knuckles.

"I'm not mad at you, Krys." he said. "And I'm okay now."

"Ares, please just let me feel bad about it. I- please let me apologize." Krys said. "I'm so-"

"No." Ares said, shaking his head, and hugging her as she started to cry again. "Krys, come on. I love you. I know that you didn't mean it. And… I love you so much more now that I could've imagined then." Krys pulled back and looked at him. Ares wiped away the tears, then kissed her eyelids. "Come on. Stop crying." Krys nodded.

"O-okay." she said through her hiccups.

"How was your date?"

"I don't really want to talk about that, Ares. I just- I wanna talk to you and clear the air." Krys said.

"About what? What happened?"

"I mean about what happened in the last few nights. What's happened since we broke up. The truth."

"Yeah? So, why'd you break up with me?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"There was a lot on my plate, and I didn't want to drag you down with me." she said. Ares nodded in a contemplative manner. 

"I doubt you'd be dragging me down." he said.

"Ares, that's not really important. I just want you to know that I love you, and although we're no longer together, I was in love with you then too. I really did love you. And I really was happy. And I wasn't just trying to get better for someone else. I'm- I'm so so-"

"Krys, stop." Ares said, as he held her. "At the risk of stealing your lines… it doesn't matter what you did then. It only matters what you do now. And who you were before then. I'm screwing up your speech royally."

"Yeah, you are."

"Sorry. Um… Krys, I love you. And I think that everything that happened just made us better friends. And we're pretty good friends." Krys looked at him.

"Pretty good?" she asked.

"Bestest." Krys nodded.

"Good." she said. "Look… I'm sorry about the drinking thing. Its not my business."

"Yes, it is." Ares said. "Just like its my business what you eat." Krys looked at him. "I have something for you."

"What do you have for me?" Krys asked. Ares smiled and got up, displaying his boxers, bare chest and bare feet. As he walked over to his closet, there was a small pep in his step. Krys laughed as Ares handed her this gigantic box. "Ares, what is this?"

"You're just gonna have to open it and see." Ares said. The gift was in a big box with beautiful wrapping and a great big bow. Krys smiled and fingered the bow. It was pink and velvet, while the wrapping was silver and pink.

"I don't wanna open it." Krys said. "Its so pretty."

"Pretty wrapping for a beautiful… girl."

"I can't stand being called a woman. Might as well call me a girl." Ares smiled and kissed her hand.

"You're the most amazing girl. Merry Christmas Eve." he said. "Now open it." Krys smiled and carefully unwrapped the bow, before she kissed it. Then she carefully unwrapped the box and folded it into a giant boat. Ares smiled as Krys handed him the boat. She opened the box and an immediate smile went to her face. Inside the box were Quaker chewy chocolate chip granola bars, Godiva chocolate assortments, Belgian and Swiss chocolate, Hershey's Kisses and M&Ms. Krys looked at him and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Only you can set it up the right way." she said.

"You should do it with someone special to you." Ares said.

"Who's more special to me than you?" Ares looked at her while blushing.

"Do you mean that?" he asked, making her stare at him.

"Do you not know that?" Ares shrugged and Krys took his hand. "You're the wind beneath my wings." she teased. Ares laughed. "No, but you are… you're the sun in my sky. You're… well- this is me and my mommy's thing, but… you're the air that I breathe." Ares continued to stare at her, making her pinch him. "Aren't you going to set it up?" Ares nodded, and started to wave his hand, making the treats move. "You've been practicing."

"Yes." Ares said, as the treats laid themselves in a line, separating Krys and Ares. "This way?"

"No, the other way. I'll do it." Krys said, as she waved her hands around. Each treat was on its own plate, and she looked at Ares and held a plate out to him.

25 minutes later, the two were lying down very close to one another just hanging out.

"Alright, you'd better know this." Krys said. "What song did this come from? 'I satisfy like a Snickers bar, cause I'm the pick-up artist

that'll stick you quicker than the spic will strip a car'. Prejudiced as hell, but hey. Where's that from?" Ares looked at her.

"Bet Your Man." he said after a while. "You almost got me when you said prejudiced. Cuban Link said that in Bet Your Man." Krys smiled.

"You got it. Much respect." she said. "Not many people get that one."

"What about this? 'I'll pack your team up in a hundred Heftys, if you wanna come and test me, son, forget the guns and knuckle up against me'. Where's that from?" Ares asked.

"You shouldn't've asked me that, Ares. You know that that's my favorite song. Toe to Toe. Cuban Link and Big Pun." Krys said.

"I know. That was to humor you." Ares said.

"How about this? 'Well since age twelve, I've felt like I'm someone else, 'cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt'." Krys recited.

"Eminem. Hi, My Name Is." Ares said. He looked at Krys and smiled before she yawned. "Oh- you're tired."

"I think so." Krys said. "I haven't been able to sleep lately. Bad dreams."

"What about?" Ares asked, slinging his arm over her shoulder, and letting her cuddle up to him.

"Its cold." Krys said softly. "But you're warm." Ares smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "Thank you for forgiving me."

"Hmm… thank you for being born." Ares said. "And letting me in your life. And keeping me in it. And being you. And being with me." Krys looked up at him and gave a tired and lazy smile.

"You're the only one wh-…" Krys stopped to yawn cutely, before she lied her head on a pillow. Ares hugged her and Krys snuggled up to him. "Good sleep."

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"I'm just saying that women aren't as strong as men." Josephs said, as he and the girls ate together.

"Are you serious?" A.J asked.

"Yes. Most women in the ministries- the aurors, they're usually honey pots. Half the women in the ministry are only there because they're attractive." Josephs said.

"So, you believe that just because they're attractive, they can't beat you, or they can't have other reasons for being in the ministry?" Hermione said. "That's so sexist."

"I'm not being sexist. I believe that what talents men lack, women excel in." Josephs said. "I'm just saying that women are naturally weaker."

"Does Krys know that you feel this way?" Ginny asked.

"Why would it bother her?"

"You considering yourself the stronger of the two might make problems arise."

"Why would that make problems arise. I'm an auror. I'm naturally stronger. I was also trained to be stronger." Josephs said, as he finished off his toasted sandwich.

"So, you think that you can beat any woman in a duel?" A.J asked.

"Yes."

"Cocky." Hermione said.

"Confident in my abilities." Josephs challenged.

"So are you saying that no woman can get a hit off you? Or are you saying that in the end, you'll win?" A.J asked.

"I'm saying that no woman can get a hit off me."

"That's so wrong." Thai said. "That's so cocky."

"No- its confident. I'm good at what I do, that's simple." Josephs said.

"Typical attractive male attitude." A.J said, making Hermione look at her.

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"How long has she been sleeping?" Ron asked. Ares shushed him lightly.

"She fell asleep at four a.m." he whispered. "Its five p.m. now."

"When did you wake up?" Ron asked. He looked at Ares, who was still hugging and holding Krys. Krys was also hugging and holding him, while lightly purring.

"I haven't been to sleep yet." he said. "Three hours ago, I took a shower, then laid back down. When I did, she hugged me again."

"Wow." Ron said. "So- its been thirteen hours."

"Yeah, but she hasn't slept in days. She's been doing work, so I don't blame her." Ares said, as he looked down at her. He smiled, then moved her bangs out of her eyes, before pressing a kiss to her temple. Krys moved closer to him and hugged his waist. Ron looked at him, then Krys.

"You have a real problem." he said, before he sat down. "Look- I need your help. There've been twenty one reported rapes in England. Bad part, it's a wizard- one wizard. He holds them in an invisible body bind, makes them perform oral, then he rapes them. Beats and batters them during. Honestly abuses them to the point of…"

"What do you need me for?"

"We need a warrant from the head of your wizengamot, even though he's on our soil. All the evidence points to someone from NA."

"How do you know?"

"Bite marks." Ron said. "Half wizard half vampire."

"Yeah- only the vampires in the NA aren't prejudiced against wizards. You said there are seven reports?" Ron nodded. "How long ago was the last rape?"

"Well- there were seven reported in London. Seven in Surrey. Seven in Hull. Hull was where the last was reported. Just a few hours ago." Ron said.

"Any near cathedrals or churches?" Ares asked. Ron looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah. Most of the girls were found around churches. How'd you know?" he asked.

"He's a fourth vampire. Fourth wizard. Half muggle."

"How do you know that? I need proof and a reason."

"Well- the churches around there- in England. History of Magic. There was a law passed during the crusades, and they put a charm on all holy buildings built and to be built in the UK. You have to be half good to go near any church in England without being scathed. Back then, good only meant you weren't a devil worshipper. This man is very religious though." Ares said. "If he's doing all of this in sevens, chances are that you'll find 28 more girls in four other cities. He's doing things in sevens because of the seven deadly sins. Look into the girls cases and histories. You'll find seven girls that show obvious signs of anger, avarice, envy, gluttony, lechery, pride, and sloth. Then you'll find that he studies them. They're probably in cliques, or some type of group together. If not… they're probably all Italian. The seven hills of Rome. It has something to do with the number seven."

"Okay." Ron said.

"What's going to happen if you get the warrant? What are you going to do? Get the records of the births of half vampires?"

"Yeah. Then we can set up groups of auror women all over England, hoping he'll bite."

"Well- you can go to my mom's house and ask her yourself."

"Your mom is the head chair? I thought she was head if international affa- oh." Ron said.

"Yeah. She has say in any and everything international. So even if you get the warrant, she has to go through my mom. You might as well just take it to my mom so she can ask Harriet and make it a definite." Ares said. "Hermione can take you. My mom lo-" He stopped speaking as soon as Krys began to stir. She moaned lightly, then cuddled up to Ares, before she opened her eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows, pouted, closed her eyes tightly, then opened her eyes again. Then she smiled softly, blinked, and stared into his eyes. Ares mimicked her actions teasingly, moved her scattered bangs out of her face, then laughed as she leaned over to get her toothbrush. While she was brushing her teeth, she looked at Ron, and rolled her eyes jokingly.

"You do remember that you were supposed to help me get Hermione's wedding gift today, right?" Ron asked. Krys nodded and continued to brush. Ares and Ron watched her as she continued to brush for five straight minutes. When she was done brushing, she started to gargle with Listerine. When she was fully done brushing, she sat up and looked at Ares.

"Tell your ministry that they may know him as Minival Capitoline. His real name is Elliot Ventura. He's just an egomaniac. Yes, he's a fourth vampire, a fourth wizard, half muggle. He's obsessed with the number seven, because it was when he was seven that he and his mother left his crazy father. And its when he was seven that he realized that he was special. Your real problem is the fact that he's attached to both worlds. And even more of a problem is that all of the girls were no more than 22, no less than 16. He has an age range. And all of the chicks were sinners to a considerable degree. You have to get a chick that is a great actress, or resembles her sin in a high degree. You should get someone from a different jurisdiction. You should get an American chick in there. An American chick that should look around and shop, then go alone in a park near a church. Its so obvious that its sad. You have to get a young _foxy_ thing."

"How do you know that he's obsessed with the number seven?" Ron asked.

"Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, and Palatine are the hills surrounding the center of ancient Rome- the seven hills of Rome. And avarice, anger, lechery, gluttony, envy, pride, and sloth- the seven deadly sins. He leaves seven bite marks." Krys rolled out of bed, and looked down at her regular sized boxers and her short shirt, covering herself with the sheet. "Did I honestly come in here like this last night?"

"Try this morning." Ares said. Krys looked at Ron.

"I'm gonna go in the shower, then we're going shopping." she said.

"What do you mean shopping? Its Christmas Eve and its five thirty."

"I mean, I already told the owner of a jewelry store that we'd be dropping by and that she'd have a definite few sales. She's gonna stay her ass there until I tell her to leave." Krys said, before she walked to the door. She looked at Ron, then ran her hand through her hair. "Um… get your key and be prepared for your pockets to be emptied." Ron looked at her. "I'm kidding. If you spend a certain amount of money, you get a discount. I intend to buy a few people a few things. We'll get the discount." Ron laughed and sat back down. "I'm gonna take a quick shower and get dressed. Ooh- plus, we have to steal someone's Christmas tree." Ron looked at her.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yeah, I forgot to get one. And I need to create a homey environment here, since Thai and Angel are leaving here, and coming back tomorrow night with Jaime and Angel." Krys said. "I need cookies, hot chocolate, candy canes, elf outfits- the whole goddamn shebang. And we have to wait until like six to open presents here. You know?"

"Yeah, alright." Ron said. "Hurry up."

"Whatever." Krys said, before she walked out. Ron looked at Ares and laughed.

"Could you have been more obvious?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Ares. "Do you- what? Was I staring at her?"

"You're always staring at her." Ron said.

"Well- I- what do-… she's so pure." Ron looked at him.

"We're talking about Krys." Ares nodded. "You're the one who told her that she was an incomplete person."

"I'm so happy that I have friends like you." Ares said sarcastically.

"Whatever happened to giving up on her?" Ron asked.

"I can- I can't." Ares said. "She's so sweet and loving, and she's sexy, funny, smart, cute- she loves basketball, and she- she can dance. She's focused, she's- and- and she has a body so sexy that I actually sit at my desk all day and try to understand it." Ron looked at him.

"You have no particular taste, do you? I mean, you go for Emily who- she's the exact opposite of Krys. Krys, who's cool and fun, against Emily who's just… wrong?" he said. "And now you're telling me things about Krys that I don't even want to know."

"If you can honest to God tell me that you weren't remotely attracted to her when you first saw her, then you're not into women." Ares said. Ron looked at him.

"Attracted to her? Hold on… I'm trying to remember the first time I met Krys. It was summer before seventh year, and we were all going to a nightclub. Attracted? She was mean. Yeah- she was pretty and everything, but as soon as I got to know her, she- we're related." he said.

"Okay." Ares said.

"What would you get Krys for a wedding present?"

"Something that she can't take off." Ron looked thoughtful, then shrugged.

"I'll let Krys pick it out." he said. "Man, thanks for the tips on that case. I had to handle another seven this month."

"That's crazy." Ares said, staring at the pillow that Krys was laying on.

"You're half a step away from stalking her." Ron said.

"Ron, when we were in Moody's, you kept a picture of Hermione under your pillow." Ares said.

"What about the million pictures that you keep in your wallet?"

"That's my business." Ron laughed, and summonsed Ares' wallet. He opened it, then dumped it out on the bed, before he broke out in a fit of laughter. Out of Ares' wallet fell many different pictures of Krys. Some of her as a younger girl, most of them being her in her older years.

"You have a real problem." Ron said, as he looked at a picture of Krys and her dad on her thirteenth birthday.

"No I don't." Ares said, taking the picture back. He looked at it and laughed. "I remember this day like it was yesterday. We didn't even know who she was until her thirteenth birthday. I honestly thought she was from Compton."

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Krys looked at Ron and kicked him right on the ass.

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed.

"What?" Krys asked, as walked along normally. She looked down at her cute black slacks and sapphire blue Airmax, before brushing lint off of her fitted long sleeved sapphire t-shirt. In her ears were white gold studded sapphire earrings, and she wore the ring that Ares gave her on her finger. She adjusted her black skully over her curls, pulled at her black gloves, and fixed her black and blue tasseled scarf, before looking at Ron. Krys closed her cute black trench coat, and looked back at Ron again. "Your immature ass is getting married. _I_ should be getting married." she teased.

"If you weren't so immature yourself, you would be." Ron retorted. Krys' eyes and mouth widened as she looked at him. Then she laughed.

"Ouch, you big bitch." she said, before she kicked his ass once more. "What kind of friend are you?"

"Same kind you are." Ron said.

"You know what? I don't appreciate your attitude." Ron looked at her, and rolled his eyes. "You're seriously being hostile towards me? What happened?" she asked in genuine confusion.

"I don't like what you're doing to Ares." Krys stopped walking and looked at him.

"Hold on- hold on. What am I doing to Ares?" she asked. "As a matter of fact, I don't even want to hear it."

"No, Krys. But you're gonna hear it. You're gonna hear it from everyone that you come across." Ron said. Krys looked at him. "We all agree on i-"

"Hold on. You guys talk about me behind my back? Look- if you all have something to say, you might as well just say it to me."

"Really? We can tell you anything?"

"Yeah, because I want to hear it all."

"Really? Fine. Ares is in love with you. And if you don't want him, you might as well just stop flirting with him, because its killing him. He is in love with you, and you're just toy-"

"Hold on just a minute. If Ares is so in love with me, maybe he would've told me when we're together _twenty-four-seven_. And- just so you all know, in case I haven't already made it perfectly clear that I almost handed myself to Ares, shirt off, skirt off and willing. _He_ turned me down. He told me that I was manipulative. He told me that it was too late and that he wasn't coming back to me. I probably lost all self respect when I continued to tell him that I loved him, so forgive me if I don't throw myself on his feet and ask him out again. So for those of you who think I'm killing him- _huh_. Its killing me." Krys said. "So if you want to know how I can be with another man when Ares 'loves me'? Don't go on what you _think_. If Ares loves me so damn much, he'd be doing what I did back then." She looked at Ron who looked speechless. "Are you done talking shit?"

"Krys, I-… I- I don't know what to say." Ron said. Krys froze.

"Don't say anything." she said. She looked genuinely frightened, before she turned Ron around by his arms. Ahead of him and her was a blonde with a gigantic nose walking arm in arm with Gemini, Lavender, Ailen, Array and Kay. Krys looked up at Ron and made a dash for the jewelry shop. Unfortunately, Ron didn't get her hint and was seen.


	48. Ketchup

After an awkward conversation where Krys had to save Ron from his ex and her friends, Krys dragged Ron away to the jewelry store. She gasped and walked closer to a display case, dragging Ron along with her. In the display case was a diamond ring that looked like it could eclipse the sun. She looked at Ron. "This is so beautiful, and it's actually real." The ring was completely iced in a classy and beautiful way. "Oh my God, I want it." Krys said.

"Then buy it." Ron said. Krys looked at him.

"Do you know how sad it is to buy yourself Christmas gifts? It seems so shady to buy yourself gifts during the season of giving." she said. "I can't do it."

"Krys, you're guaranteed to get a lot of gifts. We all love you." Ron said. Krys looked at him and gave an exaggerated eye roll.

"We're not on good terms yet." she said.

"Damn right were not on good terms. Why would you invite Kay and the others to the house?"

"Complete closure. You should really let it be known that you're getting married in two days, and that there will be no rekindling for you two. The fire will not relight once extinguished. And same for you and Lavender. And Ares and Emily. And someone needs to deck Gem."

"So you invited my ex-girlfriend so that I can make it completely clear that we're not getting together again." Krys nodded.

"Let her know that there's no option of Archaelas and Ronald. But I've gotta admit that Archaelas is a lovely name." Krys said. Ron looked at her.

"What happened with your dad and Emily?" he asked after a moment.

"What, are you regretting their breakup? If they didn't break up, you'd have no me, no Emily." Ron looked at her.

"No, that's not what I mean." he said. "I'm just asking what happened."

"Seventh year, Halloween. My parents and Harry's parents got together on the same day… Halloween- their death day. So, on Halloween, Harry and I went back and had to get them together. So, I took care of Lily and James, and Harry took care of Sirius and E.J. Halloween dance. I caught Sirius and Emily in a closet, making out, and Emily said something to me, so I decked her and broke her nose. I went to the Head Dorms, and Kay was there- so I decked her too. Both of their noses were broken, and so they didn't go to the dance, because I did it with SM in my punch. It wasn't healable until I decided. SO that left both James and Sirius dateless. See how much violence gets done?" Ron looked at her and laughed.

"You're not normal." he said. Krys laughed, and pulled her hat down lower on her head.

"You know you love me. I'm so much cooler than you." she said. "And my skully is the shit."

"Why don't you just call it a beanie? It's a beanie." Ron said.

"It is a skully. A black _skully_." Krys said. "Jeez." Ron laughed.

"Thank you, Krys." he said. She looked at him.

"For what?" she asked.

"Well… Hermione annoys the crap out of me when she talks about you." Krys laughed. "And it wasn't until now that I really realized how much you've invested in our relationship." Krys shook her head.

"I haven't." she said. "Look- Hermione's happy, you're happy, our hospital and orphanage are happy, and so am I. Its not some selfless act. I'm being selfish as hell, because I'm collecting. So don't make me out to be some saint. I'm not."

"Spoken like a true saint." Ron said. Krys looked at him.

"Ron, lets find something." she said. "You're pissing me off now." Ron laughed and Krys dragged him to another display case, before her face lit up with a smile. "This is it." Ron looked at her, and Krys pointed. 

"Why?" he asked.

"Because seven months ago, Hermione fawned over it. Its what I was gonna get her, until I found something else in New York." Krys said.

"Krys, I hope you don't think I'm weird for asking. But where the hell are we?" asked Ron.

"We're in Paris." Krys said, through her laughter. Ron laughed too. "**Excuse me sir, can you please show me the bracelet in the display case**?" she asked in French. The man behind the display case, walked over to the two and took the pink diamond bracelet out of the display case. It was the diamond bracelet that had butterflies formed by pink, white and green diamonds. Krys looked at Ron. 'No muggle cash?' she mouthed. Ron shook his head. Krys waved her hand, then looked through the display case some more. "You think Angel would like this?" Ron at what Krys was pointing to, before his eyebrows shot up.

"Those are nice." he said. Krys was staring at a pair of sunglasses.

"**And sir, can you bring out the sunglasses, too?**" she asked.

"What did you get Harry?" Ron asked. Krys looked at him and her eyes widened.

"Shit." she said. Ron broke out into a fit of laughter. "I was kidding."

"I know. I can't imagine you forgetting anything." Ron said. Krys looked around.

"I have all of my gifts already." she said. Ron looked at something in the display case, and then at Krys.

"What'd you get your boyfriend?" he asked.

"It took a while, but I got him season tickets."

"To what?"

"Raiders."

"Whoa. What do you think he got you?"

"I don't know. I didn't really want anything this year. I couldn't find anything that I wanted, so I don't know what it could possibly be."

"Um… I hope you don't mind me asking, but… what's going on with you and Josephs?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is that for real?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is he 'the one'?"

"Are you asking if we're having sex?" Ron gave her the 'more or less' head gesture.

"More or less." he said. Krys pulled her skully down lower and exhaled, before adjusting her gloves.

"Um…"

"If you have to 'um…', then ill." Krys laughed, and tugged at her own scarf, before she inhaled deeply.

"No." she said.

"Why'd you take so long to answer?"

"Because… if I'm not having sex with him, then people are wondering what the hell he and I are doing. And its not really anyone's business, but… it seems like if I were actually having sex with him, then I'd come off as a better person, because then I wouldn't just be a tease." Krys rambled, making Ron raise his eyebrow.

"A tease?" Krys inhaled and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling.

"He told me that he loved me." she said, making Ron deathbed cough.

"Merlin." he said, when he calmed down. "What did Ares say?"

"Why does everyone just assume that Ares knows everything about me?" 

"Because he's proven that to be true. And don't you guys tell each other everything?"

"How awkward would it be telling him this?"

"How awkward was it for you to help him plan his wedding?"

"So all of a sudden you're on my side?"

"Yes. Because… I feel bad for what I said. Especially because of what you've told me."

"You should feel bad for what you said. You hurt me in here." Krys said pointing to her heart. Ron looked at her and Krys kicked his ass once more.

"You hurt me too." Ron said, rubbing his now tender backside. Krys laughed for a moment, before she stopped abruptly.

"Hold on. You said that I'm going to hear 'it' from everyone that I come across. What exactly did you mean by that?" Ron looked at her.

"Its obvious how you two feel about each other." he said.

"Ron, Ares doesn't love me like that anymore. And the faster you guys accept that, the happier we'll _all_ be."

"Actually, I think the faster you admit that you love him, the happier we'll all be." Krys rolled her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Do you see anything in here?" she asked.

"No. I think what you picked out is enough." Ron said. Obviously not, because the two spent another hour buying things in the store.

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As soon as Krys and Ron reached the cabin, they were pissed. A barrier had been put up, interfering with their getting there by apparation. Krys kicked the door three times, before Harry answered with a look on his face.

"Why- why would you do that?" he asked.

"Us?! We just had to walk in the snow." Krys said.

"Which one of us, actually. What are you even talking about?" Ron asked.

"Padfoot- I don't want to see them." Harry whined.

"Well this isn't really about you, now is it?" Krys asked.

"You didn't do it for the rest of them. I'd be willing to bet my life that you have your own little selfish reasons for them to come here." Harry said. Krys looked at him in shock.

"Oh. Okay." she said, before she pushed past him and walked into the house. Ron looked at Harry and shook his head in mock shame.

"You shouldn't've done that." he said. Harry opened the door and walked through the house. He stopped at Hermione, who was frisking Krys.

"Hermione, get off of me." Krys said.

"What did he get me, Krys?" Hermione asked.

"He didn't get you shit." Krys said. "Except, we did invite a few surprise guests." Hermione looked at her, then at Ron.

"Who's coming?" she asked excitedly. Ron started to scratch the back of his neck.

"It's a surprise. Krys' surprise." he said. Krys looked at him and laughed, as she took off her hat.

"You're such a punk." she said, before she looked at Hermione. "Diabolus fecit, ut id facerem. _Amicule, deliciae, num is sum qui mentiar tibi? _(The devil made me do it. Honey, sweetheart, would I lie to you?)" They were all staring at her.

"You're not normal." Harry said. Krys shrugged, and looked at Hermione.

"I'm probably in the wrong." she said. "But while I was saying it, I honestly thought it'd be in your best interest. And now.. I'm not so sure, simply because I've learned something. Big bitch over there says that I'm a selfish chick. Maybe I did it for my own selfish reasons."

"Krys, what did you do?" Ginny asked.

"Okay- so…"

"Krys, what _did_ you do?" Krys looked around.

"Where's Robyn?" she asked.

"Thai took her home." said Hermione.

"Okay."

"Krys, what happened?"

"Well… in a few…" Krys stopped speaking when she heard a small collection of 'pop's. She then skipped to the door. A small smile came to her face when she saw Kay, Emily and the others standing in the doorway. "Oh my God! Its so good to see you all!" Krys squealed. "Why don't you guys come on in." Krys opened the door wider, letting them walk in. Krys led the way to the living room. As soon as Hermione saw who was there, her eyes widened.

"Hey… guys." she said.

"Ares, Eric, Jason, A.J, we have a surprise!" Harry yelled. He looked at the girls, then sat down on the couch. When Ares walked out, he stopped dead in his tracks as soon as Emily, Array and Ailen were visible. He started to laugh, before he walked over to Krys and slung his arm over her shoulder.

"What are they doing here?" he asked out the side of his mouth. Krys looked at him.

"Closure." she said, pushing him closer to the girls. As soon as she started to walk away, she heard three sets of footsteps behind her. Krys stopped in her tracks, and turned around to look at Hermione, Ginny and A.J.

"Krys, why would you bring them back here?" A.J asked, through her laughter.

"To see why Ares and Ron's ex-girlfriends and stalkers are hanging out with each other." Krys said.

"So what? They were hanging out. Is that a crime?" Hermione said. Krys laughed.

"No. But conspiracy against an auror is." she said. "Tell me. Honestly tell me; why would Emily want to hang out with Array, Ailen and Gem? And why the hell would Kay and Lavender hang out? What do these women have in common?"

"Other than the fact that they all hate you, for helping in breaking their relationships up? Nothing." A.J said. Krys looked at them, and waved her hand for them to follow her, before they walked into an empty room.

"You think they want me?" she asked. They all looked around at each other.

"Not really." Hermione said. "I mean, they've seen what you can do, haven't they? I doubt even they would be that stupid."

"Its not stupid if I wiped her memory." Krys said uneasily. "As far as Gem knows… we jumped her." Hermione looked at her.

"Excuse?" she asked.

"Okay- well… I pieced the fight together, so that it looked like we were jumping her." Krys said, making Hermione stare at her.

"Okay." Hermione said. "So… they all slightly hate us. I think that's what's going on."

"I think they're in a line of back scratching." Krys said. They all looked at her questioningly and in confusion. "Don't you guys take advantage of what your auror boyfriends know?"

"Well… maybe its just that you have two auror boyfriends, so you retain double the information." A.J said, making Krys glare at her while the others laughed.

"Anyway. A line of _back scratching _is what they call a chain of favors. I just can't see how they're going to do a chain of favors when they want the same guy." Krys said, before she sat down and started to run her hand through her hair repeatedly. "Alright… so… they get here and one of them from each group separate Ron and Ares. Wipe you from the place-"

"And _you_."

"What the hell would they want with me?"

"Krys, you're the only thing that held them all from Ares. Just like I'm what holds them from Ron." Hermione said. "What's going on?"

"Alright." Krys said, as she stood up. She started humming the theme from Mission Impossible, before she backed against the wall and started to scale them. They all laughed, as Krys did a tuck and roll through the door. When they walked back in the room, Ares was in the corner, with Ailen and Emily, while Array was talking to Jason and sitting closely. Ron was backed into a corner, while Kay and Lavender were asking him questions. Krys sat down next to Harry and watched. She seemed to go unnoticed. She looked as Ron scratched his neck, while Kay and Lavender asked him questions. She smiled, when Ares crawled over the couch in an attempt to get away from Emily. She almost choked on her laughter, when Jason got up and walked to another couch in attempt to get away from Array. And her eyebrows raised as Gem and Eric walked out from the hallway. Krys stood up, just as A.J, Hermione and Ginny walked in. Hermione looked at Ron in the corner, and cleared her throat loudly. When Ron looked at her, Hermione raised her eyebrow. Ron ran out from the corner, and hugged Hermione. Ginny sat next to Harry, and A.J looked at Jason contemplatively, making Jason run away from the couch. As soon as he reached her, he kissed her. Krys sat down and threw one shoe at Emily's head, then another at Ailen's, before saying,

"Okay- look. You guys were invited to my house by Gin so that amends could be made and so that there be no hard feelings. Not for you to get back with the fiancé that you wronged, Emily. Or for you to get back with a man that dumped you three years ago, Ailen. Same with you, Lavender. And Kay, you cheated, you lost him. Its done. That's over. And Array, you and Jason did it _once_. In fifth year. Get over it. He has someone else. Gemini, I… I'm- I don't even know what to say to you. Just… wow. You need to go talk to Nic, because… you have some serious issues that you need to take care of. So… lets talk." Krys sat down, and looked around herself. "I want to apologize to all of you." They all looked at Krys in shock. "I won't say that whatever I've done to you all was wrong, because I don't believe that it was. Whatever it is that I did to any of you. I only remember wronging one of yo- two of you. That's Ailen and Gem. The rest of you need to do something with yourselves and get over it. Gemini, we were friends. I don't know what the hell happened, but in that, _you_ betrayed _me_. And I wasn't going to give you your way by responding to it. But… I- hell no, I'm not apologizing to you. I'll just say that we're too grown to have that on us… and I wish to put it behind us. Ailen… I probably wronged you. Okay- I made Ares go out with you, and then…-"

"You stole him from me." Ailen said.

"No. You got psychotic and you accused me of something that was true, but it was something that I never would've acted on. You drove me to it." Krys said. "And… maybe I did wrong you in that, because you loved Ares, but I can't do anything about that. All that I can do is apologize." Krys looked around. "Okay… now- why don't we just go to the den and have some nice hot toddies? Then we can talk like adults." Krys stood up and looked at them. "Okay- well, how about we just order some pizza hut? Something."

"What's your problem?" Kay asked. "I mean, you move in and steal Ares right from E-"

"Hold on." Eric said, before he looked at Krys. They all just stared at her, except Ares, who was banging his head on the arm of the couch.

"Yeah, hold on." Krys said. "I didn't steal anyone from anyone. And did you honestly expect Ares to sit back while Emily had sex with the _ugly_ blonde Australian dude? I mean, at least cheat with someone attractive! Really! You cheated more than once, through the whole relationship, and with _more_ than one man. Did you _honestly_ believe that he wouldn't wise up? Same with you, Kay. You cheated, he found someone better. Done."

"What about you stealing Eric from me?" Gem asked. Krys looked at her in surprise.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Wow. Okay. Um… you asked me to talk you up to Ares, then you cheated on him with his boss. And now- Nic! Nic!" Krys called. "Hold on, because we're definitely gonna talk about this." Krys looked around. "Nic! Nic! Nikki! Get your ass out here!" Nic walked out to the living room a minute after, then stared at Krys, after she glanced at Gem. "So now you're fucking Mike, and you're asking me how I stole Josephs from you? Wow. Fucking wow. Some real self-esteem issues." Krys looked at Nic. "Please sit. I think that if we all cooperate, we can come to an answer. And I think that the best way to do this, is to…- okay." Krys got up and handed out pieces of paper and pens that she pulled out of thin air. "I think that we should try a technique that I learned in training, when I wanted to be a witch shrink."

"You were going to be a witch shrink?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, I… well- I dropped it. It was a double major, and I dropped it so that Hermione and I could spend more time together, and s-"

"Krys, stop lying." Hermione said, through her laughter. They all looked at her, when A.J, and Ginny started laughing also.

"Its not funny." Krys said, as she sat back down and put her head in her hands. Then she started to laugh too.

"Wait- what happened?" Eric asked.

"Krys was a promising student, because she knew all of the procedures, and she was really good with helping people. They gave her a simulation. The professor was supposed to be her patient. Anyway, she had a 'problem'… she told Krys this story about how she became an alcoholic because she used to be obese… and Krys started to laugh. And she couldn't stop laughing. So, the professor is crying about her problem, and all the while, Krys is laughing at her." Hermione said, making them all look at Krys.

"Hold on… I laughed because she-… she was talking about how she couldn't fit into her favorite pair of jeans, and she kept saying that the bigger she got, the more depressed she got, the more she ate and drank liquor. It wasn't that I thought it was funny… I just thought that she- okay… it was only funny because I knew the truth. Anyway… can we just do the exercise." Krys looked up and cleared her throat. "Okay… so we write problem we have about the other person on a sheet, then we share and heal. So, who do we have problems with in this room. Emily?" Krys said.

"I don't like you." Emily said.

"Okay." Krys said. "And you, Lavender? Gem? Nic? Kay? Array? Harr-"

"I'm not in this." Harry said.

"Okay. So… Lavender, who here wronged you?" Krys asked.

"Hermione." Lavender said.

"Write what she did to you." Krys said. "Kay, who wronged you?"

"Hermione." Kay said.

"Write what she did to you. Same for all of you. Write who wronged you and what they did." Krys looked at Ares and stuck her tongue out, making him smile. Ares winked, then stuck his tongue out too. Krys looked at Hermione and smiled, as Hermione looked around the room. When Hermione looked at her, Krys stuck her tongue out, making Hermione roll her eyes playfully. A few minutes later, Krys stood up. "Are we all done?" They all looked up. "So… no one here has actually wronged me. Yeah, Gem had sex with my homey and betrayed my trust, but, hey. Gemini, who betrayed you?"

"You did."

"Okay, and what did I do?"

"You're just doing this to hurt me." Gem said. "You know how I feel about Eric. You're only doing this to hurt me."

"Okay. So, what does this remind you of? If I stole Eric from you, how much worse is that than what you did to Nic? And Nic was your best friend. When I allegedly stole Eric from you, we were in a fight, right? Unlike you, who stole your best friend's boyfriend. Anyway, Lavender, who wronged you?"

"Hermione… she stole Ron from me." Lavender said.

"Oh please." Hermione said. "The night before you and Ron started going out, I _told_ you that I liked him."

"Okay- out of turn." Krys said. "Kay, who wronged you?"

"Hermione wronged me. She stole the man that I was supposed to marry." Kay said.

"Okay… I just want to question why everyone blames the women. The men were consensual, so why are we only blaming the women? Now, I don't want to put anyone on the spot, but… Ron chose to be with Hermione, while Ares chose to leave you, Emily. And Gem, Eric chose me. Why are you and Lavender blaming Hermione, when Ron clearly chose her? And Emily, Ailen… why do you blame me, when Ares clearly chose to leave both of you? Why are women always fighting other women for a man's choice? A boyfriend cheats on his girlfriend, and the girlfriend by default hates the woman that he cheated with? Why? Is it because of the woman code? Women should be more loyal to each other by default? Should a woman that knows nothing about you be more loyal to you, than your own boyfriend? Lets think about that." No one said anything for a while. "See… that's why I'm so great." Krys stood up and looked around the room. "I want you to look around the room and tell me who you should really blame. Is it me? Or Hermione? I mean, should we really blame each other, when we don't even like each other? When we don't even know each other? Shouldn't we blame the guys that knew, and made those conscious decisions? Gemini, you have to look past the fact that Eric chose me. And Ailen, you have to look past the fact that Ares also chose me. Lavender, you have to look past the fact that Ron chose Hermione. Kay, you have to look past the fact that Ron chose Hermione. And… Emily… you don't have anyone to blame. So… why don't we all just go and have a drink in the den? Except, I'll have some nice hot chocolate, because I'm not into drinking. And… anyone under the age of twenty one will also have some damn hot chocolate, because… no illegalities in my house. So… lets go." Krys looked around and shrugged, before she walked out of the living room and to the kitchen. She looked around the kitchen and pulled out the kettle before boiling water. She skipped over to the radio and started to jump around like a weirdo. She looked behind her when Hermione walked in.

"Krys… oh my God." Hermione said. "You're such an ass… but the girls in there, are all… well- they're in there having actual conversations with the guys."

"What do you mean by _actual conversation_?"

"They're asking what went wrong. Which is alright, actually. They're smoothing out the lumps." Hermione looked at her hands then up at Krys. "I think that Emily and Ares are going to get back together." Krys looked at her for a minute before she smiled and nodded.

"Are you kidding? That's so amazing. Yeah… that's so great." she said, before she looked around the kitchen. "Okay… I need to make some hot toddies." Hermione looked at Krys' back and smiled, before leaving the room. She skipped out to the living room and sat down next to Ron.

"We're close." she said. Ron looked at her.

"What're you talking about?" he asked.

"I'll tell you later." She kissed his cheek, then looked across the room at Jason. He nodded, then kissed A.J's cheek.

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Half an hour later, the exes and stalkers were leaving. Although they weren't friends, Krys and Hermione actually wiped the slate with the other girls in Ares and Ron's lives. When Jason and A.J, Ginny and Harry disappeared, Krys and Hermione stayed up watching movies. After Ron carried an unconscious Hermione off to bed, Krys lied in the living room alone for a while.

"Come on, loser. We have to hang out for old times sake." Krys turned around and saw Jason sitting behind her. "Shouldn't you have heard me coming or something?"

"I could smell you, when you walked out of the shower." Krys said.

"No you couldn't." Jason said in disbelief.

"Really, then why do I know that you used Cool Moisture Dove and Regular Dove, then some Ax shower gel?"

"Stalker." Jason said, making Krys laugh.

"You're the last person that I'd stalk, I'll have you know." Jason looked at her. "That was a difficult time in my life, and I wasn't stalking you. I was slightly infatuated with you." Jason laughed.

"That you were." he said, making Krys throw the remote at him.

"Hey. Stop throwing things." Krys looked at him, and smiled.

"We haven't hung out in years." she said.

"Literally. The last time it was just me and you, we were in fifth year- actually… the real last time it was just me and you, was when we- um…"

"Yeah, lets just leave that alone." Krys said.

"Come on. Lets go chill it." Jason said, getting up and walking into an empty room. Krys followed after him, and sat on a chair. "What was our theme song?"

"We don't have a theme song. We just have a _song ritual_." Krys said, as she got up. She walked over to her karaoke machine and turned it on, before setting the song. The battle from House Party came on, and Krys and Jason both started to do their old school dances. "I'm kid."

"That's 'cause you're the white one." Jason said, as Krys threw the microphone at him. "It's the P-l-a-y, just here to say hi

Askin you may I, tell you 'bout the day I

Picked up a microphone, a pad and a pen

The legend of the Tramp begins

The party host with the most giving you a dose, see

Needing instructions, so listen closely

Two lines form, it makes you to step to him

Fellas at the backdoor, girls by the bedroom

The name is Play, don't dare play me cheap

The microphone is a broom and I'ma sweep ya

Off your feet with feelings that you never felt

Another notch in the belt

It's no secret, I like to freak with the best of them

Then head to the stage in a test of men

And when it's done and said and said and done

Play's gonna be the victorious one. Yeah. Dope, ain't it? He-he, I know." Krys rolled her eyes.

"Man, gimme that mic!" she said.

"Oh, you want some of this?"

"Yo, it's my turn."

"Yeah, go for yours."

"Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you."

"No you can't." said Jason.

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can. Yes I can." Krys looked at him. "I'm never fessin, possessin the tools that it takes to rock

I think it's time for the new kid on the block

With a style that's wild yet so unique

I can't be stopped from reachin my peak

Because givin my all and all, that's how I gotta live

It's my prerogative, so you know I gotta give

More for the dancefloor and I'ma give brain sore

Kids revin and buzzin just like a chainsaw

I make em say: Damn man, that Kid, he's a grand man

Cause I bust a handstand on American Bandstand

With these I please with ease and make your mind freeze

Straight out the 80s right into the 90s

Givin you the highs and lows like a drama

And if the mic's got juice you know I'ma

Keep whalin, you know I have you starin a while

Because the Kid's much more than hair and a smile." she rapped, before she did the bad girl 'word' pose. "He-he. There it is, the hype shit."

"Oh, I see. Think you all that now?" Jason asked.

"Yup. And then some."

"Alright, bust it." he bantered. "Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you."

"No you can't." Krys countered.

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can. Yes I can, boy." Jason said, before his part came up. "It's my party and I rhyme if I want to

Be careful and don't you step to the front to

Diss, cause I'ma dismiss with a death kiss

And make you sorry that you ever stepped to this

Microphone wizard, so come on, place your bet

Is it gonna be me or Eraserhead?

Why put your money on a sorry old poor thing

When you can get behind a sure thing

And that's me, the capital P on the hype tip

One false move and you'll get your ass whipped

Just tell me how the rhymes and the cuts sound

You won't start feelin the pain till you touch ground

Boy, you're goin way out, I'm ready to serve you

If you can stay I'll pass you by curfew

Look at him, already a has-been

Let Uncle Play say a rhyme that'll tuck your ass in." Krys nodded and bopped to the beat. "Huh. Am I paid or what?"

"Man, you livin some kind of foul."

"Crazy." Jason said. The two were reciting every word in the banter and the rap between Kid and Play.

"Alright, two can play at this game." she said. "Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't." Krys rolled her eyes.

"Yes I can. Once again." she said, before she rapped her part. "The boy's blowin smoke 'bout what he wanna be

But it isn't and wasn't and it ain't never gonna be

Possible, cause I got lots of pull

And when you rhyme - ooh, there's lots of bull

When it comes time to step to a mic I don't sit around

Play, you know I don't Kid around

So come with it, boy, don't even hide your best

Cause 'Kid' spelled backwards describes you best

Look around, watch the people clap hands in unity

As the momentum swings from you to me

You issue a challenge, yeah, you do it up

Step to the stage - too late, I blew it up

The knowledge to build, just filled with excellence

You heard the rhyme, you been petro ever since

There's no missin the words that I laid out

You didn't Play, you just got Played out." Then she tossed the mike to Jason, as she fanned herself in mock vanity. Jason laughed, then threw a pillow at her. "Don't throw things, stupid."

"I'm not the stupid one here." Jason said. "You are." Krys looked at him.

"Ouch." she said. "What did I do?"

"Krys… come on. You know what's going on." Jason said.

"No. I really don't." Krys said. "What's going on? Tell me what's going on."

"Krys… I don't want you to take anything that I'm saying to heart, but… what kind of heartless bitch _are_ you?" Krys' eyes widened in shock. "I mean, Ice would literally walk over _glass_ to be near you… he's _in love_ with you. And I only see two options. The way you act, you're either dumb, or a heartless bitch. Choose one." Jason said.

"Okay." Krys said, before she looked at her chain. "Okay… before yesterday… I was looking for hints. Small things. And Jason… all he kept telling me was how great we were as friends." Jason looked at her.

"Okay… this is so much harder than I thought." he said. "Okay… the best way that I can show you this is by just… me and you. Was that _ever_ gonna happen?" Krys looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm uncomfortable now." she said. "Um… Jason- you and A.J-"

"Krys, shut up. I'm past this." he said, referring to her.

"Hey." Krys said.

"Anyway. Were me and you ever going to happen?" Jason asked. Krys shook her head.

"No." she said.

"Okay- why not?"

"You know why, Jason."

"Of course I do. I just want to hear it."

"I was in love with Ares."

"Okay- and… you lied at his reception dinner, because when I asked you out when we were eleven, you said no." Krys looked at him.

"You _never_ asked me out." she said. Jason raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, I did." he said. "And you said no." Krys looked down. "Why'd you say no?"

"Because Ares is so much cuter than you." Jason gave her the finger. "Because I liked him."

"Okay then."

"Jason this was when we were eleven."

"No, Krys. This has been _going on_ _since_ we were eleven." Jason looked at her. "Krys, if you're really not in love with him… then I don't think you two can be friends at all." Krys looked at him.

"No. Hold on- what are you even talking about?" she asked. "We're the same way we've always been."

"Krys, that's _exactly_ what I'm saying. You can't keep stringing him along. You have to make that choice." Krys looked at him.

"What choice?" she asked.

"I don't want to sound like this. But… you have to think about what you're doing to him. And… chances are that if you can't help the way you act around him, then you're more in love with him than you think." Jason said. Krys looked at him.

"Do you think I'm in love with him?" she asked.

"Yes." Jason said. "But I also believed that my cutie booty was an annoying little nerd when she was younger… so I'm not exactly famous for my accuracy." Krys smiled.

"How's that going, anyway?" she asked. "The last time I checked, you and A.J were engaged."

"Yeah. We were." Jason said, looking at Krys. Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth,

"You didn't break the engagement- you're _married_." she said. Jason nodded. "No ring." Jason pulled a box out of his pocket, making Krys smile.

"This is just the sexy engagement ring. She's gonna wear my mommy's wedding band." he said.

"Wow. Congratulations." Krys said, pulling Jason into a hug. "Love you guys so much." Jason laughed.

"You love Ares so much." he teased. Krys looked at him.

"Dude, shut up." she said.

"Probably just want to kiss him over and over again." Krys looked at him.

"Jason, I have a boyfriend." she said. "The guy that told me that he was in love with me two days ago." Jason looked at her.

"Krys… that's serious." he said. Krys looked at him.

"Duh." she said. "I mean, it was serious enough when he gave me his Greek excellence letters."

"Do you- um… what's going on with you and Josephs, anyway? Are you giving him some?" Krys looked at him and nodded, making Jason's eyes widen. "You're having sex with Josephs? Ill, Krys." Krys shook her head.

"I don't even know why you'd ask. You know that I'm not having sex with him." she said. "I just… Jason, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You're gonna hate me for this cliché."

"Please don't tell me to follow my heart." Krys said.

"Well… what else can I say? That's all I have for you." Jason said. "And I think that its good." Krys looked at him.

"What the hell does that do for me? I've been following my heart. I always followed him." Krys lowered her voice to a whisper. "I followed him, when we were in first year and he wanted to visit Levebons' hall of achievement. I followed him to the hospital wing, when he was knocked off his broom and almost shattered his arm. I followed him to Levy Lane when he lied to his girlfriend and told her that he and I had plans. I've _been_ following Ares, Jason. So… tell me something that'll help my situation."

"Go with the one that you love." Jason said with a smile.

"I hate you." Krys said.

"Well… all I can say is that I can see you and Josephs in ten years. You're in prison for killing him." Krys looked at him.

"Jason, its not that simple. I can't just choose someone." she said.

"Yeah, you can. You expected Ares to do it with Emily."

"Yeah, and he chose Emily."

"No, if I remember correctly… he stood at the alter and watched her walk down the aisle, before he picked up his rock and the ring… and he went to find _you_. So… yeah, he made a choice. And you were it. Just like you being the reason he broke up with Ailen. And the reason that he hasn't had a real date since you left."

"Jason… I don't know what it is. I don't even know what… of course I know what I want… but its not as simple as hey 'baby, I wanna be with you'."

"Really? I thought it was."

"Especially since he doesn't want me." Jason looked at her. "And the reason you think its so easy is because A.J's the only person that you've ever been with. Well… technically."

"All I know is that if I was in love with someone, I'd tell them."

"Which is why A.J was the one who told you how she felt about you-"

"Okay. So, I'm a punk. But you're supposed to be the brave big dog, so why don't you stop acting like a little P.B a tell Ice the truth."

"You did not just call me a P.B." Jason nodded.

"Krys." he said. "What is the truth really?"

"Jason… you know the truth."

"Then say it."

"**I'm in love with Ares.**" she said in Russian. Jason looked at her.

"What did you just say?"

"The truth. If you wanna know, then you'll figure it out." She looked at him. "I- um… remember at the reception dinner?"

"How could I forget?"

"I never knew." Jason looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

"Yes you did." he said.

"No… I really didn't. I mean, okay- Ares told me that you 'liked' me, when we started going out. He never told me that you were _blah blah_. Did he even know?"

"Yeah. I told him." Krys looked at him.

"You told him."

"Yup." Jason said. "I also told him that I was kinda in between worlds. Yeah, there was that 'ooh- she's _lala_' world, then there was the 'she might as well be my brother' world. See- but here's what the difference was. Ares couldn't turn it off- he was always on the 'ooh- she's _lala_'. And it fizzled out with me. But once it turned on for A.J, it never turned off. I'm feeling awkward now." Krys laughed.

"Just keep on. I need to think about something else."

"Then we should talk about video games, not 'me and you'." Jason said, using air quotes. Krys looked at him.

"You really love him." she said.

"Of course I do. That's my brother. The only dude I've ever kissed on the cheek." Krys laughed.

"I just- I wanna know the truth about everything, because everyday I'm finding out all of this new shit that I don't wanna know." she said. Jason raised his eyebrows.

"Look Krys… the truth is that… Ice is the right guy for you. You remember when I couldn't get rid of you in fifth year." Krys gave him the finger. "Well… okay- he _knew_ that I _lalad_ you then, and when he thought that you lalad me too… he honestly just gave me that 'treat her right' speech. He was more in love with you then, than anyone could've been from then to now."

"I feel really fucked up, right now. I mean… a possibility and a choice, one that can either give me everything I've ever dreamed of, or knock down dominoes, and another that… one that I'll never be happy with." Jason looked at her.

"How is that difficult to make?"

"Because there's that possibility that it'll fall apart. And we'll have divorce lawyers, custody battles, and a heated argument about who gets who. I'm not interested in that. Not when it comes to him. J, I its not gonna be happy, then I don't want it with him. And I know what you're thinking… but… my _best friend_. It doesn't matter- as long as we're still friends." Jason furrowed his eyebrows.

"What're you saying? You'll choose whichever will end up with him still loving you?" Krys nodded.

"And there's the issue of it being a possibility. Jason, I'm not gonna chase after someone who doesn't want me. And from what I can see… he doesn't."

"What the hell does he have to do? He tells you that he loves you everyday."

"That's different. We're friends."

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"Oh my God, Ron… Jason is talking to her, and I swear- she and Ares are this close." Hermione said, pinching her fingers together. Then she started to dance around the room singing, "They're getting back together. They're getting back together. They're getting back together. Together. Together." Ron looked at her and smiled, before gently rushing her, then picking her up by her waist and growling into her stomach. Hermione giggled and laughed, before she started to tickle his neck. "Ron stop. Stop!" she shrieked through her laughter. He placed her gently on the bed, then lied down next to her. The two lied there for however long before Hermione finally spoke. "Why don't you ever talk about work?" Ron looked at her.

"Why would I talk to you about work?" he asked.

"I don't know. Krys and Eric talk about work." Ron started to laugh, making Hermione stare at him. "Hermione, repeat that… and tell me what's wrong with that sentence." Hermione looked at him and laughed too.

"I love you." she said.

"I love you too."

"Now tell me what you got me." Ron looked at her and smiled lovingly, before he hugged her.


	49. Still Not Realizing the Truth

"_I'm supposed to have dinner with Ares and his new girlfriend." said Krys. Hermione smiled._

"_How are you dealing with that?" she asked._

"_I'm alright. We decided that friends are better." said Krys. "And- I think that being friends is better."_

"_Sure you do. That's why you're dressing like that." said Hermione. Krys looked down and laughed._

"_You mean how I usually dress." she said. Hermione nodded._

"_It's reverse psychology. You know that Ares loves the way that you dress. Its all a scheme." she said. Krys laughed._

"_Yeah- its all a scheme." said Krys, before she walked out to her car. She hopped into the convertible Lamborghini and drove to the restaurant. She walked in spotted them at a table._

"_Reservation." said the maître d'. Krys smiled._

"_Ares Delgado, three." she said. He nodded, and pointed to the table. Krys walked over to them and plopped down. "Dude- you wouldn't believe traffic." Ares laughed, and looked at his brown haired girlfriend. _

"_Genesis, this is Krystathaili. Krystathaili, this is Genesis, my girlfriend." introduced Ares. Krys waved._

"_Hi. Honey, who is Krystathaili to you?" asked Genesis. Krys looked at Ares._

"_I wasn't even mentioned. Ouch." she said. Genesis laughed._

"_Gen- this is Krys." said Ares. Her eyes widened and she laughed._

"_Oh my God! You're Krys. No- he talks about you like…- I'm jealous. I just thought you were a guy." she said. "I swear, Ares. You didn't tell me she was so pretty." Ares laughed nervously._

"_Oh thank you. But- oh my God. I'm happy someone finally decided to date the loser." said Krys. Ares playfully glared at her, making raise an eyebrow._

"_Yeah- I know. But- isn't he adorable?" asked Genesis. Krys looked at Ares, then turned up her nose._

"_If you're into that sort." she said. Genesis laughed._

"_Oh Ares, I like her." she said. He and Krys laughed._

"_Trust me. You'll grow out of that." said Ares, as he looked at Krys. Her eyes widened and she chuckled. "Yeah- I have to go to the bathroom." he said, getting up and leaving the table._

"_Hey Krys. I was wondering if you could help me." said Genesis. Krys looked at her. "Ares always seems so distant and distracted. I was wondering if he mentioned anything… you know- anything that's been bothering him lately."_

"_No- not that I know of. I'll have to ask Jason." said Krys._

"_Well- there's something else." said Genesis. Krys nodded. "Its about ex-girlfriends." Krys nodded. "He won't tell me about any of them. And- he never gets jealous. A few days ago, I was hanging out with my best friend and her brother. Well- her brother kissed me, and I told him. He didn't say anything. He just made a joke about it." Krys nodded._

"_Don't worry. He seems to like you. And- I haven't seen him so happy." she said._

"_This is the first time he's ever been like this. Usually he looks so uncomfortable." said Genesis. "I think he's acting like this because you're here." _

"_Did you guys have a good time talking about me?" asked the voice of Ares. Krys nodded._

"_I had a good time talking about you. But- lets just hope that Gen is very forgiving… for your sake. I told her some weird stories." she said. His eyes widened._

"_What'd you tell her?" he asked. Krys and Genesis laughed._

"_Nothing- but, she'll be asking you questions now." said Krys. Ares laughed._

"_So, what did you talk about?" he asked. Krys looked at Genesis and nodded._

"_I was asking Krys for help." said Genesis. Ares looked at Krys, then Genesis._

"_What kind of help?" he asked._

"_I just- you seem so distant. Krys is the only part of your life that you've let me in on. And even thought its only been a month- I just wanted to know." said Genesis. Ares looked at Krys._

"_And what did Krys tell you?" he asked. Genesis didn't say anything. Ares got up. "Forget it. I don't c-"_

"_Shut up." said Krys. He stopped and looked at her._

"_Don't tell me-" he started._

"_Shut up. She only wanted to know. She didn't come to me and act suspicious that you might be doing anything. She asked me a few questions about myself. She wanted to know about me. She was getting to know you better, through me. If you want to be mad- be mad at me. I was the one that told her you wet the bed, until you turned twelve." she said. "Now, sit your ass down." Ares looked at her, then sat down._

"_I hate you." he said. Krys mock gasped, then held her heart._

"_Ouch." she said. Genesis was looking at her in awe. "What happened?" she asked her. Genesis shrugged._

"_He doesn't listen to anyone." she said. Krys shrugged._

"_I'm not just anyone." she said. Genesis chuckled. "So- are you two gonna make up, or not? 'Cause- I di-" Genesis kissed Ares, and rain started to pour. When they broke apart, Krys smiled to the best of her ability. "Listen guys, I ate something earlier… and it made me sick to my stomach. Then you guys just kissed, so… you know- ugh, that's nasty. Vomit taste in my mouth." she truthfully joked. Genesis laughed and Ares looked at Krys. "You know that salty drool taste in your mouth before you throw up? That's what I'm tasting. So- I gotta go. I'm just a little- ugh." she said. Genesis waved._

"_Well- bye, Krys. It was nice meeting you. No- it was wonderful." she said. Krys smiled and waved._

"_You too." she said. _

"_Yeah- I'll walk you to your car." said Ares, getting up. "Gen- you stay here." he said, before they walked outside. "You okay?"_

"_Dude- yeah." she said, with a chuckle. He nodded and hugged her._

"_What'd she really ask you?" he asked._

"_You promise not to tell?" she asked. He nodded. "So did I."_

"_That's why I don't like you."_

"_Oh- you love me." she said. He smiled._

"_Only a little bit." he said._

"_Listen- I have to go. I like her… she's good for you." said Krys. Ares looked at her._

"_You think so, huh?" he asked. Krys nodded._

"_Very pretty." she said._

"_You still interested in guys?" he asked jokingly. She laughed, but shook her head. "Oh really?"_

"_Yeah- only interested in one guy." she said, looking at her hands. Then she hopped in the car. "Have a nice dinner. I'm sorry I can't stay." Then she drove off. When she got to her house, she ran to her game room, and sat in front of the PlayStation 3 and played her videogames. After an hour she got up and started to play air hockey by herself. By herself._ Krys tossed and turned her way from that dream, before she inhaled deeply. What the hell was she going to do? Living life without Ares by her side was like living life along. But was she ready to be that dependent on someone?

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"Oh my God! I need help- I need help!" Krys yelled. She was single handedly dragging a gigantic Christmas tree into the house. A second after she called for help, Ares and Josephs were by her side carrying the tree into the house. Krys looked around the house, before she looked down at what she was wearing. Cute khaki slacks, black Tim boots, tan hoodie under a black Carhart jacket. She pulled off her matching tan glove, hat, and scarf set, and subconsciously started to fix her hair before she looked at the two men. She stripped off her jacket, then her boots, before she smiled. "Thank you." she said. "Very much." She looked around and sighed. "Where's everyone else?"

"They all went down to the resort… there's a Christmas breakfast." Ares said. Krys looked at him.

"Its one pm." she said. Ares nodded.

"They're still having breakfast. They've been gone for three hours." he said. Krys looked around and nodded.

"Huh." she said awkwardly. "Okay… well- why don't you two get to know each other better while I go and… I have- I have work to do. So I'll see you guys later."

"Krys, come on." Josephs said. "I took today off so that I could spend it with you." Krys nodded, then put up her finger giving him the signal for 'one minute'. Then she jogged out of the room, dialing Hermione on her cell phone as she did. When Hermione answered, Krys had a lot to say.

"Why the hell would you leave them here alone together?" Krys asked.

"Krys, I wanted pancakes in the shapes of Christmas trees." Hermione whined.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Krys asked. "It's fucking one in the afternoon. Goddamn Christmas trees? I could've made you Christmas tree pancakes when I got back hom- are you kidding me? Pancake trees?" Hermione laughed with whoever she was talking to in the background. "Are you fucking _laughing_ at me? This isn't funny?"

"No, its just that your voice is so squeaky and you can't pronounce the 'k' sound when you're mad. And you're on speaker." Hermione said.

"You're enjoying my misery and using it as a bond?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why would you do this to me?"

"Will you stop being such a drama queen? I should be mad at you. Today, because of you, I have to wait until nine pm to open my presents, when everyone gets to the house. By the way, who is coming?"

"Because you're pissing me off, I'm gonna invite Brandis and Krum! I hate you so much right now, Hermione."

"No you don't." Hermione said in a muffled voice.

"Are you eating?"

"Yeah- their maple syrup is so good. And did you know that they have crepes?"

"I don't eat crepes." Krys said. "And yes, I really do hate you right now. Goodbye."

"Why don't you guys just join us down here?"

"I refuse to sit in a car with these guys for an hour and a half."

"Well then sit with them in the house."

"At least I can run away in the house."

"Okay then." Hermione said. "Oh- Ron… that's sweet." Krys groaned while Hermione and Ron laughed in the background. After two minutes, when Hermione finally seemed to forget about her, Krys hung up.

"What am I gonna do?" she asked herself. She inhaled deeply then walked back out into the living room. Josephs and Ares were sitting on couches opposite each other. She looked at Josephs, who grinned. Then at Ares, who smiled shyly. Then she sat down in the Lay Z Boy, and sat Indian style. She tucked her hair behind her ear, then bit her lip. "So- I have a little riddle for you guys." They both nodded silently. "Alright so… a man is standing over a grave. So he says, 'Brother and sister, for I have none. Then man in the grave is the son of my father's son.' Who's he talking about?"

"_His_ son." Ares and Josephs said in unison.

"Okay. Well- it used to work in third year." Krys rationalized. The two guys laughed. "Alright… so um- here." Krys picked up a piece of paper and started to fold it, until she made a crane. She kissed the crane and made it fly around the room. The two guys continued to look at her. "I thought that was cool."

"You're so corny that its adorable." Josephs said. Krys looked at him and raised her eyebrow.

"Um… so- what did you guys talk about while I was gone?" she asked.

"Were we supposed to talk to each other?" Josephs asked.

"Um… what- um… have you read any good books lately?"

"_101 Ways to Kill a Man Without Avada's Help_."

"That book is whacked." Krys said. Josephs looked at her.

"No its not. Why are _you_ even reading that book?" he asked.

"Because I can. And just so you know, yes it _is_ whacked. Because numero uno, if you do _any_ of that except 29 BBS, 42 PRB, 45 BCC, 57 FBB, 65 CPI, 76 BS, 82 twenty four pressure stunners to the brain, 84 twelve straight pressure stunners to the heart, and 99 a clutter of Harsh Magic spells- you'll be arrested and your title will be stripped. That's battering a civilian, if that person's not an auror or trying to assassinate the ministry sovereigns." Krys said, making the two of them stare at her. "What? Its nice to know your civil rights." She looked around and laughed. "Oh shit- I forgot. Merry Christmas, auror men."

"Merry Christmas, K.P." Ares said, with a small smile.

"Merry Christmas, baby. I love you." Josephs said. Krys looked at the both of them, then she inhaled deeply, and looked around. Ares was biting his nails nervously, and Josephs was grinning smugly. It was almost as if the two men knew what was going through her mind.

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"Hermione, maybe we shouldn't've left her there." Jason said. They all looked at him. "Okay- well… lets think about this. This is Krys that we're talking about. Krys, Ares and Josephs are in the house alone. Krys is trying to have a conversation with both of them… then after she's found that she has nothing more to say, she makes a stupid joke, or tells a weird riddle. Then they laugh about it, she still finds that she has nothing to say, and she makes the crane. They don't have anything to say, when she says something to Josephs, and he brings up that he loves her. Ares is put down and reluctant to even try and admit how he feels about Krys, so now she marries Josephs, and we have to pretend that we like him for however many years they stay together. I can see it all now."

"What the hell." Harry said, deep in though. Hermione and Ginny looked at him.

"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"That just happened." Harry said, before Hermione bit her lip.

"Lets go." she said.

When they got back to the cabin it was four pm. Hermione walked in first and smiled instantly. Krys and Ares were sitting on the couch, with Jamie on Krys' lap, and Angel on Ares'.

"Looks like you don't need me here after all." Hermione said. Krys looked at her and mouthed 'I hate you'. Hermione puckered her lips and blew her a kiss. "That's too bad, because I love you, Cookie."

"Hermione." Angel said, making Hermione smile and kiss her cheek.

"Angelica." Hermione growled, kissing Angel's cheek again. Jamie growled at Hermione, making her laugh, and kiss his cheek too. "And James Alexander." Hermione looked at Krys. "Where's Josephs?"

"The room. The kids came, and he left." Krys said. "We were waiting for you guys." Krys stood up and lifted Jamie high in the air, before setting him on the ground. She kissed his cheek noisily, and he hugged her. "We were waiting for you guys, so that we could finally decorate the tree."

"Where're Razzie and Dread-Head?" Hermione asked.

"Dread-Head got Razzie tickets to the Philharmonic, so they're gonna have an early Christmas dinner before they got to orchestra. And it turns out that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are also going to a Christmas concert. I think its adorable." Krys said. Hermione nodded.

"I hope me and Ron are like that after seventeen years." she said. "So… you have the ornaments, right?"

"Yeah." Krys said. "I just need someone to help me get them down. You know, someone who's tall, and can lift things." She and Hermione looked at Ares, who laughed. "Please?"

"Of course." Ares said, before he set Angel aside, got up, and looked at Krys. "Which hallway closet?"

"The one next to my bedroom." Krys said. Ares nodded, then walked off.

"Krys, what happened?" Hermione asked. Krys looked at her.

"I am so screwed." she whispered. Hermione laughed, and sat down. Krys looked at her, then shook from her thoughts. When Ares came back with the first two boxes, he set them down next to the tree, before he left again. Hermione looked at Krys and wiggled her eyebrows, making Krys blush.

"Oh- you're blushing." Hermione pointed out, literally. Krys shook her head guiltily.

"No I'm not. I'm really not." she said. Hermione nodded.

"Alright. Whatever." Ares walked back into the living room a minute later, and set down another two boxes, before he left again.

"Alright, lets decorate this tree." Krys said, picking up Angel and setting her on the ground next to Jamie.

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"What's wrong with you?" Krys asked Ares, as she walked into his room.

"Nothing." Ares said.

"No, Ares something's wrong. You didn't come back in, and we're supposed to decorate the tree. We just finished and Angel's looking for you."

"Krys, nothings wrong."

"Then why are you pouting?" Ares was wearing an adorable pout, with cute puppy eyes. His look would put any puppy to shame, it was so cute.

"I'm not pouting." Krys pushed him on his bed, then sat down next to him.

"Ares, I know what a pout looks like. And I know what _your_ pout looks like. Why are you pouting?" she asked, as she crawled up his bed and lied down next to him.

"I heard you and Jason talking." Krys looked at him quickly.

"What were we talking about?" she asked.

"About you and Josephs." Krys nodded slowly.

"Okay." she said.

"Um… so… wher- um- what happened? Where was- um… where was I?" Ares asked awkwardly and cutely, as he scratched the back of his neck. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"You're so cute." she said. Ares looked at her. "Are you thinking that I love Jason more than I love you, because I'm talking to him about my relationship with Josephs?"

"Now you're making fun of me." Krys shook her head.

"No I'm not. I'm really not." she said. "But is that the truth?" Ares nodded cutely. "Aw. You think I don't love you anymore?"

"_Now_ you're making fun of me."

"No, I'm sorry. But-"

"Why can you talk to Breeze about it, and not me?"

"Well, _Breeze_ wasn't… ugh, 'the love of my life.'" She gave an extra set of air quotes. "_Breeze_ isn't the guy that I share the highlights of my life with. Ares…" Krys looked at him, after she sighed deeply. "At the risk of sounding too much like Peyton, and stealing lines from One Tree Hill; Ares Delgado, I am going to love you _forever_. And I love Jason, more than I love living. But as much as I love him, I love you that much, multiplied by infinity, multiplied by infinity, multiplied by infinity, plus infinity, an infinite amount of times. And again; I love you more than I hate my worst enemy, times infinity, infinity, infinity." Ares smiled. "Remember the other day when you said that I save you from yourself?"

"Yeah." Ares said. Krys shook her head.

"It's the other way around. You're the one that saves me from crazy ass me." she said. Ares smiled.

"Thanks Krys." he said.

"I don't know why you're so unsure of how I feel about you. You're pretty."

"I'm not pretty. I'm a guy." Ares said.

"Whatever. You're pretty."

"I'm a guy."

"Whatever."

"I'm not even gonna argue, because you always win the arguments."

"Well- I'm gr-" Ares leaned in and kissed her. This kiss was slow, deep, hot… and amazing. Krys was lying on her back, while Ares lied next to her, but slightly hovered over her. His strong hands arched her back for her, by holding her at the small of her back. He kissed her like he had all the time in the world. He kissed her like her boyfriend wasn't in the next room. And Krys kissed him back, mostly because she wasn't thinking about any of this. The kiss lasted well after the point when the door barged open. The kiss ended when Ares pulled back, using Krys' signature move by letting his lips linger on her bottom lip. Krys looked at Ares, while touching her mouth. She still didn't notice that anyone else was in the room.

"I've finally silenced the great Krys Delgado." Ares said. Krys took a breath before she finally responded.

"My last name is Rodriguez." she said weakly.

"A matter of time." Ares said, pointing at the ring.

"Okay- _hello_." Harry said, waving his arms. "You guys realize that we just saw you two snogging, right?" Jason and Ron looked at Krys.

"Oh- Jesus, I'm such a slut." she said, before she started to roll off of the bed. Ares caught her. Krys started to bang her head on the wall. "I'm going to hell."

"Krys, you didn't do anything. It's the only way that I've ever been able to shut you up." Ares said. "Plus- I doubt Ms. What's Her Booty would app-"

"Gotta go." Krys said, before she walked out of the room. It was somewhat like the walk of shame, because they were all staring at her. "Can you guys stop staring at me?"

"Oh- yeah, sorry." the guys said, turning away quickly. Krys walked out of the room and they swore that they all heard her groan and yell 'Jesus Christ!'. When they were sure that she was gone, they all looked at Ares, who was now banging _his_ head on the back of the wall. He glared at them.

"Sorry?" Jason offered. Ares glared at him. "Maybe you should use a magic lock in a house of witches and wizards." Ares still glared at him. "How were we supposed to know that you guys were… what _was_ that anyway?" Ares shrugged. "Are you guys getting back together?" Ron and Jason looked at Ares, while Ares looked at Harry to give the explanation.

"If I had a nickel for each time that they've kissed and it went ignored, I'd be richer than Padfoot." Harry said.

"So you guys snog like this on a regular basis?" Ron asked. Ares nodded. "And you don't find this weird." Ares shook his head.

"How long have you guys been doing this?" Jason asked.

"Since sixth year." Ares said.

"And you don't find this weird." Ron repeated. Ares shook his head. "Hmm… why were you guys snogging?"

"We just were." Ares said.

"And you don't find this weird." Ares shook his head. "So you guys are basically… you're very close friends?" They all looked at him. "What?"

"Krys and I… we-"

"Why don't you just tell her? Today is Christmas. Tomorrow is the wedding. Maybe Harriet will marry you guys too." Ron teased. Ares looked at him.

"Okay- I have to tell this, because I feel mad guilty." Jason said, making them all look at him. "A.J and I have been married for two weeks." They all just stared at him.

"Who knows?" Ron asked.

"Krys." Jason said.

"Well- since we're all making confessions… Gin and I have been married for a month." Harry said. They all looked at him.

"Who knew?" Ron asked.

"Padsy." Harry said.

"Hold on; _what_?" Ares asked, shaking his head as if he missed something. "_What_?"

"Harry's married to _my_ little sister. And _Jason_ is married to _your_ little sister." Ron said, pointing with his fingers. "And Krys is one of the only people that knew, but she didn't tell us." He looked at them. "And why didn't you guys tell the rest of us?"

"Hermione." Jason and Harry said simultaneously.

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Ron ran into the room and stared at Hermione.

"Big news." he said. "Did you know that Krys and Ares were snogging in Ares' bedroom?" Hermione looked at him, then raised her eyebrows.

"I don't believe that." she said. Ron sat down next to her. "Krys would've told me."

"It was only five minutes ago." Ron said, making Hermione sit up hurriedly and stare at him.

"You're serious." she said.

"So serious. And did you know that they actually snog on a regular basis? They were always snogging." Ron said.

"Yeah, everyone knows that." Hermione said. Ron looked at her.

"Not me." he said, making Hermione laugh.

"Why this sudden interest in Krys, huh?" she asked. Ron shrugged.

"You're going to think I'm a complete prat if I tell you this." he said. Hermione kissed his cheek, then his ear, before saying,

"I already think you're a prat. So, my opinion of you won't change by this." Ron growled at her playfully, before hugging her.

"Um…-"

"Just say it, Ronald."

"I do not think that she'd be happy with Josephs… and sometimes I think that she would lose herself with him." Hermione's eyebrows raised, then she smiled.

"And… you've left your prat stage. You're on to genius." she said. Ron smiled.

"You know what, Hermione… you have excellent taste." he said. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" she said.

"Yes." Ron said. "In friends, and in fiancés."

"I've only had one fiancé, Ronald."

"Yes, you have." Ron said. "But… I'd be willing to say that you have excellent taste in comforter sets."

"Really? Am I buying comforter sets?" asked Hermione. She started to play with a lock of his hair.

"Well… we'll have to shop for that new house, won't we? We have to look ahead." Ron said.

"You're learning." Hermione teased.

"I'm learning." Ron said, before Hermione shook her head. "What's wrong?" Hermione took a deep breath and looked around the room.

"Nothing." she said. "I just-… I need to-" She got up and walked to the bathroom weakly, before Ron heard sounds of retching. He immediately got up and knocked on the locked door.

"Hermione, let me in." he said.

"I'm okay!" Hermione screamed from the other side.

"Hermione, open this door, or I'll knock it down." Ron said.

"Hold on. I'm okay." Hermione said. A minute later, when she walked back out, she'd washed her face and tied her hair back.

"Are you really okay?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded.

"Just- work is stressing me out, and… I mixed Christmas cookies with eggnog and pumpkin juice. Bad combination." she said. "I'm fine. I just- I'm gonna go take a walk."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No!" Hermione said hurriedly, making Ron raise his eyebrows.

"Okay." he said, staring at her. "Be safe." Then he kissed her cheek.

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Hermione slowly walked to Krys' room and knocked on the door. Krys answered it hurriedly, and walked out with Hermione.

"What happened?" she asked. "Are- what- why-… what's going on?" Hermione immediately smiled and raised her eyebrows at Krys' awkwardness.

"You wanna go for a walk?" she asked. Krys nodded.

"Sure. I should just remind you that it's warm, but cold. Maybe we should just sit around your wedding site." she said. "Less than twenty four hours. And everything's gonna come at about nine o'clock in the morning." Hermione nodded.

"I know what's going to happen." she said. Krys looked at her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know. I mean- I'm happy and everything But- I… look, can we just get out of here?" Krys nodded, then walked back into her room for a second. When she walked out, she was wearing a coat and holding one in her hand. She handed it to Hermione, then led her out to the wedding site. It looked just like the scene from Kill Bill, when Beatrix fought Oren Ishii. Krys sat down on the edge of the beautiful fountain, and Hermione sat down next to her.

"So, what's wrong with you?" Krys asked.

"I'm so… I'm not scared. I don't know what this is that I'm feeling." Hermione said. "I-"

"Maybe you're just anxious." The two looked at each other. "Anxiety can feel like cold feet… in that they both make you feel like you're out of it."

"I- we- what is the point of life? I'm searching for that answer so that it can define why I'm getting married." Hermione said.

"Hold up- where is all of this even coming from?" Krys asked.

"I just- I don't know. I've just been thinking about it." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"Okay- what's your goal in life?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just want to be happy."

"No- what's your goal. What have you wanted to do?"

"I don't know. A family. A good job." Hermione said.

"Alright then. Then you're on the right path."

"How can you say that?"

"Okay- so, you know the Sims, right?" Krys asked. Hermione looked at her.

"The videogame? You're comparing my life to a videogame?" she asked.

"The Sims 2, the computer game." Krys said. "You pick the life you want. Family life, business life, bachelorette- all of that shit. And you choose one, and throughout the game, you have aspirations that help you get further when it comes to your goal. You have a good job, and you're getting married. You're close to the life that you want." Krys looked at her hands, then at Hermione. "Whoever said that I was a mess was right."

"No they weren't. You're just a bit flakey."

"Yeah, and like they said, I'm all over the place." Krys said.

"Wow… you're a bit flighty."

"Ares kissed me." Krys said. Hermione looked at her. "And I really enjoyed letting him." She sighed. "And kissing him back was almost as great as finally seeing E.J and Sirius or the first time." Hermione laughed and waved her wand.

"I want to show you something, Krys." she said. Krys looked at her, and Hermione caught a piece of paper that was whizzing through the air. The paper had a beautifully accurate drawing of Krys twirling in a wedding dress. Her hair was out and moving with her. When she stopped twirling, she mouthed 'I love you, Ares', then blew a kiss before continuing to twirl. Krys looked at her.

"Why are you showing me this?" she asked.

"Ares is still in love with you, Krys." Krys stood up and looked at Hermione, before shaking her head in disbelief.

"No, he's not, Hermione. And any sick jokes that you all have, leading me on and telling me that it's true- will you guys just stop? Because- it's not funny, Hermione. And it's not cute. It's- running past the lines of blatant cruelty. So, please just stop." Krys said, on the verge of tears, before she walked into the house.


	50. Presents Opened, Feelings Revealed

The whole family sat around the tree, exchanging presents. They all sat around on the floor, drinking hot chocolate, laughing at the gifts that were meant to be laughed at, and being happy. They'd already opened all of the gifts from their parents and outside friends. Krys had Asia in her hand, and Jaime in her lap. Asia was kissing Jaime's cheek, and Krys stroked her head, before kissing Jaime's cheek too. Hermione was sitting between Ron's legs, just like Ginny and Harry, Thai and Angel, and A.J and Jason. Angelica was sitting on Ares' lap and he was tickling her stomach and pointing out the gifts that he got her.

"Alright, here's what I think. I think that the coupled losers should exchange their gifts privately, because I'm really not up for seeing any personal 'thank you's." Krys said. Angelica looked at her.

"What's a personal thank you?" she asked.

"You don't wanna know." Krys said. "You're too sweet to give anyone a personal 'thank you'. Blah." Angelica laughed. "So- who's gonna open one first? I think we should let the little ones open their gifts first. Something about seeing the lovely little child's faces." Krys looked at Jaime, then at Angelica, Thai, Angel, and Robbie. Two gifts popped up in front of each of them. "Lets go." Then another four gifts popped up in front of each of them. Angel looked at all of them and smiled.

"Thank you." she said.

"Me, too." Jaime said. "Thank you." Krys laughed.

"Okay- so open it." she said. The gift that she got him had Lightening McQueen on it's wrapping. Jaime turned to her and hugged her. "Whatever, little boy. Open it." Jaime nodded, then turned back to the gift, before ripping off the wrapping. Inside was a model 1979 Coupe Deville convertible, painted candy apple red, Jaime's favorite color. Inside was a Cadillac keychain. Jaime looked at Krys.

"My Coupe." he said in his little voice, before he kissed her cheek. "Thank you, Krys."

"You're welcome. And when you turn thirteen, we're going to take mechanic classes, and we're learning how to fix cars." Krys said. Jaime smiled and hugged her. "Angelica, you next." They all looked at Angel. She looked at the gifts contemplatively, then chose the one with the wrapping that had mathematical formulas. There was a card on top of it, so she opened it and read it.

"'Angelica, this is something that we hope you like. Love Ron and Hermione.'" she read. She looked at them and smiled. "Thank you." Then she opened it. Inside was a copy of a book that had a picture of a beautiful castle on it. Angel looked at the title. "Hogwarts, A History?" she said, making them all look at Hermione.

"What? Its good that she gets an early start." Hermione said. Angel looked at her.

"Thank you, Hermione. Thank you, Ron. I love it. Krys always says that it's the gargantuan books that make the best reading." she said adorably, making them all laugh. "Its _true_." Krys blew her a kiss and laughed.

"Alright, Krysta_thai_li, what you got?" she asked. Thai looked in front of herself, and chose the present with the beautiful burgundy and gold wrapping.

"Who's this from?" she asked, as she looked around the gift.

"Its from me." Krys said. Thai looked at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"How bout you open it and find out?" Thai rolled her eyes playfully, then smiled at Krys.

"Thank you." she said.

"You're _not_ welcome." Krys said, before she stuck her tongue out. Thai carefully unwrapped the gift, and smiled when she saw a Chanel box.

"Hmm." she said, opening the box to find a Chanel handbag. She smiled, then looked at Krys, before she opened the handbag and pulled out a set of car keys. Krys wiggled her eyebrows.

"Yeah." she said. "Your parents wanted to be here for this, but they didn't want you to know they were involved. See- I didn't trust you with a car, because… well- I know what goes on in them. And they did… so it was this crazy dispute about my holding onto your car until you got your license. And… get your license, you'll get the car. See-"

"Thank you, Krys." Thai said on the verge of screaming. Krys nodded.

"Your welcome." she said.

"What kind of car is it?" Harry asked. They all looked at Krys, including Jaime.

"_Pinto._ Gotta start small." Krys said.

"Thai can't drive a Pinto." Jaime practically screamed. They all looked at him and Krys smiled.

"And why is that?" Krys coached, before she and Jaime simultaneously said, "Because the Pinto is one of the worst five cars of all-time." She kissed Jaime's cheek, and laughed. "As said by the Scholastic Book of Lists." Then she looked at Jaime. "What're the other worst cars?" Jaime looked thoughtful.

"Yugo." Krys nodded. "Chevy Vega… AMC Gremlin… and the…… Chevy Chevette." Krys nodded.

"And the best?"

"VW Beetle." Jaime said, making them all stare at him.

"And it sold how many?" Krys asked.

"Twenty one katrillion." Jaime said, opening his arms wide, and making them all laugh.

"No, but they did sell Twenty one million." Krys said, tickling him lightly. "And what year did it become available?"

"In 1937 when mommy and dad were born." Jaime said, making them all laugh.

"Okay- Robyn, what did you get?" Krys asked. Robyn looked at a box with black and gold wrapping. She carefully unwrapped it and looked up when she didn't see anything in the big box. She picked the box up and turned it upside down, making Krys laugh. "Sorry." Four little golden jewelry boxes fell out. Robyn opened the first one to find a name chain that was amber and emerald cut. She looked up at Krys, who shrugged. Robyn laughed and thanked Krys profusely.

When the kiddies finished opening their gifts it was time for the young adults.

"Nobody ever wants to be the first." Harry said. Krys rolled her eyes and tossed him something small.

"From me." she said. Harry looked at her and opened it.

"Shit." he murmured, once he opened the small wooden box.

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

"New broom case." Ron said. "Cool."

"And engraved." Harry said. "Thank you very much."

"You are very welcome. And if you got me the same thing, I'll get Asia to bite you." Krys said, catching the medium sized box that Harry tossed her. It was too heavy and big to be jewelry. Krys shook the box, then looked at Harry. "I don't like surprises. What'd you get me?"

"Open it, loser." Harry said. Krys gave him the finger, then unwrapped the gift. When she saw what it was, her eyes widened and she almost screamed.

"Dude, they stopped making these. I couldn't even find it on Toys R she said, as she started to play with her brand new 'Bop It'. "Ooh- and while I'm at it. Hermione, dude… don't open the gift with the green and gold wrapping. Don't ask questions, just don't do it." Krys pulled something from behind her back and tossed it at Ginny. "I got you something cool." Ginny opened the present and laughed.

"Krys- you got me a Barbie Doll?" she asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah, just so you all know… I got you all something to push you back into childhood. You all need to cool it down… we're way too old." she said, before she tossed Ron his gift from her. Ron looked at her, before he opened a medium sized suede box. Ron looked at her and opened the box that revealed the sunglasses that she showed him the day before. "Don't say anything. I don't like ruining the moments." She tossed two boxes to Jason, one for him, one for A.J, then she tossed a box to Ares. They all laughed when they saw that's he got Jason a Transformer toy, A.J a Ballerina Barbie, and Ares a Mr. Incredible action figure. They all looked at Krys, before they pushed their gifts for her forward. Krys groaned, then looked at the gifts, before she closed her eyes and opened up the widest one. She opened the box and laughed. "Who did this?"

"Not I." said Harry. Krys pulled a gigantic framed Fairly OddParents Poster out of a box.

"I don't know who did it, but… I love you." she said. "Thank you so much."

"Hold on… where's Nic?" Hermione asked.

"She and Mike got back together. Somehow he found us and started banging on the door at five this morning, and begged for her forgiveness. They took their vacation to the Bahamas." Krys said, before she picked up the next biggest gift. She opened it up and gasped at the copy of 2,228 Healing Remedies. "Thank you so much, B."

"Who's B?"

"You are. See- Bon-bon takes too long. I might as well just say your name. Its only one more syllable." Hermione laughed.

"Your welcome." she said.

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"Um- Krys, can I talk to you later?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him, then hurriedly looked away.

"Um- of course." she said, as she did everything that she could to look away from him. "In a few."

"Um- okay." Ares said, before he walked away. As soon as he left, Hermione ran over to her.

"Are we okay?" she asked. Krys looked at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Are you mad at me still?"

"No. Should I be?" Hermione looked at her.

"I just mean about everything earlier. With the drawing and-"

"No. I just- I think my life plan has finally started to take its toll on me. I- so far, I know what my life is gonna be like… and its not that I don't like it- it's just that… its not close to what I've been used to."

"What are you talking about? I'm the one getting married. My life is changing-"

"I mean… me and- Hermione… I don't know what to think."

"Just think how you thought a few months ago, when you told Ares that he could be your roommate." Hermione said. Krys inhaled deeply, then looked at her.

"Yeah, you're right. He _is_ my best friend." she said. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Alright- well… go tuck those kiddies into bed, then come out here and talk to me." Hermione said. Krys laughed, then skipped out of the living room. When she got to Jaime and Angel's room, she smiled. Jaime and Angel were in the same bed, and Angel was reading him a book. Krys skipped over and smiled.

"Krys, come on." Jaime said, patting a space on the gigantic bed. Krys sat down. "No. Lay." Krys rolled her eyes.

"I mean, can you at least ask me nicely?" she teased. Jaime smiled.

"I'm sorry. Please lie down." he said. Krys lied down and they both laid on her.

"Alright, so what are we reading?" she asked. Angel held up the book.

"We're reading 'Levebons, A Legend'." she said. Krys laughed.

"I like that book." she said. "They got you 'Acklemeyers, An Anecdote' too didn't they?" Angel nodded.

"Yes. And Jaime's mad that I'll get to go before him." she said.

"You think you're going?"

"I want to. But I don't want to leave you, mommy, daddy, and Jaime."

"Well… you'd be leaving to do something good. And you'd see us for summers, and Christmas, and I'd write you everyday." Krys said. "But this whole growing thing… yeah- you need to stop this 'whole growing up' thing." Angel laughed. "I love you, sweet Angel."

"I love you too, Krys." Angel said. Krys looked at Jaime, who was slurping on his last three fingers. Krys shook her head.

"Ill." she said. "I swear, you're gonna look like Bugs Bunny, and then you won't be as gorgeous as you should be."

"Humph." Jaime said, making Krys kiss his cheek.

"I love you, Jamesie." Krys said. Jaime nodded.

"I love you too, Krys." he said, before he yawned.

"Good, go to sleep." Krys said, hopping out of their bed, before she kissed Jamie's cheek. She looked at Angel and kissed her head. "Now… are we doing night sky, underwater sea life, or……"

"Jamaica!" Jamie and Angel yelled in unison.

"Okay Jamaican beach at night." Krys said, before she flicked her wand, and the kids room turned into a Jamaican beach with a bed. "We like it?" The two nodded, and Krys laughed. "Go to sleep." Then she walked out of the room. As soon as she did, Josephs tackled her. "Hey."

"Hey." he said, before he kissed her cheek. "Um… I got you something." Krys laughed.

"Okay." she said. "Thank you. I got you something also." Josephs smiled, and held the box out to her. Krys took his hand and walked him to her room. "Okay." Krys looked at the box and sat down, before taking it. She unwrapped it and looked at him after she saw the box from _Veronica's Spell_ the magic worlds emerging lingerie chain. Krys smiled and rolled her eyes playfully, before she opened the box. Inside of the box was a lace blue thong and bra set. Krys raised her eyebrows, and looked up at him. "Who's wearing this? Are- oh… ooh, are you gonna wear this for me?" Josephs looked at her and grinned.

"Ha ha. Ha ha. Ha ha." he said. "I don't think that anyone in the world would look as good in that as you." Krys raised her eyebrow.

"Okay. So how'd you like meeting Angel and Jaime?" she asked. Josephs looked at her.

"Who?" he asked. Krys raised her eyebrow. "Oh- the kids. Yeah. Sorry." Krys shook her head.

"Don't be." she said.

"Um… they're cute. And the little girl is… really smart. But- I don't know. What else could I think about them? I mean- they're kids." Josephs said.

"I don't know." Krys said. "What _could_ you think about them? It doesn't matter. It was just a question." Krys inhaled, and looked at him. For a moment, she thought about telling him the truth about the kiss. That moment passed. "Hey… what did Ares say the night that you two had the fight?" Josephs groaned.

"Krys, do you have to do this?" he asked. "I mean… Krys, lets just get over it." Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Okay- so then how about we… talk about what happened the night that you got a few lap dances from the dancers." she said. Josephs' face just said 'Busted!'.

"Look, Krys- I was drinking and I didn't want to be the ass who was pissing everyone else off by killing the party. I- were you spying on me?" Josephs asked, as if he were trying to turn and manipulate the blame. Krys raised her eyebrows and laughed.

"Hold up-"

"No, did Delgado tell you that?" Krys rolled her eyes.

"You're just ratting yourself out. Number one- just so you know, Ares doesn't have to tell me shit. I know enough on my own. And two… who said that I have a problem with it? Gosh, I'm not about to do it for you, I have no problems with you finding someone else to." Josephs looked at her.

"Ar- um… what?"

"I was joking. I'm just- I… don't know." Josephs took her hand in his and kissed her.

"Look, Krys. You know that I'm crazy about you, right?" he asked. Krys inhaled deeply, and looked at him. "Um- oh- your eyes."

"What about them?" Krys asked. "Oh- right." She blinked and they went all sapphire blue. "You don't like the brow-"

"Its not that I don't like the brown. Its just that I… the brown scares the shit out of me." Josephs said, before he yawned.

"Okay- um… I have your gift." Krys said, handing him a manila envelope. "Not very creative, I know."

"Thank you." Josephs said, opening the envelope. He looked at her, then at the gift before he laughed. "Krys- I… shit- thank you, baby."

"You're welcome, Mister." Krys said. Josephs yawned again, and laid down.

"Shit- I'm sorry, Krys. I'm really tired." he said. Krys shook her head.

"Its okay." she said.

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"What do you think is happening?" Hermione asked, as she and Ron lied by the fireplace.

"Hermione, breathe." Ron said, before he pulled a velvet box out of his pocket. "Now… don't laugh at me. I don't want you to laugh at me." Hermione laughed. "And you're laughing at me."

"I'm sorry. Its just that you started with that… so- it makes me think of all of the funny things you've done. Sorry." Ron shook his head.

"I- um… I- here." he said, holding out a small velvet box. Hermione looked at him and laughed again, making him blush.

"I- I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you, I'm just… its just you're so nervous that I find it adorable. Especially on the night before we're supposed to get married." Ron smiled and kissed her cheek. Hermione smiled and opened the box. She looked at Ron and kissed his cheek. "You're so wonderful, Ronald. I don't know how I lived those two years without you."

"With wonderful friends." Krys said, as she skipped out from the back. She looked at Ron and Hermione. "Ooh- sorry. Private moment. I apologize for bothering you two."

"No- no." Hermione said. "I'm about to spend the rest of my life with this one. Ron, get away." Ron looked at her and pouted. "Ooh- Krys, did you see what he got me?" Krys looked at the velvet box and smiled.

"He gave you his engraved ascendance pin?" she asked. Hermione looked confused. "His Class 2 pin. That's so sweet. Ron, you losery sap."

"Alright… I'm leaving now." Ron said, getting up. "I'm gonna go hang out with guys."

"You do that." Krys said. She looked at Hermione. "Oh God." 

"What- what's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong."

"What'd your boyfriend get you?"

"Um… Josephs got me lace lingerie." Hermione's eyebrows raised.

"Wow." she said. "Even Ron's not _that_ ballsy." Krys laughed.

"I guess." she said.

"Whoa- what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little sleepy. Tired."

"Its only ten."

"I know. I just- yesterday I got more sleep than I'd gotten in a month. And… I can handle the pressure, but its just like… _everything_ is tumbling down on me. And no matter what I do, I feel trapped and like I can't escape. And that's horrible, because that makes me feel psycho and it makes it seem like I don't know what I'm doing, which I _absolutely_ do. I know what I'm doing, and this is what I want, so why is this making me feel like I'm drowning? Why do I feel like someone's holding me underwater?" Hermione didn't say anything. "And I should be able to handle this, but… am I in over my head, am I- I- oh… I keep thinking that I've handled more, but… what I've done isn't much. Its not this heavy. Its never been this heavy. And I'm just drowning through each day, and I'm- I- I'm stuck." Hermione inhaled deeply.

"Krys, you're honestly taking too much upon yourself. You need to calm it down and breathe, because I'm afraid that you're going into depression, the way you're speaking." she said. "Look- go to sleep."

"I can't. I have three letters that I have to respond to by next week, and I have to get a head start." Krys said. "And I have to choose the furniture for the orphanage, and the basic furniture for the offices. And- I have a lot of things that I need to get done."

"Krys, if you're not gonna listen, then don't complain." Hermione said. "So you either want me to listen and to advise, with your intentions to take my advice, or you don't tell me at all." Krys got up.

"I guess you know my answer." she said, before she walked right out of the living room. As soon as she got into the hallway, she bumped into Ares. "Oh-… um- hey." Ares smiled.

"Hey." he said. "What's wrong with you? Are you okay?" Krys looked at her hands, and gave an ill and strained sight.

"I- I- um… I really don't know." she said. "I-…"

"Hey-come on." Ares said, slinging his arm over her shoulder and walking her to his room. The lights were dimmed and the fireplace was lit. Although it was beautiful and gave a romantic feeling, it was also a comfortable atmosphere. Ares walked her to his bed and sat down. "W- uh- um… what's- um… what's wrong?" Krys shook her head.

"Come on. No- we're not gonna talk about my craziness, lets just talk about you. What's going on with you?" she asked. "Are you okay? What'd you want to talk to me about?"

"Um… actually- I… um- I-… um." Ares stuttered. Krys gave him a light slap to the face.

"Talk straight, _biotch_." she said. She laughed, when Ares wore his 'OMG!' face. When he shook from the shock, he tickled her. "No, Ares. Stop." Krys hit his hand away through her laughter. "Come on, tell me what you have to tell me."

"Oh… um- right. I- yo, I wanted to…" Ares took a deep breath. "I wanted to give you your gift."

"Hey, but- you already got me so-"

"Krys it was a three dollar poster that cost twenty to get framed. I wouldn't give you that on my worst day."

"Ares, three things in that, matter. I _love_ the Fairly OddParents. I love that the frame is wooden and not metal. And you gave it to me."

"Hey, why didn't we ever make that pact between exes and good friends?" Ares asked.

"What pact? And where is this coming from? We were just talking about gifts."

"The one where we say if we're not married by the time we're thirty one, we'll marry each other." Krys coughed, and looked at him.

"Um- why'd you wanna wait?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her and smiled.

"I just- I wanted to get you something that would fit you perfectly."

"You didn't have to get me anything, Kingie. I have you. That is more than enough." Krys said. "But- for the sake of not being ride, what'd you get me?" Ares smiled.

"Close your eyes." he said. "Hold out your hands." Krys held her hands out and felt Ares kiss them, before she felt a velvet box in her hands. "Open your eyes. And don't say anything about what it is. Don't laugh at it. I'm sorry I couldn't give you more." He said it all so bashfully. Krys opened her eyes, and looked at him while she opened the box. When she looked down, she closed her eyes in disbelief of what she was seeing. When she re-opened her eyes, she smiled, then sniffled, before a few tears escaped. "Wha- wha's wrong?" Ares asked. Krys shook her head.

"Nothing. Oh- my God, Ares. Nothing is wrong at all. I just- how do you even remember this? I don't even remember this. Not really. How- how did you do this? My dad couldn't even do this." Krys said. Ares smiled and gestured to the box. "Please." Ares gently put it on her.

"I just wanted to give you this, because I hated seeing you that distraught, when you lost it." he said. "And I wanted to give you something that you didn't have. And… I wanted to give you something that would make you happy." Krys looked at him, then at the charm bracelet.

"Thank you so much, Ares." she said. "I- I don't even know what to say."

"Say that you'll wear it." Ares said.

"Why wouldn't I? It's the best gift ever. Thank you so, so, so much. I can't even say anything besides that." Krys said. Ares shook his head.

"You don't need to say anything." he said. "I just- I um- I hope you don't mind, but I added three charms." Krys smiled.

"No- no- I- I… I love the charms that you added. Thank you so much, Ares."

"Actually, I… I um- the chain of stars, they- I um-… I hope you don- um… I hope you don't mind, but I had them named for you. Its- um- its nothing. Just a star in Orion and Andromeda. I jus-" Krys leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you so much, Ares." she said softly. "I don't think anyone could've made this Christmas as special and as sweet as you." Ares blushed lightly, then sat down.

"Krys, I heard you and Hermione." he said. Krys looked at him.

"You hear everything." she said. Ares laughed and pulled her down onto the bed.

"Come on. Talk to me." he said. "What's going on?" Krys inhaled, and looked at him.

"I just- I don't know if I'm in over my head. Or if I'm stressed out. But I'm probably just whining- I should be able to handle this. So I don't know if I'm just not working hard enough, or if I'm just not cut out for this. I mean, I decided to do this a while ago. I've been skirting around this idea, since I graduated, and now… I have the means, and I have the authorization, but it seems like this is just a better idea in the mind. And I don't know if I can do it or not. And… I just- I don't want to just be some basket case that drops the project and picks it back up every so often. And… I'm drowning, and this is my responsibility, so if I can't do what I need to do now, what's gonna happen when I have a dying auror on my table, a life on my hands and paperwork to be done? What am I gonna do? I don't know what I'm gonna do, and I don't know if I'm cut out for this. I just- I can't help _myself_. And if I can't help me, then who the fuck will? I have a _world_ hospital. I'm constantly tired, and I'm… I can- I haven't slept in a month. My partner is getting married, and… I don't want to steal from her life, but… what's gonna happen? I can't just delegate a mountain of responsibility. I'm not gonna dump that on someone, especially when I can't handle it myself. And I can't throw her out in the cold, even though this is a business… and- its just that everything is collapsing on me, and I don't know what to do. What am I gonna do? Just tell me what I'm gonna do. Please- please just tell me what I am going to do." Ares touched her shoulder and turned to her.

"Do you remember when we were in third year, and the school had house wars? And the competition between classes- um- the quiz grades. Everyone in 3rd year Dolphintail said Gem would win. Everyone in Phoenixtear said you would win. And so on and so forth. Do you remember that?" he asked.

"Yeah." Krys said, nodding quickly. Her leg was shaking and so were her hands. Ares placed his hand on her knee, in an attempt to stop it from shaking, when Krys looked like her leg would run away.

"Okay- and what happened?"

"Um… at first Gem was winning. Then-"

"Why was Gem winning?"

"Because she was acing all of her quizzes."

"No. I mean, why weren't you winning?"

"Um… I guess I was nervous."

"Why?"

"Because everyone was counting on me."

"And what did Professor Regal say to you each time she had to give you the quiz? She told you to just write out an answer sheet for her. And… the first time she did that, you got a perfect score. You treated it like it was a side project, and even though it was something big, you _killed_ it. So… why don't you just go back to treating it like a personal project?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and threw her arms around him.

"Ares Delgado… I- um… you're my savior." she said. "Um… how did you get the bracelet anyway?"

"Um- I have a picture of you wearing it, so I got it made for you." Ares said. All of a sudden, Krys' whole attitude changed, and the lights turned on.

"Okay- I have another Christmas gift for you." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Krys, I think that you giving me a gigantic closet and an art room is enough. Oh- and Mr. Incredible." he teased. "By the way… thank you so much for that." Krys laughed, and held something out to him.

"Take it. Its your real gift." she said. Ares looked at her, then took the box. He opened it, then looked at her again. In the box was a shiny gold chain with a crest pendant hanging from it. Krys shook her head. "Don't do it."

"How did you get this?" Ares asked.

"Okay- you did it. So… our first summer together as a couple, you told me everything you remembered about your dad, and how he gave you this chain when you were born. The chain- Delgado crest and everything. And you told me that as an angry three year old, you and Jason buried it in sand when your mom told you what happened. You told me that when you went to get it the next day, it was gone. And how you always wish that you had it still, because its all you actually had of him. So I- you're not gonna tell about how I got it, are you?" Ares looked at her.

"Krys, how did you get it?" he asked, as he lied his head in her lap. Krys smiled and traced the outline of his ear, purely by second nature. Okay- maybe because she wanted to, but- so what?

"Does it matter?" she asked. Ares shifted a bit so that he could look up at her.

"Not really. I just want to know." he said. Krys smiled, then pinched his cheeks. Ares laughed and sat up.

"Okay… well, first I went to the park to make sure that you didn't look over it. Then again, its been like 18 years, so I didn't expect to find it. You were right, someone had already dug it up. But, it turns out that they dug it up and I guess their parent found it and pawned it. So I went to the pawn shop, with a picture of the chain. And guess what? It was gone. So- I asked if anyone was still working there from '92 to now, and he said yeah. The man in the back still worked there, and the man in the back said that they had a great record system of receipts and shit, so he let me look through them. So- I had to do this big mind check thing. Like- I had to concentrate and check people's histories, like whether they had kids or not. I know what you're thinking. I could've just put more energy into just snapping and getting the chain, but that requires a lot of energy. So- I found out that a man named Raymond Reynolds bought it. So I went to find him. He still lived in Torrance. So I went to his house, and I talked to his son-in-law who said that it was given to _their_ child. So- I told him my story- which was really your story, and I started to cry. I told him that it was given to me by my parents before I ended up in an orphanage. And that seems horrible, but they were acting like it was this big damn family heirloom for them. So- in telling him who I was, he got this shocked look and named a price. So I told him that I wanted to see it first. He ran in the house and came back out and showed it to me. So I bought it from him." She looked at him, to catch him staring at her. She smiled. "What?"

"Krys, what are you even doing with him?" Ares asked- whispered even. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked. Ares shook his head. "No, what did you say? I didn't hear you. What did you just say?" Ares inhaled deeply, and turned to her.

"Why are you with Josephs?" he asked.

"Ares… he's nice. You know what I mean?" Krys asked. "I mean… he's not 'everything I wanted', but if I had that, I'd be with yo- you know?" Ares nodded, then looked down.

"I'm still in love with you." he said softly.

"Of course you are. I mean, who _wouldn't_ be?" Krys asked, as she smiled at him.

"No, Krys, I love you. I wanna be with you." Krys nodded.

"I'm in love with you too. And you _are_ with me. You're my best friend." she said. Ares looked at her.

"Krys, I'm _in love_ with you. I want to _marry_ you. I want to _be_ with you." he said slowly, before chancing a look at Krys. She was just staring at him with her eyebrows furrowed and raised. "I-… I don't want you to be with Josephs. And I know that that doesn't matter, and I don't have any say in it. But- I don't want you to want me to be with Gemini- or Natasha, or Crystal. I ju-" Krys was now scrunching her eyes. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears, and she started to get really hot.

"Um- Ares, what do you mean? Ar- are you serious?" she asked, after a while.

"Yes." Ares said softly. "I'm in love with you. And I want to be with you. I'm sorry that I took so long." Something about his words that pissed her off.

"No, no, no, no, no. I wasn't with him at all- we cut _all ties_ for _two weeks_- _fourteen_ days, Ares. I mean- I didn't talk to him for eight weeks. But- we've talked to each other every day since I came back, and you couldn't tell me? You didn't say anything- what the- why did you wait until someone else's heart was in the mix? I can't do this-"

"Look… its okay. Thank you for the chain." Ares said, before he started to walk away. Krys pulled him back.

"_Do not_ walk away from me." she said seriously. "This shouldn't change one goddamn thing between us, Ares… and you know damn well why. I've forgiven and forgotten a lot of shit from you, even though it-… you know what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry- this is just all because I have a massive migraine. I'm just stressed." She paused. "Isn't this what _you_ wanted? Isn't this what you asked me to do? Why can't you just do this for me?"

"Krys, I'll do whatever you want me to. But… you can't tell me that he's the one that you want to be with. You- you-… no one's ever gonna love you like I do- no, I can't even say that. You are the easiest person in the world to love, and… I just can't imagine my life without you. And no one is ever going to make me as happy as you do. You can't tell me that you don't want to be with me." Krys looked at him, before she slowly leaned in. She was crying. At first, she moved her hands unsurely. But, she looked in his eyes and stood on the tips of her toes, before she kissed his top lip. Ares hugged her, and Krys kissed his top lip, pecking his lips repeatedly, before she gently bit his bottom lip and clasped her hands around the back of his neck. Krys moaned, as he rubbed her back. When she pulled back, she looked at him, and pecked him again. She stared at him for a minute, before she pulled him down and kissed him longer and deeper, before she pulled him to the bed. She found herself getting lost in the kisses, and when she pulled up for air, she leaned in again slightly, before she stopped, looked at Ares in pure terror, and scrambled to get away, jumping back.

"I- I'm sor- Ares, we're _friends_. And you said it yourself, we're _better_ as friends. Don't you remember saying that we're bestest friends? Can you imagine going back into that relationship?" Krys said. Ares nodded. "I can't do this to someone."

"Don't worry." Ares said. "I just- I won't mak-… Krys, I want you to know that before we came back from our training, we didn't see each other for 57,632,868 seconds. Before you came back from your job, we didn't see each other for 9,417,639 seconds. And when you went on that date with Josephs, when you were wearing the white skirt, we didn't see each other for 10,800 seconds. Krys, there are times when I sit up and calculate exactly how long I've loved you. And there are days where I sit in your closet smelling your clothes, because I can't actually feel you next to me. I love how I know exactly where your crazy rant speeches are going. And- within the first ten words of your rant, I know exactly what you're getting at. Krys, he'll never get you the way that I do… and- he doesn't deserve you. And neither do I, but…" Krys looked at him. "Krys, you were made for me." Krys stared at him and touched the charms on the charm bracelet that he'd given her.

"I have to get back to the kitchen. They're waiting for me. I have to- um… I'm sorry, but I have to go." Krys said.


	51. Not Like You Think

Krys left Ares lying in his bed and staring at the ceiling, while she ran out of the room and into the living room. They were all sitting by the fireplace. All except Josephs. It was a bit before midnight, and he'd already gone to bed. She got out her cell phone and paged Hermione with a Cookie 911, then ran to the kitchen. A minute later, Ginny, Hermione, A.J, Robyn and Thai walked into the kitchen.

"What's going on, Mami?" Thai asked, as she sat on the counter.

"He just told me that he's in love with me." Krys said in a shaky voice.

"Yeah, you told us last night. Josephs said he's in love with you." Hermione said in a bored voice.

"He did two- three days ago- I don't really remember. Today, _Ares_ told me that he is still in love with me. Why didn't you tell me, Hermione?" Hermione laughed.

"I told you about a thousand times. Anyway- go back to it. What happened?" she asked.

"I went into his room, and we started talking. And he was being so cute and so sweet. Then, we were giving each other our gifts. And it- he was being sweet and I was giving him his gift. Then he told me, and we kissed while the rest of you were in the other room."

"Again?" Krys nodded, making them all look at she and Hermione.

"Again?" they all said.

"Um- Krys and Ares were caught having a little snog session in Ares' bedroom." Hermione said.

"That's so great." Thai said. "So-"

"No. Not great. _Not great_." Krys said.

"What, the kiss? Didn't you always say that Ares scored an infinity on a scale of 1-10?" Ginny asked.

"No, of course the kiss was great. God- the kisses were like-… Its just that-… he can't do this to me. I mean- okay, so what if I'm- I- what the hell? Is this hell? I'm gonna die- I'm gonna drop dead right now." She started to hyperventilate, before she picked up a paper bag and started to breathe. "Am I selfish for being jealous of him around other girls, while being in a relationship with Josephs? I mean- its selfish to keep him away from Gem and Tasha and the other trillion girls that want to just be near him, right? Its just- he's _mine-_. I mean- he needs someone who'll- oh God, I'm doing it again. Its not even a matter of him and another girl, its me and Josephs. And me and Ares."

"Krys, a few days ago, you told me that you know how perfect you and Ares are together- not even boring perfect, but complicated perfect, wonderful and so damn flawed, that you're incredibly right. Why let that go to waste?" Hermione asked.

"Oh- oh, oh, oh." Krys said. "I need to go… and do some major thinking in the freezing ass snow." Then she left the room.

"Who do you think she's gonna choose?" A.J asked. All of them looked at her.

"Have you seen your brother?" Thai asked. A.J laughed.

"Have you _seen_ Josephs?" she asked. They all considered this.

"Who would you choose?" Ginny asked them all. "Well- excluding A.J, because I don't want her to have a Marsha and Greg, Mary and Matt thought." They all laughed.

"Um- definitely Ares." Thai said. "His _aura_ screams sexy. And he's really sweet. Especially to Krys. The guy would do just about anything for her."

"Always a bonus." Ginny said. "But isn't that a bit of a turnoff, too? You know? Sometimes taking charge is nice."

"See- she knows what I'm talking about." A.J said. "He doesn't have the gorgeous guy attitude, and the attitude does it for most people."

"But they have a history." Hermione said. "Isn't it better to be with someone that you're comfortable and safe with?"

"Krys already told me that she likes the fact that she doesn't know Josephs that well. It means that she can get to know him, and she said its half the thrill." A.J said.

"Do you not want them to get together?" Thai asked.

"Of course I do. I just- they've both been through enough with each other, you know? I know that the way they love each other is deep and serious and all that shit, but… on some level, you just have to stop trying." said A.J. They all looked at her, because on some level, she was right.

"What did they go through together?" Robbie asked. They all looked at her.

"Think about it." Hermione said.

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"Why the hell did I listen to you guys? She hates me now." Ares said. They all looked at him.

"If you believe that, you're seriously stupid." Thai said. "I mean- really, really dumb. Angie can see how you two feel about each other. Like- when you have a four year old calling you on your bullshit, that's a problem." Thai started to take the cookies off of the baking pan, before Hermione stole one, but threw it at the wall, because it was too hot. They all looked at her and laughed.

"Yeah. And… plus- the fact that you gave her the bracelet was a bonus." Ron said.

"Yeah. How did you even remember that, you stalker?" Harry said.

"Okay- here's something that you have to know." Jason said. "Whenever Krys was asleep, Ares spent half the fucking night watching her. Hushing her back to sleep after her crazy nightmares. Sort of pathetic."

"You had it bad, bad, bad." A.J said. "You're like crazy."

"I'm not crazy." Ares said. "I just pay attention to shit."

"Ares… what is the name of Emily and Kay's beauty shop?" Hermione asked, her mouth on a cookie. Ares looked at her, and they all looked at him.

"I don't know." he said after awhile.

"You should go talk to her."

"I'm not going to talk to her.

"Oh, you will." Hermione said.

"Too bad, that only works with Krys." Ares replied, before he sat on a stool and lied his head on the counter.

"Ron, you go talk to her." Hermione said.

"Why- why me?" Ron asked.

"Because." Hermione said. Ron looked at her with an involuntary pout and Hermione gave him the look saying that she meant business.

"Can I have some time, please?" Ron said. Hermione nodded.

"Only a few minutes." she said. "Then you have to go talk to her, and get her to fess up."

"About what?" Ares asked.

"Um- what she's gonna do."

"She already told me what she was gonna do. She doesn't wanna be with me. Thank you for the wonderful advice, guys. Thank you- thank you so goddamn much." Ares said, banging his head on the counter. He only stopped after A.J decided to bang his head for him.

"Ron, I think its time." Hermione said.

"No, its not time yet." Ron said.

"Yes, it is." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Fine." he said.

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Krys got out of the house and sat in Hermione's snow covered wedding site. It had been one of her wedding gifts to Hermione to get the place designed exactly like the scene in Kill Bill had been. She'd ordered it to be done as soon as she knew Hermione wanted that for the wedding. Krys sat on the fountain that was rimmed with snow. She was freezing, but it was better than being in the house facing the factors of her choice. She gathered a handful of snow and pressed it until it was hard and icy. She then took out her butterfly knife, before carving an 'A' in one side and an 'E' in the other. She tossed the snow in the air and caught it. "Its an 'E'." she said, before she flipped it again. She then tossed the ice until it got to an 'A'.

"Are you okay?" Krys jumped and almost fell in the fountain, when Ron sat next to her, but he steadied and got a hold of her. "Sorry." he said. Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Always." she said.

"Sorry?"

"No. I'm always okay. _Why_?"

"Well… we just talked to Ares… and I'm traveling on sensitive territory, right?" Krys laughed. "Well- yeah. Just- are you okay?"

"As okay as I can be, considering the circumstances. Its not that it's a hard choice to make. Its just- I don't want to have to make it. I never thought I'd say this, but… being in Hogwarts was easier."

"Well- if its any consolation, we like Ares better." Krys looked at him and laughed. "Its just that…we trust him more, with you. After what you told us about Josephs and why you stopped 'hanging out' the last time… its kinda hard to be here and trying to find things in common with him. But seeing how Ares will do whatever you want- whatever you need, with your best interests at heart, its a lot more comforting. Josephs just seems… sickening sometimes."

"Well- in three months, he's told me that he loved me… and I'm still not giving it up." Ron laughed, then shuddered.

"Can't imagine why he'd want it." he said.

"Can't imagine why Hermione would want you, but I've never said it." Krys retorted. Ron put his palm to his heart.

"Ouch." he said. "That hurt."

"You'll live." Krys said. Ron picked up her hand and raised his eyebrows.

"Who gave you this?" he asked.

"Ares."

"He gave you his ascendance pin too?"

"No, he didn't."

"Yes, he did. Its right here." She looked at her hand, then Ron, before dumped the snow on his head. Ron put his hands up in surrender.

"Okay- you get that, because you're technically a girl and you're hurting." he said. Krys looked at him and winked, before twenty snowballs flew at Ron.

"That was therapeutic. I no longer hurt." she said. Ron glared at her, then walked into the house, shivering. Krys sat out a bit more, before Harry walked out. She looked at him. He held her Grinch mug out to her at arms length. Krys accepted the mug and Harry sat down next to her.

"How are you?" Harry asked.

"Good." Krys lied.

"Are you lying to me?" Krys nodded. "So- what's really wrong? Isn't this what you wanted?" Krys nodded. "Do you still want it?" Krys nodded. "That's why you're sad." Krys nodded.

"And I want to want it. And I do want it. But I don't want to want to want it. I'm supposed to be over him and _it_." she said strongly. "He can't keep doing this to me-"

"But, isn't that a bit hypocritical? You always break it off with him. For dumb reasons… even though you guys are happy, fun, complicated- the whole shebang." Krys looked at him. "Does this have anything to do with revenge?"

"Prongs… he can't expect me to run out on a relationship, when he wasn't even willing to do the same for me."

"He did run out on his wedding to be with you."

"Prongs-"

"Padfoot, all I know is that you've held us all together. I'm not willing to relive sixth year for the rest of our lives. You brought him into our lives and now we're all best friends, and now you're gonna bring someone _else_ into the picture?" Krys looked at him.

"Shut up, Prongs. This is hard enough without you making me feel guilty, isn't it?" she said.

"Padfoot-"

"Um…" Krys and Harry looked up and there stood Ares with a plate in his hands. Harry got up and looked at Krys.

"I'm sorry." he said. Krys nodded, and they did their special handshake. Harry walked back into the house, looking at Ares, before he left. The look that they shared was the 'good luck' look. Ares walked farther out and extended the plate of cookies to Krys.

"Peace offering?" he said. Krys looked at the cookies. They were her favorite. Chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, in the shapes of Christmas characters. "They're not spiked with Amortentia." Krys still stared at the cookies. "Or Amortentia insufficient." Krys finally cracked a smile and picked up one in the shape of the Grinch. Ares looked at the seat next to her. "Can I sit?"

"Free country." Krys said with her mouth on the cookie, and trying to act as sullen as possible. Her attitude didn't affect Ares, seeing as he still smiled slightly.

"Okay." he said, as he sat. They stood in silence for a while. Krys mainly avoided him staring at her. "I want to talk to you." Krys turned to him.

"You kissed me. No- no, no, no- you didn't kiss me. I mean, you _really_ kissed me. You _kissed_ me- and it wasn't even like a regular kiss that we have. We didn't laugh at it after it was done. I didn't pat you on the back, I didn't chuckle… we stared at each other awkwardly, before you broke the silence. _Why_ did you _kiss_ me?" Krys said. She wasn't angry as much as she was annoyed.

"Because I wanted to. I- I really couldn't help it, Krys. I-… I _needed_ to kiss you. And you kissed back." Ares said.

"Because I was surprised." Krys said quietly.

"So- if I keep surprising you, you'd always be kissing me?"

"No- its just- its first instinct."

"To kiss any man that kisses you?"

"No- to kiss _you_!" Ares grinned, making Krys glare at him.

"Actually- the truth is that _you_ kissed _me_ this time. But yeah, I kissed you the last time. And you kissed back, because you were surprised and its first instinct to kiss me." He sounded surprisingly chipper and happy as he said this.

"You caught me off guard." Ares looked at her. "We kiss _all the time_. Its like _nonstop_. Ooh- you got a job- kiss. You tied your shoe by yourself- kiss. We're going out tonight- kiss. We're _always_ kissing. _Normal friends don't kiss_. Normal friends don't give each other excessive cheek kisses, and randomly slip one another the tongue. Normal friends don't think its normal when one friend sits on another's lap. Normal friends don't hold each other ever so gently and kiss each others ears and necks. Normal friends don't tell each other that they love each other."

"Didn't you tell me that being normal was overrated?" Ares said.

"Ares, I have a boyfriend." Krys said. Ares nodded.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." he said. Krys looked at him. "I just want to talk." Krys nodded.

"Talk… talking- talking is good." she said.

"But first- can you put the hat and earmuffs on so I don't feel like I'm sitting here with a red eared elf child?" Krys glared at him. "I'm joking. I thought you were cold." He held the hat and earmuffs out to her, and she rolled her eyes. She started to take out her hair, then put them both on. Ares carefully touched a curl, fingering it and twirling it lightly. "I always liked your hair like this." he murmured. Krys found herself looking up at him, with big eyes while he lightly touched her hair. Krys shut her eyes tightly and faced the fountain, away from him. "Relax, Krys. I'm not gonna jump you. I mean- I'm not gonna jump your bones." Krys whipped around and glared at him.

"Are we gonna talk or not, Ares? I have work to do." she said.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I met you. And I remember everything that we've ever done together- good and bad. But-… I love you, Krys. I know that you don't love me anymore. I know that you don't want me to love you. All I want to do is talk to you." Krys turned to him.

"Talk." she said. Ares stared at her, making her look down.

"I've been thinking about the kiss…es. _Kisses_."

"They shouldn't've happened." Ares nodded.

"I agree." he said. She looked at him. "I was out of line. I was wrong to put you in an awkward situation, where you felt that you needed to choose between me and your boyfriend. In reality, that's not what I'm trying to do." Ares took a deep breath, then looked at her. "I didn't expect you to run to me with open arms. I didn't expect you to reciprocate. I didn't expect requited love. And I still don't, Krys. I just wanted- _want_ you to know the truth and to know that I love you, which is the truth. I want you to know that I want you, and that you can have it, _if you want it_."

"Hold on- what exactly is _it_?" Krys asked. Ares looked at her.

"Me." he said. "I want you to know what's here for you, if you want it. But I don't want you to hate me. And so I'm alright with acting like nothing happened." Krys looked at him.

"Really?" she asked. Ares shook his head.

"No." he deadpanned. Krys almost laughed, but instead she snorted and shook her head. "Yeah, Krys. I can act like it never happened. If that's what you want, then that's what I'll do. I just- I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me. I won't even mention it."

"Just say that it won't happen again."

"It won't happen again." Ares said. He looked at his hands. "Look, I know that you love Josephs, and that's who you're with now. You did the same for me and Emily, so I'm not about to try and screw up something that you want. If you just want to be friends, then… of course, we'll just be friends." Krys looked at him. "Back to the way things were." Krys nodded, then looked at him. "I don't want to ruin any of your chances of happiness. I know that Eric is who you want, so… I won't stand in the way of that."

"You'd do that? You're willing to just be my friend?" Ares nodded. "What about what you said before?"

"Look… I meant what I said, Krys. I am still in love with you. I love you like my next breath… And I can't…- hold on, I have it written down." Ares said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I can't help the way I feel about you. And… there's nothing that you can do to change my mind. And chances are that nothing ever will change my mind. And I don't want anything to change my mind. But, I can handle it. I _have_ handled it. I'm okay with handling it. I mean… your friendship is important to me, and at times its all that keeps me going. I need it. I need you. And I'd rather have you as my friend than not have you at all. You are my best friend, and as much as seeing you and another guy- the _thought_ of you and another guy makes me want to get drenched in acid and set myself on fire, while being hung… I can handle it." Krys looked at him. Her face was drenched in tears. "Krys, come on… don't cry. I'm alright. Look- look, I'm okay. See…" Ares gave her a sexy and dazzling, yet dead and empty smile. Krys shook her head and another few tears escaped her eyes. "Please, don't cry. You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, _I_ did. I waited too long, Krys. Krys, I don't want you to feel guilty or anything bad- wait. If you're feeling bad, don't. You have nothing to feel guilty about. Its your choice, and you're following your hea-" Krys smacked his mouth.

"Shut up." she said, as she stood up in front of him. "Are you listening to me?"

"Y-" Krys took her hand and pressed his lips together, keeping his mouth shut.

"_Shut up_." Ares nodded. "I'm not _choosing_ Josephs. If I were _choosing_ him- if I were choosing him, I'd cut _all_ ties from you. That's what the choice would be. I'm not choosing him. No one is giving me a choice. Nobody is about to tell me to choose. No one is going to tell me what to do with my life. No one. Not _you_, not _Josephs_. Now listen to me carefully…… if I _cared_ about Josephs 1/_1_,_000_,_000,000_th as much as I _love_ you, I could say that I would do _anything_ to keep him happy. I could say that I was pissy drunk in love with him, to the point that I would set myself on fire, after shock therapy, _for him_. Loving you is not the issue. Its not _an_ issue. This has nothing to do with how much I love you. I'm not following my heart, Ares. Because, if I was, I'd be following you around like a lost puppy- which I _have been doing_ since we all came back. My heart is with you. Actually no- the part of my mind with the emotions is with you. I have no idea why people make it seem like the heart makes you feel. The heart and brain are symbiotic with everything, if you're a functioning person. Sorry- that's neither here nor there." Krys took a deep breath, and looked at him, before continuing.

"This has everything to do with _us_ being _us_. This has everything to do with these questions that I can't let go of. Questions that run through my head, any and _every_ time I look at you. Because, when I see you, the one thing that I'm always thinking about is if its in the cards again, because of how I feel about you. I always want to know if we'd be together, if certain things hadn't happened. I always wanna know if we'd still be together if I hadn't done dumb things. And then that _one_ thought triggers a _million_ other questions. Would we screw it up again? Are we really gonna love each other forever? Would I be able to stop keeping secrets to protect you? Ares, this has everything to do with how much I want you to be happy. Would you really be happy with me? Would you really love me forever? Is the way we feel about each other going to get us through hard times, or am I gonna buckle under pressure and run away? I _do not_ _want_ _to hurt you_. And this'll sound _horrible_, but hurting Josephs _does not_ scare me. When I dumped him, he shrugged it off." Krys took a deep breath, then cleared her throat, and went on.

"Nothing kills me more than seeing you hurt, and nothing will ever kill me as much as hurting you. It takes more work to make something last than it does to just call it quits. That's why I'm so flaky, Ares. Me and you are perfect as the push of more than friends. When we start our relationships over, they're smooth sailing until that little crack or bump. And I can't handle a little crack or bump. Yes, you mean everything to me. Yes, I would walk off the end of the earth for you. Yes, I love you, but I hate that as perfect as we are as flirty friends, we have to _work_ for a relationship. I don't want to screw it up, and that's what I do. I screw things up. I told you before I left, that I would never stop loving you that way. This has _nothing_ to do with me not loving you- not _being in love _with you. Of course I still am. That's something that won't change, no matter how many times I try to do… whatever the hell I've been doing. So don't give me your goddamn speeches about understanding that _I love Josephs more than I love you_. Or that I'm _following my heart_. Don't give me that. Because the fact of the matter is that I'm not in love with Josephs. But if that's what you believe, you're seriously stupid." She sat down and looked at him. He had a look of confusion on his face. "Stop doing that to your face!"

"Krys, what's the problem, then?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him.

"I am crazy and screwed up _beyond belief_. One day down the line, something _stupid _is gonna happen and I'm gonna act stupid about it, and its known that my history repeats itself. Read my lips… _fucking_ _crazy_. Read my lips- read my lips- _psycho_."

"Don't draw my attention to your lips." Ares joked. Krys laughed pathetically and Ares reached out to touch her, but stopped and looked to her for consent. She looked at him and nodded. Ares put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Krys lied her head in his lap and looked up at him, as Ares continued to tuck her hair behind her ear. "You know its cold out here, don't you?" He looked at her, and finally realized that she wasn't wearing a jacket- coat- sweater, all she had on was her pajama t-shirt. Ares started to take off his jacket, but Krys shook her head. "Krys, its freezing out here."

"Then why would you take off _your_ jacket?"

"You're wearing a t-shirt." Krys shook her head, and draped his arm over her.

"I just don't want to go back in." she whispered. Her eyes were closed and her face was tearstained. She was slightly shivering, but he could tell that she was trying to hide it.

"Then we won't." Ares whispered back. He took off his coat and draped it over her, even though he only had a short sleeved t-shirt on under it. Krys slightly puckered her lips. Ares smiled and watched her face.

"You're keeping your promise. You're not kissing me." Krys whispered.

"You said you don't want me to." Ares whispered. "Do you want me to?" Krys didn't say anything. "Do you want me to?"

"Will you?" she asked in a softer whisper. Each whisper was softer than the one before.

"There's nothing I won't do for you." Ares said, in a whisper softer than hers.

"I always want you to." Krys whispered softly. Ares laughed softly and pecked her lips, before kissing her cheek. "I'd do anything for you, Ares."

"Then be with me." Ares whispered. Krys froze. Her body was rigid. She looked like she might shrug or shake her head.

"I need to think about it." she whispered after a while. "Don't take that the wrong way, or any way at all. But- I need to decide for me."

"Promise you'll think hard about it?" Ares whispered. Krys nodded.

"I promise." she whispered. "Just give me time to think about it. I really need to think about it." Ares nodded.

"Anything you want." he said in a whisper. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and put her in his bedroom as soon as she fell asleep.


	52. And Sometimes It Does

At one thirty pm, all of the girls were taking showers, getting ready for Krys to prepare them for the six pm wedding. The preparation had started at nine o'clock in the morning, and so far everything was going as shaky an earthquake. Krys was the one planning Hermione's hair and makeup, while the rest of the girls started to get ready for her to do theirs. The girls decided that they'd do all dressing preparation from scratch. No magic when it came to perfecting their looks for the beautiful wedding. Actually, no, Hermione decided that everything should be done from scratch. Krys was blow drying Hermione's wet hair, and the bride was shaking something awful. Krys turned off the blow dryer, when she was done.

"Stop fidgeting." Krys said, as she started to parte Hermione's hair into many different sections to applied leave-in conditioner from the roots to the tips.

"Krys, what's going on?" Hermione asked. "Who are you going to choose?" Krys looked at her, but didn't say anything.

"Stop fidgeting." was all she said. When she finished conditioning a section of hair. She twisted and clipped it. Hermione wouldn't stop moving, so Krys looked at her for a minute.

"Stop looking at me like that." Hermione said.

"Stop fidgeting." Krys repeated, in a harsher tone.

"Everything is going to go wrong. He's not gonna want to marry me. I'm gonna trip- oh my God. He's gonna run away. I don't- he's gonna say 'I don't'" Hermione said in a panicky tone. Krys took the curling iron and bopped Hermione on the side of her head.

"Shut up." Krys said, before she turned the curling iron on to heat up. "If you don't stop shaking, I'm gonna burn you. And that shit isn't a threat, I'll probably burn you." Hermione nodded and stood still, as Krys unclipped her hair. When she was finished unclipping, she picked up the curling iron. Each curl that she made, she sprayed with curl definition, then pinned as a curl. When she was done curling Hermione's hair, she put a shower cap on her head and turned her in the chair. "Okay- makeup. As if I know how to do that." Hermione laughed. "Good. Relax."

"I'm starting to." Hermione said.

"Six hours away from a wonderful wedding." Krys said, as she started to pick out the makeup. "Ron loves you. You need to relax and remember that you're gonna be happy." Krys turned back to her, and set the makeup on a side table, before leaning down so she was directly in front of Hermione. She took out a cream and a small pad and started to rub Hermione's face with the cream.

"What is this supposed to do?"

"Its moisturizer. Don't worry, its hypoallergenic. This is all hypoallergenic." Hermione nodded, and just sat there, while Krys did everything.

"Why are you doing this?" Hermione asked.

"Doing what?" said Krys.

"Why are you doing the hair and makeup for me?"

"I have simple visions of what looks good with hair. You know? I know- it sounds girly as hell, but my hair was always something I was sure of. I love it. And- I know how to make some of the best looking things feel comfortable, without magic. Plus- I am your maid of honor, and you're homey. Oh- oh and the fact that you're on some bullshit about how everything should be done from scratch." She felt when Krys was done moisturizing, and opened her eyes. Shocked that her skin looked so beautiful, Hermione smiled. Krys looked at the makeup and looked at her magic mirror. She started to play with it for a minute, before she showed Hermione.

"You're gonna do that for me?" Hermione asked. Krys nodded.

"Yeah." she said. "Don't worry, I've done this a bunch of times."

"I know." Hermione said. "I'm just a little tired."

"You can go to sleep, you know." Krys said. "It won't hurt your hair. I have plans for it." Hermione laughed, before lying on the gigantic bed. Krys looked around at the wrinkled dresses, and went to get the iron. When she got back into the room, most of the girls were ready and seated. Krys smiled and walked over to the dresses. She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, getting all of the wrinkles and unwanted creases out. When she was done with that, she went over to the one whose hair would be easiest to do. Krys immediately dried Angel's hair, applied the leave in conditioner and put in a few big curlers. Krys then walked to Thai. She looked at her, then picked up the blow dryer. After drying Thai's hair and applying leave in condition, Krys straightened it, so that there wasn't a wave or ripple in sight. Once Thai's hair was silky straight, Krys parted her hair to the right. When she finished the part, she twisted the hair to the right, after she swept it up slightly and pinned it back. Thai's bangs were to the left, and over her eye. Krys then picked up the curling iron and loosely curled the ends of Thai's hair. She looked at Ginny and shook her head. "Your hair will be the easiest to do." Krys said, before she walked over to her. "Thai, your hair is okay. If you're tired, you can sleep on it, but if you do, I'll have to give it a touch up later." Thai nodded, before she sat down and read. Krys walked over to Ginny and A.J and plugged in the second blow dryer. She then started to blow dry both of their hair. When she was done with that, Krys looked at A.J and started to part her hair. When all of the parts were done, she put in the leave-in conditioner, then put in the hot rollers. When she walked over to Ginny, she started to straighten her hair with the straightening iron.

"Krys, how come you don't talk while you're doing hair?" Ginny asked.

"Shhh." Krys said. "I don't talk because I need to concentrate. I have to take it down to a science, so that what I'm doing is tight enough so it stays still and looks good, yet loose enough to be comfortable."

"So, who are you going to choose?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, you are very close to me burning you." Krys said. "Not purposely, but my hands are shaking."

"Okay. What's your answer?"

"I don't know." Krys said, before she started to wrap Ginny's hair with bobby pins.

"Krys, you've always said that if you could choose one person to spend the rest of your life with, it'd be Ares."

"Its more complicated than that." Krys said.

"What's so complicated? You have the companionship, and the sex. Not to mention… _gorgeous_ kids. I swear, you and Ares - the children? Oh my God."

"There're…" Krys didn't say anything else. She just continued to pin Gin's hair in a wrap with the bobby pins. "I'll finish it later." Krys ran to the magic mirror and started to plan the rest of their makeup. When she was done, Hermione was awake and looked panicky again.

"Krys, why aren't you getting ready?" she asked. Krys stood up and put her finger to her own lips.

"Calm down." she said. "Its only four o'clock. It doesn't take me that long to do what I need to do." Hermione walked over to her, before the door knocked. "Who is it?"

"Harry!" yelled Harry. Krys walked to open the door, and Harry instantly laughed. "What am I supposed to do with the stuff?"

"Prongs- I have to get five people ready- six if I include myself." Krys said.

"Okay- I'll do it myself." Harry said, before he left. Krys walked over to Ginny and ran her hands through her hair, bringing it up into a loose bun that almost made her look mystically beautiful. Tendrils framed her face, and she already looked perfect.

"See- Gin was easy." Krys said, before she ran to A.J and started to take out the curlers. Then she lightly combed A.J's hair out, making the curls looser. A.J's hair was in perfect coffee brown rippling curls, with her bangs framing her face. Krys combed the right side of A.J's hair, and pinned it back with a beautiful golden clip. When she was done with A.J's hair, she walked over to Hermione, and took out the rollers. "Shake your head." Hermione shook her head, and Krys shook the curls a bit, before putting Hermione's hair in a low curly bun. When Krys was done, she ran to go get a sleeping Angel. Angel looked at Krys and shook her head.

"I wasn't sleeping." she said. Krys laughed, and took out the curlers. Angel's hair fell into a few long loose curls. Krys looked at her hair, then pinned some of it back.

"You're almost done. Just try to stay awake. Its just a few more hours, then you can sleep all you want." she said.

When she was finished with Angel, it was time to do makeup. Putting on dresses was something that would be relatively easy. Krys walked to Hermione, and told her to sit in the chair. "Close your eyes. Don't shut them tight. _Relax_ close them." Hermione nodded and closed her eyes. Krys took out the eye pencil and put a single thin strip of gold above her eyelashes. Then she put a thin line of silver above the gold. "Perfect." Krys said, before she broke out the lipstick and lip gloss. "Open your mouth and cover your top teeth with your tongue." Hermione nodded and did it. Krys started with opaque red/pink- hot pink lip gloss. Krys used that lip gloss as lip liner, then used the transparent red/pink lip gloss. Instead of lining Hermione's lips to look smaller, Krys made her lips look… sexy. "Smudge your lips. Don't rub them together. Just press them together. Just to smear it a bit. Lip gloss, for some reason looks better second coated worn. Two unworn coats lip gloss makes people look weird. If you have a worn coat, then a new coat… it looks classic, to me. That's just a little trick." Hermione laughed. "Last but not least. You don't want blush, do you?"

"I've never worn blush."

"Good. Because, neither have I, and I don't have any." Hermione laughed. "You can open the eyes now." Hermione nodded and opened her eyes, before they widened.

"You don't like it?" Krys asked.

"I love it." Hermione said in awe, as she looked at herself. "Oh my God, I love it so much." Ginny walked over to Krys, and Krys put a line of gold over her eyes, then gave her regular clear pink lip gloss, after applying moisturizer. Krys went through that and finished all of their makeup within twenty minutes. It was then that they all started to put on their dresses, except Krys. She had to go in the shower. Krys ran out into the hallway, and all the men were ready, with the house full of guests. Krys smiled and snapped. Harry looked at her and laughed, as he ran to her.

"Tell the guests that they should start getting seated soon." Krys said.

"Its snowing outside, how can we tell them to leave the heated house?" Harry asked.

"Prongs, its snowing outside, but its not cold." Krys said. "Its not even supposed to snow today. That's all for the wedding. Its nice and warm outside, and its not gonna melt the snow." Harry nodded.

"Why aren't you ready?" he asked.

"I had to do everyone's hair and makeup. Which consisted of putting lip gloss on people, and doing something that would've normal taken me a millisecond. I could've just snapped and been happy, but no. I want it to be perfect!"

"The normal and regular perfectionist Hermione will be back next week." Harry said. "Go in the shower. We have to get back on schedule." Krys nodded, then ran down the hall, and slid with her socks.

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Hermione ran to her dress, and put it on, before she spun around in the mirror.

"You look beautiful, Hermione." Thai said.

"Thank you." Hermione said. "And so do you. I love how you look in the silver."

"Thanks." Thai said, as she finished helping Angel into her flower girl dress.

"Ooh-" Ginny said. "She looks so cute." They were all looking at Angel, and smiling. Then they all started to look at each other. "Oh- Hermione, you look so beautiful."

"Thank you." Hermione said. "You too, Gin." Then she looked at A.J. "Oh- you look so beautiful, A.J."

"Please. You look amazing, Hermione." A.J responded. "And you, Thai, you look so great."

"Thanks." Thai said. "And these heels are two inches, because I have a tall person to walk down the aisle with, you say?"

"Yeah." Hermione said. "That is why. Your boyfriend." She looked at the bridesmaids and smiled. The bridesmaid dresses were a gorgeous creamy silver. The straps were thin, the bodice was fitted around the breasts, yet it wasn't low cut. The dresses were long and flowed, slightly bunching in a tasteful manner at the back. They all wore matching yellow plate gold necklaces, bracelets and gold stud earrings. Hermione smiled, then looked at Angel. She almost melted. Angel was wearing a cute puffy white dress. All of the stitching was double. One line stitch of silver, and one of gold. Separating the bodice of the dress were little silver and golden flowers around the waist, and on her head was a small headpiece. A cute gold and silver leaf headpiece, like the Greeks wore. Her hair was in a few big, loose, wavy curls that were pinned back, while some were left loose and hit mid back. A few minutes later, Krys ran into the room in a robe, then ran to her dress. She jumped into it quickly, then shook her ringlets out, then twisted it into a low strict teacher bun. She looked like she usually did, and that was actually perfect. Then she put on the hat that matched the dress. Hermione looked at them and smiled. "Krys, you look so beautiful."

"Oh- no, you look amazing, Hermione." Krys said, before she looked around at all of them. "Oh- you all look amazing. Angelica my Angel." Angel giggled and twirled from side to side in the dress, making them all laugh.

"Krys, you look great too." Ginny said. Krys looked down at her dress, and nodded.

"Thanks." she said. "Are we ready?" They all looked around and nodded. "We're sending Hermione off. The first to have a wedding."

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Hermione and Ron's wedding was beautiful. As the harp played softly by a magical string quartet, beautiful snowflakes fell, making the wedding sight look like a winter wonderland. While all of the guests sat on chairs that stood on a light blanket of snow, they all admired the main attraction. The beautiful fountain that stood ahead of them. Thai walked down the aisle with Angel, her boyfriend, before A.J and Jason, then Ginny and Ares. Krys walked down the aisle by herself and had to stop herself from laughing at the looks that she was being given. Then finally, as little Angel tossed orchid and lily petals around the cream gold carpet ahead of Jaime who was carrying the rings on a cute gold pillow, everyone stared. When Hermione walked down the aisle in her silk white gown and with Harry, everyone stared. And when everyone stared, she tensed up. Halfway down the aisle, Hermione froze completely. Krys rolled her eyes and snapped her finger, making everything stop except she and the bride.

"Hermione… look at me." Krys said forcefully. Hermione looked at her with wide eyes. "I am wearing a big ass, poofy _ass_, _ugly_ _ass_ dress, _for_ _you_, okay. I wearing this goddamn dress, _for you_. It has lace and fucking frill _everywhere_. I am wearing this goddamn hat, _for you_. I got stared at in shock and disgust, _for you_, so your ass better not freeze up on me."

"They were all staring at me." Hermione said.

"They were all staring at me, too. Only when they stare at _you_, its because _you_ look good. They stared at me, because they never saw a gold ball of frizz and cotton that walks." Krys said. Hermione laughed, making Krys laugh also. "Hermione, you look _amazing_. So beautiful. You know all of these people. And you've had sex with one of them. This is simple. Walk down the aisle. Say everything that Harriet tells you to, and smile. Kiss him when the time comes, and make sure that you don't do porn tongue. Make it classic open mouth. Remember what we talked about. Kiss the top lip, then the bottom, and wait a few minutes until you run away and have sex in one of the beds. That's how I'm planning my wedding." Hermione cracked up.

"Thank you so much for being my maid of honor." she said. "I couldn't've done any of this without you."

"Of course you couldn't. But relax. I can hardly move in this goddamn dress. Relax and just walk, okay?" Krys asked. Hermione nodded. "Okay." Krys ran back to her spot and snapped. Hermione gave a breathtaking smile as she and Harry confidently walked down the aisle in her white gown. The white gown was simple but elegant. It was all white silk, with a fitted bodice, and a flowing skirt. Her hair was in a low curly bun, with a tiara on her head. When she finally got to the alter, she smiled at Ron, who was shocked and definitely pleased. Harriet smiled at the two then started to speak. Krys looked around and noticed that she was the only female that wasn't crying. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing softly, along with an unidentified woman. Most of the people from school decided to stay on Hermione's side. That included what was left of the Order, Hagrid, Nic, Ms. Delgado, Razz and Dread-Head, Ronnie, Charlie and their baby, Dobby, Kreacher, Slughorn, Robyn. Dobby was crying into a cute little handkerchief and so were Nic and Razz. Krys looked back to the bride and groom in time for the exchange of the Heart Gems. Hermione touched Ron's rock and it turned into a crystallized broom. Hermione smiled, as Ron touched her rock, that turned into a book. Harriet said the final words, and the couple smiled. Ron looked at Hermione for a minute before they kissed. No tongue, open mouth and perfect. They all heard the flash of the camera as Hermione had to pull back from snogging her new husband in front of his whole family. Krys laughed slightly, as she watched the happy couple walk back down the aisle and into the house.

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"What a joyous occasion this is." Harriet started. "When asked to be in the presence of something as sacred as marriage, I jumped at the opportunity." The rest of Harriet's words were drowned out by the happy couple. Hermione and Ron were staring at each other. Ron mouthed 'I love you'. Hermione grinned and mouthed 'Good'. A second later she mouthed 'Because I love you.' Neither one of them looked away from each other when they repeated Harriet's words to one another. In the middle, a few tears trailed down Hermione's face. They breezed through the vows and 'I dos', and when it was time for the kiss, it was the perfect, tasteful and classic open mouth kiss. Hermione kissed Ron's top lip, then his bottom lip, before she kissed him full on the lips. When they walked down the aisle together, she had to wipe some of the lip gloss off for him. When they got back in the house, Ron lifted Hermione up and kissed her all over her face.

"Control yourself, Ronald Weasley. I'm a married woman." Hermione teased.

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Ron and Hermione danced their first dance as a married couple to the song 'My Angel'. As they swayed to the music, Ron stared at her.

"You're staring at me, Mr. Weasley." Hermione said. Ron laughed.

"I can't stare at my wife?" he asked.

"Wife of thirty minutes." she said, as she smiled at him. "Our half hour anniversary was two seconds ago, you know that, right?"

"Yeah. _Sure_." Ron teased, making her laugh.

"You know, Ronald, since I'm taking your last name, you should take mine too." Hermione said. "Ronald Weasley-Granger and Hermione Granger-Weasley. That's gold, right there." Ron laughed and hugged her.

"You wanna dance more?" he asked.

"Not really. We're the only people supposed to dance, and I kinda just want to sit down and laugh at Krys' predicament." Hermione said, as Ron led her off the floor. As soon as they got off the floor, Krys walked towards them.

"Crumpet, can I borrow Bon-bon?" she asked. Ron nodded and kissed Hermione's cheek.

"Not too long." he said. Krys nodded, took Hermione's hand and dragged her up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms. Krys whipped Hermione around and looked at her, before she poked one of her breast. Hermione instantly put her hands up and covered herself, before slapping Krys' hand.

"Hermione, did you try an enhancement charm or something?" Krys asked. Hermione's eyes widened.

"No. Of course not." she said. "Why would I?"

"I don't know. It just… never mind." Krys said. "Here." Krys held an envelope forth and Hermione looked at her.

"What's this?" Hermione asked.

"It's a gift." Krys said. Hermione inhaled deeply, then opened the envelope.

"Krys…" Hermione's eyes started to get watery.

"Oh Jesus- what, do you not like the winter in Paris?" she asked. Hermione looked up and shook her head, before she got up and walked to the closet. She walked back with a beautiful gold silk dress. It was similar to the silver bridesmaid dresses, except the hem was shimmering gold and it had a slight fanned tail in the back that made the dress even more elegant and beautiful.

"This was your maid of honor dress." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said. She said it as if it was nothing. Like they were having an everyday conversation.

"No- you don't understand. I- I made you wear the ugly dress because I was afraid that you'd eclipse me. I wanted to be the center of attention today, so I made you wear the ugly dress. I wanted to be the one today." Hermione sobbed.

"I understand."

"You have this way of making _everything_ about you. And I know that you don't mean it, but… you always look beautiful in dresses. I just wanted to look great today. I didn't mean for you to look so terrible. You hate me now, don't you? I'm so sorry. I'm horrible. You hate me? Oh my God, I'm horrible."

"Hermione, its nothing." Krys said. "And you didn't look _great_ today. You looked beyond gorgeous."

"You think I'm horrible now, don't you?" Hermione asked, wiping her eyes.

"Hermione, show me a girl with no cat in her, and you're showing me a guy. Which makes no sense, because boys are cattier than girls. Its okay. I just want you to know, I would never have maliciously ruined this day for you. I would never _try_ to overshadow you or steal your thunder." Krys said. Hermione handed her the dress.

"I want to retake the pictures. Please wear it." she said. Krys looked at the dress.

"I don't know. I wouldn't want to steal your thunder." she teased. Hermione glared at her playfully, then shoved the dress in her arms.

"Wear it, Rodriguez." she said.

"Ouchie." Krys teased.

"Serves you right, teasing me." Hermione said, before she walked to the door. "I'm gonna go get them all together with the photographer." Krys laughed and snapped. She was instantly dressed in the beautiful gown. Her hair was straightened with the ends curling under, with the bangs curling over her eyes, almost covering them completely. She had a line of silver eyeliner. Her earrings were white gold studs, just like her plate necklace and bracelet. Krys looked behind her and saw that the dress was backless, before the bunched up fan. The thin straps were slightly shimmering, along with the hem along the bodice. "You look beautiful."

"Oh please. You look better. I think its 'cause you now fill the dress out more." Krys teased. "I mean, honestly… you're like… a c cup now." Hermione threw a penny at her and Krys put the ugly maid of honor hat back on.

"Why are you putting that ugly thing on again?"

"I like this hat, thank you very much." Krys said. "Lets go." When they walked back to the dinner, Krys tossed her hat like a Frisbee and it landed on Harry's head. Krys stretched her arm up and gave then the fist in the air. "Arm up, girly." She looked at Hermione. Hermione laughed and pointed to the microphone.

"Speech?" she said.

"Of course." Krys said. She looked at Harry and nodded. Harry started to make the tinging sound with the glass. They all looked at him, as he stepped up to the mike. Krys and Hermione were at the table, with Hermione next to Ron.

"As an eleven year old kid, I had no idea that I'd ever see _this_ day. Ron and Hermione, cat and rat." People laughed slightly. "It wasn't until sixth year that I knew they really liked each other, and even then… I never thought I'd see this day. Ron has never really had wonderful taste in girlfriends… but, he struck gold with this one. Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up. I'm glad that I got to stand here today and watch these two show everyone how they've grown up together. Congratulations to the bride and groom." Everyone clapped, because of Harry's short, simple, and sweet speech. Krys walked over to the microphone and breathed deeply.

"Hermione was boring when I first met her. Not everyone will agree with this, but unless you've been near her when she doesn't have a book, you'll _never_ know what I'm talking about." They chuckled slightly. "I met her when I first moved to England. I just moved to a different house in a different side of the world, and there were these two women standing on the lawn next to my new place. The moment that I stepped out of the car, our parents are running towards each other and trying to get she and I out of and away from the house. So, we decided to go bowling. She was _still_ boring." They all laughed. "It took me _two weeks_. I finally started learning how to act like I liked her. One day, she knocks on my door and she hands me a plate of brownies. I have loved her ever since." They were all laughing now. "We probably ate ten brownies each, that day. But they were chocolate, so we all know that it didn't count." More laughter from the crowd. Krys winked at Hermione. "Hermione pulled a toothbrush out of her bag, just as I pulled mine out, and we started to brush our teeth in the middle of kitchen. She has been my _number one_ platonic soul mate ever since." Hermione was at the table with Ron, both smiling and shaking their heads. "When I finally met Ron, I knew _exactly_ why she loved him. He was so much fun. He was vibrant, he was funny, and he was _cool_. _Not anymore._" They were still laughing. "A famous philosopher once said- _Aristotle_- it was Aristotle. Aristotle once said that Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. I think- I mean, when I look at these two, I see just that. These two are the prime example. The most important parts of these two have been divided amongst each other. I have never seen another puzzle fit the way Hermione and Ron fit. I have never seen anything come together so _beautifully, superbly_- I have _never_ seen anything more brilliant. And never in my days with the boring or fun Hermione, have I seen her so happy, so vibrant, or so radiant. I wish that I could take credit for this. And if I didn't know everyone here, I would say that it was me who made her so wonderful. The truth is; I _only_ _helped_." The laughter flew through. Krys looked at Hermione, who was smiling. "St. Thomas Aquinas said that Love takes up where knowledge leaves off. She is no longer boring. She is no longer dull and a bookworm. She no longer thinks twelve steps ahead of her first move. She is no longer my bedtime story. She is simply in love. Congratulations to my Bon-bon and Red. Happy lives." The laughter mixed with the clapping, as Krys playfully bowed, then strutted off the stage. Hermione was playfully glaring at her.

"You said I was boring." Hermione whined.

"It was true, babe." Krys said. Ron looked at her.

"You look better." he said. "No longer look like a golden cotton ball." Krys looked around, after she gave him the finger.

"You should get going. Your flight is in a few hours." she said. Hermione nodded.

"Bouquet?" she asked. Krys nodded. "Announce it?"

"Sure. You know how much I love the spotlight." Krys teased, before she got up and skipped to the stage again. "'Kay, um… why am I being formal, I know and love you all. Bride wants to leave, meaning single women time to catch a bouquet." All of the single women walked to the middle of the room, while Krys sat aside with the young kids, married women, and the men. Sat aside, meaning sat next to Ares.

"Why aren't you trying to catch the bouquet?" Ares asked. Krys laughed and showed him her ringed ring finger.

"Already engaged." she said. But she immediately regretted saying it, even though Ares laughed.

"Whatever." he said. All the guys in the wedding party circled around Krys.

"Watch the bloodbath. I swear, Ron, one of your cousins is gonna jump." she said. They all laughed as some of the women ended up on the floor, fighting over the bouquet. The bridesmaids and Hermione went back to the table to watch the brawl with the others. Krys looked at the table, and walked over to the crowd of women, before dropping her own bouquet in the middle. She walked back over to the guys, and they all laughed as one of the girls got crazy and started to gloat over Krys' bouquet. "I bet big money on Gabrielle."

"No- no, no. I can't believe you, Krys. Why are you betting on Gabrielle to win the wedding bouquet? She's gonna get hurt." Hermione said. Krys looked at her.

"I'm sorry." she said, feigning shame.

"The money is on Nic." Hermione said, making them all laugh.

"Hell no." A.J said. "My money is on that old woman with the blue."

"Oh yeah. Cousin Cheryl." Ron said.

"She's fifty six and she's never been married." Ginny said. She and Ron looked at each other.

"She'll win." they said simultaneously.

"Lets make it interesting." Krys said, getting her maid of honor hat. She pointed her wand towards the bottom of the hat, then at the top, before thirty galleons dropped inside of it, pouring from the wand. "My money is on Gabrielle." Ron and Hermione dumped money in.

"I have Nic." Hermione said.

"Cousin Cheryl." Ron said. Gin put money in and nodded.

"Me too."

"Me three." A.J said, dropping her money in.

"The blonde with the green dress." Harry said.

"I say the old ass with no future." Thai said, putting money in.

"Me too." Angel said.

"Gabrielle." Jason said.

"I have money on Nicole." Ares said, dumping his money in. They all watched, and laughed when Gabrielle crawled out of the mess with the bouquet. It was then that Cousin Cheryl got to her and stole the bouquet. She was then nearly tackled by Nic. Nic laughed and danced around with the bouquet, making Ares and Hermione give each other a pound. She was dancing around, before she got tripped by Gabrielle. Gabrielle stole the bouquet, then ran to her seat. Krys stood up and danced around with Jason.

"We _win_, you lose. We _win_, you lose. We win, you lose- We win, you lose. We _win_, you lose." she sang over the chatter, before Angel and Jamie ran to her and Jason. She picked up James and kissed his cheek loudly, before she let him down and started to dance around with them. Halfway through their dancing, she left Jamie and Angel dancing around, before she sat back down. She picked up her hat and shook it, holding it out to Jason.

"Something I learned in third year. Don't bet against Krys." Jason said, as he collected. They all laughed, and Ares sat next to Krys. He looked at her, and brushed her shoulder. She looked at him.

"You had a piece of lint?" Ares offered. Krys looked at her shoulder, then raised her eyebrow. "It was an excuse to touch you." Krys nodded slightly, then started to flip a galleon over. Krys looked up when she flipped her galleon, and it didn't fall back into her hand. Josephs was standing in front of her, with her galleon in his hand.

"Shit. I forgot you were here." Krys said.

"Something every boyfriend wants to hear." he said, as he sat on the other side of her.

"Sorry. Had a little work to do." Krys said. Josephs started to finger the strap of her dress.

"I see you changed." he said. "I like it."

"Thanks."

"But it would look better if… it- um… it makes your eyes look weird." Krys nodded.

"Thanks." she said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it like that." Krys nodded. "Sorry to tell you this, but I got a 911. I have to go." Krys nodded.

"Okay." she said, before he kissed her cheek.

"I don't get a real kiss?" Josephs asked. Krys looked at him.

"You need to go save a life, buddy." she said. "Why risk someone's life for a kiss?"

"Because I love you." Josephs said. Krys gave the nervous chuckle again.

"Thank you." she said, before she kissed him. Light kiss to the top lip. She pulled back and waved. "Go to work, so I can badmouth you and call you negligent."

"Bye, baby." Josephs said, before he disapparated. They were all looking at Krys, who avoided the looks and stared at her nails. After a minute, she looked at them, and they were still looking at her.

"Was that just me, or is this an awkward situation?" Hermione asked. They all looked at her. "I'm the bride. I'm exempt from bad treatment, don't look at me." Krys laughed and they all looked at her.

"I looked like a big cotton ball a few minutes ago, didn't I?" she asked.

"No. You looked beautiful." Ares said. They all looked at him.

"I think something was clouding your judgment." Hermione said. They all looked at her. "Sorry."

"Don't be." she said.

"Oh- we have to retake the pictures."

"Do we really have to? Can't we just do it photoshop?"

"Sure. Whatever." Hermione said sullenly.

"Oh Jesus." Krys said, as she stood up. She walked over to the photographer and walked him to the group, as they all walked to the wedding site together. They all posed for the pictures. Krys next to Harry. Thai next to Angel. A.J next to Jason. Ginny next to Ares. And Angel and Jamie in front of Ron and Hermione. Then they took pictures of everyone with their significant other. Awkward for Ares and Krys. When they were done with the pictures, Krys asked to speak to Ron, who looked at her in slight fear. The two walked silently to the guest bedroom that they talked in, when Ron was having doubts. "Okay, Red. The guys said that I could do this, solely because… well- you can't beat my ass. There's a chance that you'll win with the others, but with me… there's no chance in hell." she teased, seriously. Ron smiled.

"What do you want, cotton?" he asked.

"Don't call me that, Ronniekins." Krys said, as she sat on the dresser with her legs crossed. "Okay… Hermione has been my homie for about five years. I won't pretend that I know her better than you, or that I know her as much. I will not, because you know Hermione in ways that I never want to." Ron laughed, making Krys laugh with him. "But she is one of my best friends. She's annoying and opinionated as hell, and I won't take the blame for that-"

"You should. She was already opinionated. You made her opinionated and _mean_. I like it." Krys laughed.

"Okay- once more. The moment that I have to console her, for any reason, whatsoever- I really don't care what it is. I don't care if you forgot to buy her roses for Valentine's Day. I don't care if you didn't wash the dishes. I will be at your door, wand at the ready, nunchakus in the back pocket, with sweats on." she said. Ron nodded, hugged her, then kissed her cheek.

"I love you, Krys." he said. Krys nodded.

"Its only natural." she teased. Ron grinned.

"And I'm glad that she has a friend like you." he said.

"You should be. There's nothing I wouldn't do for that girl. Wel- maybe I wouldn't take the cooking class, but there's very little that I wouldn't do for her." Krys said. "You should get going, dude."

"Right, mate."

"You're so damn British." Krys teased, as she hopped off the dresser and dragged Ron out of the room. The two walked back to the wedding site, to find Hermione and Ares in a heated conversation. The two laughed, and Ares stopped talking as soon as Krys got back. When Hermione looked up, she smiled.

"Ron, remember how we were just going to go to the airport, and but tickets without a plan? Being spontaneous, and that would be our honeymoon. A week of spontaneity." Hermione said.

"Something that I didn't want to do in the first place." Ron said. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, whatever." she said. "Anyway… Krys got us a gift." Ron looked at Krys, then Hermione.

"Do we have a bed?" he asked. Hermione looked at Krys.

"Do we have a bed?" she asked.

"In a nice hotel." Krys said. "A suite. The honeymoon suite." Hermione looked at Ron.

"The honeymoon suite." she said. Ron laughed.

"And… your room is overlooking one of the most beautiful monuments in the world." Krys said.

"See, Ron." Hermione said.

"Angel! Jaime! Come say bye to the disgusting couple." Krys said. Angel skipped over with her flower basket. When she got to Ron and Hermione, she sprinkled a few petals around them. Krys laughed, and Angel turned to Ares. Ares smiled and picked her up, before sitting her down on his leg. Angel turned to Ron and Hermione and smiled.

"You guys are leaving already?" she asked.

"Yes." Hermione said.

"Well… I hope you two have fun. I'm gonna be Krys' roommate for the day." Angel said.

"What- you're taking my wife's place?" Ron asked. Angel nodded and so did Krys.

"Yup. Hermione left the coop to get married, and Angel is taking her place." Krys said. "Where's your brother?" Angel pointed to Jaime who was talking to a pretty older woman, and smiling dazzling. "What the hell."

"I told you, Krys. He's going to be so much worse than the rest of them." Hermione said.

"This is just like the time that I took him to the movies, and he started complimenting the lady ahead of us." Krys said. "James Alexander Jason Parris,** come here and say goodbye to the couple.**" James looked at Krys, as did the pretty lady, and when they saw each other Krys' eyes widened.

"Krys." Hermione said. "Do you know her? Who is that?"

"Tati." Krys said slowly and softly.


	53. The Scream Heard Round The World

"Krys, what- who is that?" Hermione asked. She looked at Ares. "Who is Tati?"

"Tatiana." Ares said. He looked at Krys, who was still in a state of shock. Ares stood up and looked at Hermione. "**Can I tell her**?"

"Now you can speak Spanish?" Krys asked, turning away from the woman and looking at Ares.

"I have my moments." Ares said.

"Go ahead. I have stuff to do anyway." Krys said, walking away from all of them. As soon as she left, Hermione looked at Ares.

"Who- who is that?" Hermione asked.

"Well… from what Krys will tell… Tatiana is her sister." Ares said. Hermione and Ron stared at him in confusion.

"Wh- she's around Jason and Razz's age. Meaning she's around Sirius and E.J's age. She can't be Krys' sister." she said.

"Yeah." Ron said.

"You're smart, Hermione." Ares said. "Think about it. Look at her, and think about it." Then he looked at Ron. "You should know too."

"Jesus- if I didn't have to go on my honeymoon right now." Hermione said, before groaning.

"Don't sound so excited." Ron said sarcastically. "And Ares, I'm too wired to think about it now, man. What- who is that?"

"Krys' sister." Ares said. "If she wants to tell you, she will."

"Do you really want me to spend my whole honeymoon calling, while you're trying to get Krys to choose you?" Hermione asked, making Ares consider her words.

"That's Tatiana. She's the one who testified and got Krys' adoptive mother sentenced for child abuse, before she disappeared. They lived together, happy for a few weeks, then Tatiana disappeared." Ares said.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"How should I know?"

"Krys would tell you."

"She doesn't tell me that much."

"She'd tell you this." Ares looked hesitant and reluctant.

"Tatiana ran away, then wrote a note saying that she didn't want to do it anymore." he said. "According to Krys, that was the first time that her fire magic showed up again."

"You're serious? Just up and left."

"Yeah, that's when Ms. Banes got hired."

"Oy." Hermione said. "And now I have to go." Ares nodded. "See you." The couple walked around, saying their goodbyes, before they ran out of the house. When they got outside, there was a black stretch limo waiting for them. "Told you my maid of honor thought of everything." Ron nodded and opened the door for Hermione himself. "Where's our luggage?"

"In my pocket." Ron said, before he got in. As soon as he did, he looked around and nodded. "Nice. And champagne." There was a bottle of chilled Asti Spumante, with two gorgeous champagne flutes. Ron picked up a flute and filled it with champagne, before holding it out to Hermione. She looked at it and shook her head.

"No thank you." she said. "I'm not much of a drinker."

"I know. I remember getting you drunk on our first date." Hermione laughed.

"Wasn't a date. You had a girlfrie… actually, you had a girlfriend when we had our first date too. Shit." Ron laughed and kissed her cheek.

"Don't…-"

"Ron, when we have kids… and we tell the story of how we got together… are we going to include the part where you had another girlfriend." Ron looked at her.

"The story about how we got together is a good one." he said. Hermione yawned and nodded, making Ron look at her. "Are you sleepy?"

"I-" She stopped to yawn again. "I haven't been to sleep yet." Ron nodded and scooted closer to her, before he slung his arm over her shoulder.

"Well then go to sleep." he said. Hermione lied down in his lap and Ron stroked her head. While she slept, he watched her and wondered if it could really be this simple and blissful.

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After the happy couple left, Krys spoke to some of the guests, but mostly tried to stay away from everyone. Nearing the completion of the party, someone tapped her on the shoulder, making her turn around. Tati. Krys kept a completely confused and neutral face.

"Oh- the bathroom is the door on the far right." she said, before turning back away.

"No, Kryssie, I don't need to use the bathroom." Tati said. Krys turned around again.

"I'm sorry. My name is Delta." she said, with genuine confusion in her tone.

"Kryssie-" Tati started.

"My friends call me Deli for short. Maybe… I'm sorry, no, I don't know you. You have me mistaken for someone else." Krys said. Tati nodded. "I hope you find your friend though."

"Um… its just that you remind me of someone I used to know." she said.

"I'm sorry. I'm not that person." Krys said, before she turned around and walked away. Before she got past the table, she heard,

"Who is that lovely woman?" Tati's voice.

"Oh… that's my soon to be boss, darling. Young, brilliant, rich, successful- you know, Krystathaili Rodriguez." Who the hell was that? Krys "accidentally" dropped a napkin, and turned around to pick it up. David Pierce. The forty something year old man that she and Hermione hired to be one of their directors for the orphanage. Hermione had taken a liking to him and all of their other hires for the orphanage, so she'd invited some of them to the wedding. Krys coughed lightly, and stood up, before starting to walk away again. She almost escaped, until,

"Madam Rodriguez!" was called. Krys stopped and inhaled deeply, before she plastered on a smile and turned around. She gave the successful woman look, before she walked over to Mr. Pierce and Tatiana.

"Hello, Director Pierce." she said, shaking his hand. "How are you?"

"I'm wonderful. I just wanted to introduce you to my wife." David said, gesturing to Tati.

"Oh- we've spoken, but we didn't officially meet." Krys said, sticking her hand out. Tatiana smiled at her hand, before shaking it.

"So… I think that what you're doing is lovely. David speaks so highly of you… I have to admit that until very recently, I was completely jealous and threatened by you." she said. Krys looked at David and smiled, before she gave a lilting and tinkling little laugh.

"Oh… um- I don't know what to say to that. But- its not just me. Of course, there's my best friend. And really- everyone who is coming to work for us is not only a pioneer, but we're bringing back a legend. St. Eris Hospital is on healing waters, and I fully intend to do my share of healing." she said. "Well- it was very nice to see you again, Mr. Pierce. And it was lovely meeting you, Mrs. Pierce." Tati smiled and shook her head.

"No, please. It's Tatiana." she said.

"Well, Tatiana… it was lovely to meet you. And Mr. Pierce, I'll see you in a month at the grand opening." Krys said, before she started to walk away.

"I'm sorry, I never did catch your first name, Madam Rodriguez." Tatiana said. Krys turned around.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"I didn't catch your name." Tatiana said.

"Oh- I like to go by Delta. You can just call me that." Krys said, turning around.

"Kryssie, please stop." Tatiana cried. Krys ignored her and continued to walk away. As soon as she got where she wanted to be, Harry grabbed her.

"Padfoot, are you sure that you wanna do this?" he asked. Krys looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Come on, Padsy. Just forgive her. You're the one that spews that shit about forgiveness now." Harry said, making her look at him.

"Harry… truth be told… I don't give a shit right now. I have too much muck in my life right now. I really need a break." Krys groaned and closed her eyes. "She can't do this to me. She left. That's her. She left… she has no right coming back. No right, whatsoever."

"Yeah, but there's that lovely part about how she came back."

"Harry, really? That's like… after twenty years of us believing Sirius, E.J, Lily and James are dead, they just walk in through that door trying to say 'hey, I'm back'. Really? Are you fucking kidding me? She made her choice sixteen years ago, okay? Its not like we just lost touch. She _left_. She _chose_ to _leave_. And she left me a fucking note- sorry, a post it on the refrigerator. 'I don't want to do this anymore. I'm not your mother. I'm sorry. Tati.' Well then… what can we say now?"

"That she wasn't your mother, and that… you've had a good life. Would you want it to have been any different?" Harry asked.

"Harry… I was five- I'm sorry, I was four. I just left the hospital for malnourishment, malnutrition, child abuse and my first doctors appointment since the last time E.J took me. We're happy for a month, before she ups and leaves, leaving behind a note that says that she's not my mother. I never thought she was. But I do know that… she can't just come back in and give me a bullshit sob story about how she's back. She had no excuse. _Has_ no excuse." Harry nodded.

"I actually get what you mean." he said. Krys smiled.

"Prongs… it seems like everything is going… yah, lets go. You know what I mean? Everything is so… screwed."

"Is this about Ares?"

"Of course not. That's like the one thing that's bordering on good. I mean- I want it. You know how badly I want it. But… the problems weigh as much as the good. I know that. I know that I love him. I know that he loves me. I know that there would be happiness… but I don't want to hurt him, Prongs. I really don't."

"Third times a charm." Harry said, making her look at him. "Padfoot, the reason that this time is gonna be _it_. The reason that this is gonna be the time, is because… this is your first time in real adulthood. You guys are… forgive me for saying this- don't hold it against me… you're magic. Ares and Krys is magic. And he'll treat you the way that you- the way that you must be treated." Krys inhaled deeply.

"Where is he anyway?" she asked.

"He went home to his mother." Harry said. Krys furrowed her eyebrows.

"He left?"

"Yup. He said that he needed to keep his distance." Krys shrugged.

"Its cold." she said, before she walked off.

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"Oh my God! Are you two newlyweds?" asked a young chick with nice brown hair, a pretty face, and a pack of guys around her. Hermione smiled.

"Yes." she said.

"That's so cool." she squealed. "I'm going to Paris to… find myself, and… I'm so happy to be going there. Is this your first time to Europe?"

"Um- no." Hermione said. "I'm British." The girl giggled, then slapped Hermione on the shoulder.

"Omigod! I should've been able to tell. Its just- all I hear was a yes, then you smiled with a small laugh, and I couldn't really hear you say much. Oh would you listen to me go on and on about nothing? I'm Megan, by the way." She stuck her hand out and Hermione smiled, before shaking it.

"Its nice to meet you, Megan." she said, before she and Ron moved forth. Megan followed, while the pack of guys held her bags.

"Don't you just hate airports?" Megan asked. "I mean, they're so… ugh! Omigod! And they take so long. You can never just get in and take your flight. You have to do all of this unnecessary goulash." Hermione looked at Megan.

"Goulash? The Hungarian stew?" she asked.

"No- its totally a Megan word."

"A Megan word- you know, my friend Cookie says that the name Megan sounds like a type of cookie. Like- if you held out a container of cookies, and asked someone 'Do you want a Megan?' that would be completely alright." Hermione said. Megan stared at her for a minute, before she laughed loudly.

"That's just too much." she said. "Cookie calling Megan a cookie? Totally goulash. Seriously goulash."

"Goulash? What-"

"Oh- my word for junk. Trash- anything random, stupid, or just goulash!"

"You mean insignificance?" Hermione asked.

"Totally a goulash word." Megan said, looking over Hermione's shoulder. She then gasped. "You're in first class? Omigod! That's totally cool. Not goulash at all." After about the millionth time the word goulash was uttered, they were finally boarding the plane.

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"I wonder if Hermione and Ron are having fun." Krys said. The wedding party were the only ones left, including Jaime and little Angel, because they were staying with Krys- and Robbie, but excluding Ares. Krys sat down in between Harry and Jason.

"Come on, Krys. Who are you going to choose?" Ginny asked.

"I want you to marry Ares. Because he's handsome and nice. Plus… he likes me." Angel said, making them all laugh, except Krys. Krys just smiled and stared at Angel closely, before she looked at Harry.

'If Angel says that Ares likes her, what does that mean?' she though.

'What- you're not accusing him of m-' Harry thought in outrage.

'No. Of course not. I'm just thinking that… Angel is one of the smartest _people_ that I know. I know that she chooses her words carefully, and she knows what she's saying before she says it. She is a genius. If she's saying that Ares likes her, she's comparing him to someone. She's comparing him to Josephs.'

'Well… he doesn't seem like a child lover. He actually seems to hate children. Maybe you should think about that before you get too serious with this guy.' Krys looked at little Angel and smiled.

"Okay, children. Wedding is done, reception is done… and Angelica and James, it is almost past your bedtime." she said. Angel pouted and Jamie growled, making Krys laugh. "Ha! That's cute." She blew a raspberry, then stuck her tongue out, before she stopped and looked around. "Shh." Harry looked at her.

"I don't hear anything." he whispered. Krys looked around.

"But I do." she said, before she got up and stomped hard on the floor. No sound was made, but one of the wooden floorboards flew up into her hand, glowing. She walked like the wind- it was a gliding movement that echoed no sound with any step. Harry and Jason followed after her, but not before looking back at the others and telling them to stay put. When Harry and Jason got to the stairs, a loud shrill scream flew through the whole house and echoed, before they ran up the stairs to find Krys.


	54. It's Back

"Omigod! Isn't it so cool that I could get my ticket switched to first class and that we can sit together?" Megan asked Hermione, as she sipped on her champagne. Hermione plastered a smile on her face and nodded.

"Really cool." she said, leaning her head on Ron's shoulder. Then she yawned. "I'm sleepy."

"Oh me too. Since the airport was so goulash, I'm totally beat. Megan said, finishing the rest of her champagne in one gulp. "I totally love Europe. Cool place to party since there's no set drinking age. That whole thing about drinking at 21 is so totally goulash." Megan shook her head. "So goulash." After a moment of blissful silence, Megan's mouth sprung back to life. "Can I have your number? You know, so we can keep in touch while we're on the same rocks." Hermione chose that particular moment to give a loud stylized snore.

O0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0o Harry and Jason were relieved to find that it wasn't Krys screaming, but it was the person that Krys had a the wooden floorboard to. Tatiana stood in a surrendering position, while Krys had a glowing wooden floorboard to her head.

"Padfoot, let her go." Harry said, snatching the floorboard away. Krys looked at him, then rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Tatiana. The submissive woman looked up with seriously sorry eyes, and collected her dignity.

"I just wanted to see you." she said, sniffling. Krys laughed a tired and annoyed laugh.

"So you trespass and almost get yourself killed." she said. "I see." Krys turned on her heel and started to walk away, before Jason and Harry both held her back, one arm each earning themselves third degree burns on their hands. But, they'd accomplished their goal in making Krys stop. She turned around and faced Tatiana. "What do you think this is, Ms. Compare- Mrs. Pierce- whoever the fuck you are?! What do you think this is?" Tatiana didn't say anything. "Because I've been doing fine these sixteen years without you! So, if I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and find a goddamn piece of a note from you saying that you're not my mother and that our relationship is too complicated, you might as well just stay the fuck away from me! No- no, as a matter of fact, if I'm gonna wake up tomorrow with a text message on my phone saying that this is too confusing for you, then spare me the drama! There is no use- there's no need for a reconciliation if you're not gonna be here next week. So, are you going to be here next week?" Tatiana didn't say anything. Krys took her stunned silence as Tatiana admitting that she just wanted to save her ass, and nodded. "I didn't think so." Then she walked away, leaving them all behind. Harry and Jason looked at Tatiana with compassion.

O0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0oO0o After a long flight to Paris, Ron and Hermione were finally getting to their hotel. When they got to their room, Ron turned to Hermione and lured her into the lavish suite. He looked around and laughed. "This room is so not goulash." he mocked. Hermione jumped on him and nodded.

"So not goulash." she agreed. Ron smiled and kissed her. When he pulled back, Hermione stared at him. "I'm hungry."

"Well… what do you want?" Ron looked around. "Room service menu."

"Do you speak any French?" Hermione asked. Ron looked at her and laughed.

"Two years of school here, and I didn't pick up one word." he said, making Hermione laugh.

"See- that's because you were too busy checking out the croissants." He rolled his eyes and fell back on the bed, causing Hermione to roll out of his arms once he hit the cushy mattress.

"Actually, I did check out a lot of the cuisine." Ron said, before he picked up the menu. "I now know a French menu like I know the back of my hand." Hermione laughed.

"Okay then, lets see what you're made of. Lets see what you've got." she said, pointing to something on the menu. "What's this?"

"Ham and cheese sandwiches."

"Don't want that." Hermione said. She pointed to something below it.

"Turkey and cheese on a croissant." Hermione nodded. "You want that?" Hermione nodded again, even more emphatically.

"Yeah." she said.

"What about drinks?"

"Um… just some juice. Lemonade or something."

"They don't have lemonade. They have this thing where they… um- they squeeze lemons, add water, then sweeten it with a syrup."

"So, its syrup sweetened lemonade?" Ron looked thoughtful.

"Yeah." he said, making Hermione laugh.

"Okay- yeah, I want that. And… if you can, I need something sweet."

"Dessert?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded.

"And I hope Krys put some of that wedding cake away." she said.

"It was good, wasn't it?" Ron said.

"Yeah. White chocolate cream frosting, with a milk chocolate cake. It was amazing. I want some. You wanna find a bakery tomorrow?"

"Sure. I know some great bakeries around here." Ron said, handing Hermione the phone.

"You're still not used to phones, huh?" Ron shook his head.

"Nope. But… I'm okay with that." he said.

"Okay- we should start your muggle studies." Hermione said, dialing room service. When she was finished ordering, she looked at Ron. "Okay- so, phones." She handed him the phone. "Everyone who has a phone has a number for their phone. So- instead of using owls for everything, muggles use phones and mail to communicate." She picked up the receiver, and looked at the transmitter's numbers. "You press the numbers here, and the numbers connect you to the person who's number it is." Ron was watching her with an amused look.

"Hermione, I know how to use a phone." he said. "The ministry is trying to be and more muggle tolerant everyday, especially the aurors. A lot of the crimes that wizards do now involve muggles, so that's part of our training." Hermione looked at him with confusion. "I said I wasn't used to them." He picked up her purse and took out her cell phone, before dialing a number. "Here, talk to Krys, and let her know we got here okay." Hermione took the phone, and laughed a minute later.

"Hello?" she said.

"Bonnie B." Krys said on the other line. "Dude, I miss you already."

"Same here. Well- not really." Hermione said, making Krys laugh.

"So… did you give him the gift yet?"

"Oh!"

"Ow." Krys cried. "My ear, my ear."

"Sorry." Hermione said bashfully. "No, not yet. I didn't open your Christmas gift yet, either. What did you get me?" Krys laughed devilishly. "You're winking at me right now, aren't you?"

"Kinda." Krys said. "Wear it when you and Ron are about to consummate the marriage. Why you would want to, I'll never know… but stop calling me. If you're calling me, shouldn't that mean that you and Ron aren't having as good a time as you should be?"

"That's far from the truth. But- we met this woman… screw it, I'll tell you about it when we get back."

"When is that exactly?"

"A week and… two days is it, Ron?" Hermione asked, turning to Ron who was unpacking Hermione's clothes.

"A week and four days." Ron said.

"A week and four days." Hermione told Krys.

"An eleven day honeymoon. Wow… that's… a lot of sex." Krys said, before she gave over exaggerated vomit sounds on the other line.

"You know what? I don't want to speak to you anymore." Hermione said.

"Well… before you hang up and leave me… I have a question to ask you."

"Okay. Go ahead." Hermione said.

"Okay- Josephs called and said that he wanted to come by tonight. A few hours ago… he asked if he could spend the night."

"Okay."

"But… I don't want him to. I said no."

"Why not? If you 'don't want' Ares, then you want Josephs, right?"

"Who said it had anything to do with that? Maybe I just didn't want to be bothered. And, I don't know where Ares is. He left after your wedding, and… I'm just worried about him."

"Hermione, you're going to have to wait until lunchtime to get those sandwiches. We can get some breakfast, though." Ron said.

"So why would they let me order?" Ron shrugged.

"I don't know. But- they said that we could get breakfast."

"Um… shouldn't we get some sleep first?" Hermione said.

"Of course." Ron said, before he blew her a kiss. Then he walked away.

"You guys are disgusting. I can hear the… fucking love in your voices. Learn how to hide that." Krys said.

"Why are you still awake?" Hermione asked.

"I don't- I'm worried about him." Krys said softly. "And I can't go looking for him, because I have five kids here with me. And… they're leaving early on the twenty eighth. So… I'm spending time with them."

"Krys, just call him." Hermione said.

"He's not answering his phone. And…"

"And what?"

"I don't know if he doesn't want to talk to me- I don't know what it is, but he's not answering his phone… so… and-…"

"Krys, I doubt that he doesn't want to talk to you. Maybe he's asleep like normal people are." Hermione said, making Krys sigh.

"I guess you're right." she said. "Um- night."

"Same." Hermione said. "Just- please make the right choice, for you. Don't do it because you want to get back at someone-"

"Hey."

"I'm just saying. Do what's gonna make you happy. Night, Cook."

"See you, Bonnie Bee." Krys said. "Tell your husband I said hi."

"Same. And by that, I mean Ares." Hermione said, hanging up before Krys could respond. When Ron walked through the archway, he looked at Hermione.

"What did Krys say?" he asked.

"Ares is missing, she said. And he's not answering his phone. She's afraid that he doesn't want to talk to her."

"I doubt that. Highly." Ron said. "So- are you tired?" Hermione nodded, and laid back. She smiled and moaned slightly as she felt Ron get into bed beside her. She curled into him, as he wrapped his arms around her. Soon enough they were both peacefully asleep.

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Krys and Harry lied in the middle of her bed. It was four pm and two days after the wedding, and she hadn't left bed all day, except to take a shower and drop Thai, Angel, and Robyn back to school, and Angel and Jaime back to their parents.

"So… who are you going to choose?" Harry asked. Krys shrugged.

"I don't know." she said. "I mean… of course I love Ares. And I would love to choose him. I want to choose him- I'd choose him in a second, which is also a reason that I don't want to choose him. Do you know what I mean?" Harry shook his head. "And the worst part is that Ares is connected to everyone that I love… and you all love him, so would it be fai-?"

"Padfoot, nobody is going to ask you to choose him, when it isn't in your best interest. Us wanting you to choose Ares goes beyond the fact that we like him." Harry said each word as if Krys had uttered the dumbest words ever heard. "If you can honestly say that Josephs treats you better and makes you happier than Ares does, then I'm on your side." Krys looked at him. Harry rolled his eyes and hugged her. "Man up." Krys laughed, and her phone started to ring off the hook. "Josephs." Harry said, as he held it out to her.

"Hello." Krys said. "Yeah… alright. That park… alright." Then she hung up. Harry was looking at her.

"You have no idea what you're going to do, do you?" he asked. Krys shrugged.

"No idea." she said. Then she walked into her closet. Harry looked at her weirdly, when she walked out. She was wearing a fitted suede turquoise halter top, with tight black bootleg, hip hugging jeans and suede turquoise boots with a small heel. She also had a short, tight black crocheted sweater. Her hair was curly, but her bangs were pulled back by bobby pins, on top of her head. She looked at Harry. "Bad? Good?"

"I find you repulsive off the bat."

"Oh- save that speech for my wedding day." Krys said. Harry laughed.

"What? Its true." he said. "You're alright." Krys laughed.

"I really don't need you complimenting me and my looks now. Save it for the wedding day." she said.

"Do you want me to drop you off?" Harry asked.

"You wanna drive my car, don't you?" Krys asked. Harry nodded. "Its okay. I'll take another car. I'll take the candy apple red Porsche."

"Isn't that the one you got for your eighteenth birthday?" Krys nodded.

"You can take Andy. See you later, Prongs."

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When Krys got to Josephs, he was waiting for her on a park bench. She shook her head and airily skipped to him and waved as she sat down next to him. He looked at her and smiled. But his smile slid off of his face when he looked into her eyes.

"I thought you changed them to just blue." Josephs said.

"Thought, being the operative word." Krys said.

"Well- I liked them like that." Krys rolled her eyes.

"Look- we didn't come here to talk about my eye color. Because, if so, I can take my ass back to my car." Krys said. "So… what'd you need to talk to me about?"

"Delgado." Josephs said.

"No need to beat around the bush." Krys said sardonically. "What about him?"

"Is he always at your house?"

"He lives there. He's my roomie and my road dog."

"Exactly. He's your ex-boyfriend and he's living with you. Krys, you guys are always together, and you're always touching."

"He's my best friend." Krys said.

"Which means he always has to be touching you?"

"No- which means I can be with him as much as I damn well want." Krys took a deep breath, as a small glow started to over take her body. She continued to breathe deeply, until the glow died down. 'Don't set him on fire, Krys.' she said to herself.

"Krys, its impossible to be best friends with someone that you've had sex with."

"Which makes you and Natasha both liars, huh?"

"That's different. Look- I'm a guy, I know these things. And I know that Delgado is definitely interested in you."

"Josephs, its only different because I'm not the jealous type. And I really wouldn't know about that, because Ares and I are best friends." Josephs looked at her.

"Krys, he finds reasons to touch you. He's always hugging you. You guys go everywhere together, and you have inside jokes that your other friends don't even know." Krys rolled her eyes, pushing away the annoying voice in her head that was telling her that it was all true. "Sometimes when I call you, you're- _most_ of the time that I call you, you're talking to him in the background. You cancel dates with me so that you can go with him to his mother's house. Krys, before you spend the night at my place, you call and tell him not to wait up. You guys both have tattoos for one another. And you beat the shit out of Gem, just because she broke up with him. He's always around, and before you accept a date with me, you call him and ask your plans." Krys looked at him as if to say 'your point?'. "I don't want to share you with him. I already told you that I love you, and I do. I love you, Krys. I love you a lot. But, I don't like Delgado, Krys. I mean, I _really_ don't like him. At all- point blank. I don't want to share you. I want you to choose. Stop chilling with him, or stop messing with me. It's your choice. Second rate Section 2 leader, or fight team inductee, Section 1 auror." Krys looked at him.

"Any guy that I date should know that he'll never be my main priority. There is always going to be someone more important. In this case, its my friends and fami-"

"They're not your family." Josephs said. "You're not blood related to any of them." Krys glared at him, and instantly Josephs knew that his outburst was going to cost him one of Krys' famous speeches.

"In this case, it's my friends and family. What the hell do you know about my family, Josephs? Nothing." Krys took a deep breath. "Again, only when a man can accept that he's not my number one, can he possibly be my number one. My whole reason for dating you was because… you were….you seemed to be loose and secure." Krys took a deep breath. "I _love_ that you actually told me that you don't like the brown in my eyes. And I _love_ that you tell me that my hair is too dark. And that you have the nerve to buy me lingerie for Christmas. I _love_ that you love the way I dress when I wear things like this, and that you've had sex with every woman in your office. And I _absolutely love_ that you think you have say in who I see." she said sarcastically. "First off, Josephs… last night, when I said that you couldn't come over because the kids were there, I lied. Actually, not really, because the kids didn't want you there. Second… I got my eyes from my mom, and I love them. Yes, I love my eyes. And I don't love them because I think they're nice, or because I think they're beautiful- I love my eyes because Ares loves my eyes. I should've known that when you asked me out in front of Gem… I was just being so bitchy that I wanted her to hurt. Josephs, I chose you. I really did… and I actually came here today considering you as my ultimate. But this conversation right here is what's making me question my choice in why I even came to see you. Its making me question why I even thought about giving away the one guy that's ever really loved me for you. Why? Because number one, if you're honestly asking me to choose, you're not as secure as I thought you were. And number two, if you thought that I'd choose _you_ over Ares- Ares Delgado. If you thought I'd choose you- Section 1 fight team inducted auror over fight team inducted Ares Delgado, you're not as smart as I thought you were. Either way, no mistake or misunderstanding about it, I don't want you anymore." Without a look in his direction, she got up and made her way to the basketball court in Torrance.

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She was nervous. As hell. As she sat in her car, she dialed Ares' cell phone, before hanging up and repeating it again. After the first hour, she sighed and followed through. When he answered the phone, she laughed. She could see him from inside her car. When he answered her call, he sat down and paid attention only to the phone call.

"Krys." His voice came in clear, making her smile. It was warm and a clear rumble, everything that you would want in a man's voice. "Krys, are you there? Are you okay?" She looked at him, as he sat on the bleachers all the way across from where she was. Krys smiled and nodded a few times, before she remembered that he couldn't see her.

"Oh- yeah. I'm here." she said. She sounded breathless and her voice was scratchy, as if she'd just run a million miles without a drop of water.

"Hey. What's up? Are you okay?"

"Hey… listen, we need to talk." she said.

"Okay- well, I'll get my stuff together now. I'll be there in-"

"No- you don't have to leave now. I'm already here."

"Oh." he sounded surprised, but pleased. "Okay."

"Um… I'm gonna hang up now." Ares laughed.

"You don't have to." he said softly. "We can just talk. I have nothing to do. Come on, talk to me. What happened today? Nah- hold on, what happened yesterday. What'd you do with Angel, Thai and Robyn?" Krys laughed nervously.

"Yeah, I'm gonna hang up." she said, before she hung up and hugged the phone. "He's so cute." Then she shook her head as if she ad to rattle the bad thoughts away. "Stop being so smitten. Ill- did I just say 'smitten'? Stop being sprung, Krys. Relax, and play it aloof. Be a bitch- no… just be cool." She got out of the car and walked to the bleachers. Ares jogged to her, glistening with sweat. Shirt off. Beautiful muscles rippling. The Adonis like six pack- oh me, oh my. "Forget it. My plan is shot to hell." she said aloud, as she smiled nervously and a little too wide. When did she go back to being a sixteen year old?

"Are you stalking me? Because, that would be the shit." he said. Krys grinned and tossed his jersey and a towel to him. "You look beautiful." Krys smiled, and sat down.

"Thank you. So do you. Even more so, actually." she said. She watched him put on his jersey, then patted the bench.

"Krys, what happened?" Ares asked. Krys repeated her previous actions and patted the bench, before rubbing it in a circular motion and patting it again. Ares laughed, making Krys smile at him thoughtfully.

"Um… Ares, sit down." she said. Ares nodded and sat down, looking at her the entire time. "Listen- I'm not about to beat around the bush. I saw Josephs today and he asked me to choose between the two of you. I have something to tell you." Ares looked at her and nodded. She said it all as if she were so sad and torn up. "Its about my decision. Look- the choice was… look, Ares, I don't know how to tell you thi-" Ares looked at her and nodded. He looked torn apart.

"Um…… its okay, Krys. Say no more. You don't have to say anything. I know how hard it must've been for you. Having to make a decision like that. Thanks for telling me in person-"

"Ares, I'm so sorry. Josephs gave me a choice, so I made it. He said that he didn't want me hanging out with you anymore. The other day you asked me- what you asked me on Christmas- I've been thinking. Josephs said that he believes you still have feelings for me. And you told me that you love me. It got me thinking that we really shouldn't be friends anymore." Krys said. "I'm sorry. I've already made my choice." Ares inhaled deeply and got up, facing Krys. She was staring at him and squinting.

"Okay, Krys… I'll- um- I'll have my stuff out of your house by tomorrow." Ares said.

"But- didn't you say that we'd still be friends?" Krys asked.

"You just said that Josephs wanted you to choose. I don't want to get in the way of you and him." he said, before he started to walk back to the court. Then he stopped and turned around. "You know, Krys… okay- I was stupid when I was with Emily. I know that I was. And I almost made the wrong choice once, but I didn't, Krys. And I did some stupid shit to you… I know that. But honestly, Krys…" He inhaled deeply, then smiled at her. "I love you. But I'm not gonna let you do this."

"But I thought that you said you wouldn't stand in the way of me being happy with Josephs."

"You're not gonna be happy with Josephs, Krys. He's a dickhead. Don't do this." Krys stared at him with a smile on her face. "And now you're smiling like my misery is funny."

"You are overly sensitive, in a very masculine way. Do you know that? And it is so adorable, and sweet, and very sexy." Krys said deep in thought. As Ares stared at her with a look of confusion on his face, Krys smiled and moved down on the bleachers. "I chose you, Dramatico." Ares stared at her for a minute. He moved closer to her and picked her up, then he kissed her all over her face, as he swung her around. It was a beautiful moment that wasn't cheesy or planned, no matter how much they both wanted to be in control of their actions when it came to being with the other. Krys smiled and laughed, when he let her down. She stared at his face as she sat down on the bleachers. He looked so happy. His face showed nothing but joy, unlike the face that he wore when Krys lied and said that she was choosing Josephs. When he sat down, they both reached for the other's hand, then laughed.

"I'm not overly sensitive." Ares said. Krys nodded and looked at him, before she felt like a 16 ton weight had been dropped on her shoulders. About 16 months prior to that day on December 28th, Marcus Delgado would've been born. Ares lightly stroked Krys' knuckles as she looked up at him.

"Listen… if we're gonna do this again… I think that we should start completely honest." Ares nodded.

"Okay." he said.

"And that means _any_ demons from the past. Any of them." Ares looked at her and nodded again. "Well- I already know about Stephanie… and Ashley, Array, Ailen- all of them. And… what can I do about it? Nothing. I cannot do anything about it. And I'm not even mad about it. We've talked… we've forgiven. But I'm not so sure that you'll forgive me." Ares shook his head.

"No, Krys… whatever it is, it's in the past. Just tell me, so that we can get over it together." he said.

"I really hope that you will, when you hear why I broke up with you." Krys said. Ares looked down at her and sighed, before he squeezed her hand gently.

"Krys, if we're gonna start off completely honest… I have to be honest, too." he said.

"Another girl? Oh my." Krys teased. Ares grinned, but the grin faded as quickly and easily as it appeared.

"I know why you broke up with me. I know about the- I know about Mark." he said softly. There are moments as light and happy as air, and when those moments turn dark and dreary, they turn dark and dreary. This was a moment that was heavy, but happy, and still it turned darker and drearier than either one of them could've imagined. As Krys bit her lip, the rain just dropped out of the sky in buckets. She nodded as if she'd seen everything clearly and understood it all, then she looked straight ahead.

"That's why you're saying all of this. It has everything to do with guilt." she said, with a bit of a pathetic laugh in her voice. Ares looked at her and shook his head, rubbing her knuckles even more gently. Immediately assuming his change in touch was pity, Krys snatched her hand away. "Pity."

"Of course its not-"

"You're not doing this because you love me. You're doing it because you feel guilty."

"Krys come on." All of her thoughts were on her face, and it was clear why she was visually calming down. She felt guilty also.

"Look- I'm sorry that I didn't tell you- and I'm sorry if I'm not jumping for joy, but I just don't want you to feel compelled to be with me." A few tears fell from her eyes, and Ares tried to wipe them away, making her tense up and get angry again. "I don't give a _damn_ if everyone else gave you a hard time about knocking me up and sending me to therapy. Big fucking deal, Ares. Its nothing. I don't give a shit anymore. Fuck you." she said. Ares put his hand on her arm, making her look at him.

"Krys, I didn't even know when I ran out on my wedding. I ran out, because I love you. I told you I love you, because I love you. Krys, when I found out… all it did for me was make me confused. But through that confusion, all I knew was that I was an idiot and that I love you. I would've wanted him, Krys… I _know_ that." he said.

"No, Ares, you didn't want him. That's one of the reasons I broke up with you. Six months in and you would've left me. Trust me… I've looked at this from all angles. I can tell you what would've happened if you would've asked me out sooner, or later. I can tell you what would've happened if I never met you in first year and met you through A.J. I can tell you what would've happened if I never broke up with you the first time. I can tell you what would've happened if I would've stayed in Levebons. Ares, I have looked through countless outcomes, and trust me… they all ended up with fuck ups."

"Krys, stop being so goddamn difficult." Ares said.

"I'm not difficult, I'm _crunchy_." Krys said.

"Krys… I _want_ you. I _love_ _you_." Ares said. "And I'm sorry about all of the stupid shit that I've said and done. And sorry doesn't mean shit, but I just want to make it up to you."

"Who told you?"

"I found out after I ran out on my wedding to find you. They told me everything."

"So, you've all been having secret little meetings behind my back, yeah? A bunch of bullshit people, lying through their asses-"

"Krys, all we talked about was me telling you how I feel." She looked at him.

"The least you can do is tell me the truth." she said. "You talked about me."

"They just gave me tips on how to tell you."

"Was everything just a fucking lie?"

"Krys, none of it was a lie. They just helped me."

"I guess this means that you know that I remember the night before your wedding." Krys said. Ares nodded.

"Yeah." he said. Krys looked at him as if everything was coming to light, which it actually was.

"In that case, Ares… I'm _manipulative_?" Ares put his hands in his head, and came out after a minute. He looked worse than he did when she broke up with him. "Am I?"

"No." Krys looked at him, and just the look in her eyes made him feel even guiltier. "I'm sorry." he whispered. It seemed as if he were on the verge of tears, knowing that he made her feel the way that she felt.

"Really? Why do you want me now? Is it because I was with Josephs?" Every word that she uttered was in a small whisper, and she closed her eyes. It was almost like she was afraid to see the truth on his face, because she was afraid that him declaring he loved her was a lie.

"No. Don't say it like that." He shook his head over and over again, trying to get thought in his head of how he would prove that eh loved her. "Krys, I've always want you- I have always wanted you." he repeated the last part more emphatically that she thought possible. His voice sounded so strong and certain, almost restoring her faith in him. Almost.

"Ares… you were… cruel. To _me_. It wasn't like I was just some girl. It wasn't like I was some random girl. No- it wasn't like that. This was me. Me." Krys said. He looked at her and nodded. "You…… pissed me off." Krys paused and quieted down. "You hurt me." He nodded and turned to her.

"Baby, I'm so sorry." he said, trying to hold her hand. Krys looked at him, and moved her hand slightly. "Krys, I- ever- I j-…"

"Ares… that night. The night that I left… the night that I told you I loved you-… and I begged you not to do it- all of those nights that I told you how much I loved you… what did you think I was trying to tell you?" He thought of an answer… something to get him out of the hole in the corner. But it wouldn't've been fair to her. He had to be true. With a heavy heart, Ares looked up.

"I didn't want to be considered weak for going back to you too easily." he said reluctantly.

"So… to spite me, you were willing to marry Emily. You were gonna throw your life away to hurt me." Ares nodded.

"Yes, b-"

"This was a woman that- she was cheating on you, and you knew it, Ares. But you didn't care, as long as you got to hurt me. She- Emily- she didn't look at you the way that I look at you. She didn't talk to you the way I talk to you. She could never have loved you the way I did when I was twelve. And you, you were still able to look me in the eye and say that you didn't want to be with me. And yet you can ask me how I ran to someone else? I…" She just stopped speaking, altogether. She didn't say anything, so Ares tried to redeem himself.

"Krys… I can't even come up with words to describe how I feel about you. And whenever I do, I get tongue-tied, because that's how… Krys, I can't even tell you how much I love you, because words don't… they can't come close. Its this high on euphoria. I can't even- you mean everything to me. Whenever I'm near you, its that 'colors are brighter, food tastes better' stuff, and I know that I sound so stupid and corny, but… it's the truth." Ares said. Krys almost smiled at the fact that he was throwing her own words back at her. Almost.

"What about all of the things that Emily said to me?" Krys asked. "You could sit there and let Emily talk about me."

"I was mad at you." Ares said.

"Ares, Josephs knew that if he said anything out of line about you, I wasn't gonna stand for it. He knew that if anything negative about you came from his mouth, he and I were gonna be over. As much as he didn't like you, he never said anything negative about you, because he already knew the deal. Emily didn't even have to sugar coat her insults towards me. My parents, Ares? You sat there and let her talk about my mom and dad? Think about that."

"Krys, you have to understand where I was coming from here. The morning that we broke up, I got up at 5am. I left you a note and went to my friend Mel. We set up the whole planetarium and arranged it so that when the stars in the ceiling came in, it spelled 'Will you marry me, Krys?'. I had the whole thing planned out. Double chocolate cake- all of your favorites. You're asking me how I can hold a grudge for that? Krys, you… you broke my heart. I held a grudge for that, you're holding a grudge for this."

"No, no, no- you don't want to see what would've happened if I had held a grudge. Did I throw it back in your face? Did I make you feel guilty? Did I act any different towards you? You wanna see me hold it over your head and hold a grudge? Because, I can show you a grudge. Do you want to feel guilty? Did I tell you that when it happened, I had to keep pictures of Angel, Thai, and Jamie everywhere, to keep me from trying to kill myself after I miscarried? Or- oh, did I tell you about how I had to do it again, when I went back to Nemonora this summer? No- you don't want me to make you feel guilty, Ares. I wasn't afraid to tell anyone what happened. Because, I wasn't ashamed of it. I didn't tell them because I didn't want them to worry. I found little sarcastic and witty ways to tell everyone. I wasn't afraid to tell my parents. I wasn't afraid to tell McGonagall. I was only afraid to tell you. Its not needing you that pisses me off, Ares." She inhaled deeply, then looked at him. "Wanting you. It's wanting you. I can live without you, Ares. I've done it. Trust me. If I can live without my father, my father, Lily, James, and my mom, I can live without you. The only problem is that I didn't- don't… I don't want to. For any of them, but you… I _really_ don't want to. I don't want to live without you. That's what hurts. I'm not gonna beat myself up over what I can't control. I don't control the fact that I need you. I can't do it. I should be able to control the fact that I want you." Krys looked at him. "Is it really worth it? Do you think that the third try is worth it?" she whispered. Ares looked at her and shook his head.

"I know it is." he whispered, leaning in and resting his forehead against hers. "I can't even find words for how much its worth it. Its worth it, Krys. If I never saw you again, I wouldn't remember you just because you were my first, or because you're the only girl that I ever really loved. I'd remember you because I can feel you. I can feel you in everything that you touch, everything that has anything to do with you. Krys after we broke up, the first thing I did when I got off my hangover, was search through my house for things that you left when you spent the night. A.J and the others called me a stalker, because I kept all of the shirts you left at my house. Your shirt was my pillowcase, and every night I just spent hours awake drinking, and sniffing your shirts. Because, whenever you're near me, I just get this feeling. And when I first met you, the feeling scared me shitless. Mostly because I thought you were a guy." Krys laughed. There were tears still pouring out of her eyes, and they were just casually talking in the rain. "Krys, we can be sitting in a pile of trash, and you can make me laugh… to the point that I'm tearing. You're the only girl that makes me want to pull my hair out and propose at the same time. I've never seen anyone be as sexy yet innocently cute like you. And the little fact that you're incredibly gorgeous and have an amazing body, it almost has nothing to do with it. That mouth that speaks and spits acid, is cotton candy, it has a lot to do with it, yeah… but the feeling you give off was always enough for me. But again, your sugary sweet mouth that melts in my mouth- its- it helps." He looked at her, waiting for her response.

"Its worth it." Krys whispered, before she grinned and a few tears fell from her eyes. "You are such a pervert." She wiped her eyes. "Something flew in my eye." Ares grinned. Krys took a deep breath and looked at him. "It is really worth another shot." Ares smiled and looked at her, before they kissed. It was the perfect kiss that you always see, where the girls stands on the tips of her toes to meet the guy who's dipping his head. When they finally met up, their lips barely touched, before tingles shot through Krys. She smiled and leaned closer into it, giving him her absolute best- at least her gentle best. For a moment after she pulled back, she had to bask in the afterglow. When she finally left that dazed happy state, she spoke, returning to their world and signing the contract that she and Ares would be their usual selves. "Are you busy tonight?" All was forgotten until they brought it up again. There would be no throwing the past in the other's face, unless it was something just coming to light. There would be no guilt trips or petty fights about it. They were the beginning of them again.

"Never too busy for you." Ares said. "Why?"

"Well, I was thinking that I could take you on a little date. Then, afterwards, I could take advantage of you to the point that you feel completely used, yet satisfied, and I can release the two years of pent up sexual frustration. Then, I can make you breakfast in bed, and we can do it all over again." Krys said. Ares laughed and moved closer to her, before standing in front of her.

"Ha, ha. I'll take _you_ on a little date." Krys laughed.

"Macho? I thought that you were gonna acquiesce yourself to me." Ares nuzzled her neck, almost like a puppy, making Krys laugh. "Okay- fuck it. We'll talk about who gets to be the man later. Just- where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise." Ares said, pulling away before he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I _hate_ surprises." Krys said with a playful glare.

"Oh- but this is a surprise from me." Krys looked thoughtful, before she nodded.

"Yeah. Alright- whatever." she teased. "Where?"

"I'm just gonna take you somewhere so that you can forget about your ex-boyfriend. You know how sad it makes me that you and Josephs didn't work out." Ares said with a glint in his eyes. Krys rolled her eyes and glared at him playfully.

"You're jumping for joy on the inside, aren't you?" she said. Ares nodded and mouthed 'damn right', before he jokingly asked if she was busy. "Well- if you were anyone else… I would be. But… I'm never too busy for you." Ares grinned.

"Come on." he said. Krys pointed to his friends, who were still waiting for him. Ares groaned, and threw his head back. "I'll be back. Matter fact- bet, come with me." He took her hand and helped her off the bleachers for no reason, and the two made their way across the court. Heat was looking at them with his eyebrows raised.

"Krys." he greeted coldly with a nod.

"Heat." Krys responded just as coldly. Heat rolled his eyes, then looked at Ares, and back to Krys.

"You know I saw that kiss, right?" he asked her, before they hugged. Krys laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. That's enough." Ares said. Krys looked behind herself and smiled, as she pulled away from Heat. She looked at the next one known as Hulk. He smiled at her.

"Hey." he said.

"Hi." Krys greeted.

"Yo- Ice, how'd you swing this?" he asked, making Krys blush.

"Yo- I'm leaving." Ares said, giving Heat a pound.

"Where you going? We're supposed to have another pickup game." Hulk said. Krys looked at Ares.

"You wanna play? Stay here with them?" she offered. Ares shook his head.

"No, I wanna go with you." he said, making Krys smile.

"Good answer." she said cutely.

"Oh- he's leaving us for a woman?" Hulk said.

"Nah, he's leaving us for wifey." Heat said, smiling at Krys with a knowing glint in his eye.

"Sorry I'm stealing your homeslice." Krys said. "I'll have him back to you in a few." Ares shook his head.

"No, you won't." he said, shaking his head, before he kissed her cheek. Krys took his hand and they started to walk along. "I have to take a shower, and change."

"I wasn't gonna say anything, but you're smelling… You still smell sexy. You have the best smelling sweat, ever." Krys said, hugging him. Ares looked down at her, then laughed. When she pulled away, she looked up at him, then started to walk to the car. Cool act was officially in affect. Ares walked after her.

"Come on, I'll drive you to your place." he said, as she tossed him the keys. He opened the car door for her, when they got there. Krys laughed and got in. When he got into the car, he gave the dreamy sigh, making Krys look at him.

"What?" Krys asked him, with a smirky smile on her face.

"Nothing." Ares said, as he started the car. He started to adjust the mirrors, and he drove to Krys' place. The whole ride was filled with stimulating conversations with stupid, yet hilarious jokes that only they would laugh at. Ares parked, then opened the door for her to get out. Krys looked at him and laughed, when she got out of the car. She took his hand and dragged him to the house.

"You get ready, I'll get ready. Meet you in the hall in an hour and a half." Krys said, before she pecked him. She pulled back, then leaned back in- not cool. She kissed his top lip lightly, then kissed his bottom lip. She then lightly nibbled on his bottom lip, making him open his mouth wider, before she lightly flicked her tongue over his. She pulled back a bit, then pecked his lips again. "Oh yeah." Ares laughed, but Krys cut him off by kissing him again. When she pulled back, she looked thoughtful, before she remembered that she was supposed to play cool. She squinted, then wiped her lip gloss off his lips. "Uh-huh. Yup."

"What?" Ares asked, with a light grin.

"That's what I've been missing." Krys said, before she walked up the stairs. Ares followed behind her, but continued to the third floor, when she went to her room.

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When Ares and Krys met back up in the foyer, Ares stared at her.

"Wow." he said. Krys showed him her bag.

"I have no idea where we're going. So I can always change, if necessary." she said. She was wearing a hot pink fitted suede halter top, with light blue hip hugging bootleg jeans and matching white on hot pink suede uptowns. Since the halter top was fitted, it rode up slightly, showing the smallest inch of her midriff. Her belt was a hot pink Coach belt, and she had a white hoodie around her waist. Her hair was straightened and her bangs were pulled back by a plastic hot pink head band. Her hair was also in a half messy bun, half ponytail, but it looked perfect on her. As usual, she wore the natural jewelry and transparent lip gloss. "I can also fix the hair." Ares shook his head.

"You look perfect." he said.

"This old thing?" Krys teased, with a light chuckle. "Lets go, Loverboy." Krys stopped walking, then looked at Ares. Again, forgetting her cool act. Ares was wearing a green t-shirt, with baggy black jeans, and a big black and green Akademiks hoodie. His Mitchell and Ness fitted was in his hand. On his feet were green on black low leather uptowns. His eyes looked like they were battling between green and hazel. When she looked at him in the shadows, his eyes looked hazel. When she looked at him in the light, his eyes looked green. Krys stared at him. "Were you always this sexy?" Ares laughed, although he was slightly blushing. "I'm dead serious. I would call you handsome, but the word doesn't sound right when I say it. Let me try; Ares, you are extremely handsome, in whatever you wear."

"Thank you." Ares said. "And you are amazingly beautiful, in whatever you wear." Krys laughed.

"Shank you. So, where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Someplace I hope you'll have fun." Ares said in the most genuine voice possible. Krys looked at him and smiled, before she followed after him.

Forty five minutes later, they were in a lesser known amusement park. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Kewl." she said, as she looked around. "So, what's the story?"

"What do you mean?" Ares asked. Krys looked at him and laughed.

"How do you know about this place? What's the story?" she asked.

"I used to come here when I was younger." Ares said.

"Okay- then you can show me to all the best rides." Krys said. Ares looked at her.

"I can." he said. Krys slipped her hand in his, before they started to walk. "Are you hungry?"

"No." Krys said. "Are you?"

"No." The two walked through the park, looking at all of the rides. "Do you want to go on the Ferris wheel?" Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Sure. Do you?"

"With you? Yeah." Ares said, with a sideways glance at Krys, who was outright staring at him.

"Are you trying to get me on the Ferris wheel, so that you can cop a feel?" she asked. Ares shook his head.

"Never." he said.

"Are you sure?" Krys asked. Ares shook his head.

"Not really." he said. Krys continued to stare at him. "Yes, I want you on the Ferris wheel so that I can cop a fee-"

"Goodie. Lets go." Krys said enthusiastically. Ares laughed and walked along, as Krys dragged him to the Ferris wheel. As soon as they got there, the whole wheel got a thousand times cleaner and shinier, as if it was new. When they got seated by themselves in a round cart that was somewhat like a cage, Krys looked at Ares. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Ares asked.

"When did you realize that you wanted to be with me?" Krys asked.

"When I was thirteen. Actually, I was fourteen." Ares said. Krys shook her head.

"Again. When did you realize that you wanted to be with me again?" she asked.

"I never stopped wanting you, Krys. I just didn't want to want you. I was just being a jackass." Krys shook her head.

"Not really." she said.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Krys scooted over closer to him, so that she was right next to him. Ares looked at her and smiled, before he held her hand. Krys leaned her head into his chest and smiled. "I'm sorry too."

"For what?" Ares asked. Krys looked up at him, and sighed. 'Cool girl act… off. Just be Krys.' she thought.

"All sorts of things. Being bitchy. Trying to play cool. Considering Josephs."

"You were considering him?" Ares asked, as he looked down at her. Krys shook her head.

"No." she lied obviously. Ares laughed and kissed her nose.

"Doesn't matter." he said, as he wrapped his arms around her. Krys smiled and kissed his chin. They stayed that way, until the ride was over. And when it was, since it was already late and dark, Ares took Krys to the arcade. _Perfecto_. Krys walked over to the Skee ball games, and looked at Ares, before nodding and motioning 'come here' with her hands. Within half an hour, Krys had ten times more tickets than Ares. "Your tickets are collecting." Ares made to pull them off, but Krys slapped his hand.

"Don't touch." she said.

"I was just gonna pull them off." Ares said. "Its getting really long."

"I like it long. That makes it look like I have more. Which I do. But it makes it seem like I have _a lot_ more. Which I do. But it makes it seem like I have a _billion_." Ares playfully glared at her, and Krys laughed evilly. They played two more rounds, before Krys ripped her tickets off and got them tallied by the machine, so that she wouldn't have to carry them around. Krys had 654 tickets, while Ares had 68. She looked at him and laughed at the playful glare that he was giving her. Then she put her paper in her back pocket and skipped over to the air hockey table. Ares looked at her and grinned, before they started to play. In the end, the game was 5 to 4. Krys won and winked at Ares, who was still giving her that playful glare.

"Aren't you supposed to let me win?" Ares whined cutely. Krys laughed and shook her head.

"Nope. Not that kinda girl, at the risk of sounding too much like Catwoman." she said. Ares smiled and held her hand, as she walked him to one of the games where you wasted your tokens trying to get them to go inside of a jackpot. After six attempts with the tokens, she got six hits inside off the low paying slots. Finally, she hit the jackpot and got four hundred more tickets. Ares laughed at the little dance that she did. "I believe that that's one thousand fifty four tickets to your sixty eight. Is that right?" Ares looked at her and pouted, before Krys walked over to him and gave him a lingering peck on the pouting lips. She gently bit his bottom lip before she pulled back slightly.

"That was worth it." Ares murmured. Krys looked at him and smiled.

"I'm glad you think so." she said. "So are you tired of me getting more tickets than you? Do you want to give up yet?"

"You can't beat me at the other games. When we do the water guns, you'll see." Ares said. Krys nodded. "Then you won't be able to talk so much shit." Krys laughed and gave him a small love tap to the arm.

"Whatever you say, Loverboy." she said, before she kissed his cheek. When it was time for Krys and Ares to pick their prizes, Krys picked a plastic crown and two light sabers; a blue and a red one. She handed Ares the red one and stabbed him with the blue, before she chose a paddleball, a few army men, two small bouncy balls; a green one and a pink one. After choosing all of that, she still had eight hundred, sixty seven tickets left. She looked at Ares, who was staring at her. "Come on, baby, what do you want?" Ares laughed, and so did the girl who was working. Ares shook his head, and Krys chose a big Bart Simpson pillow, before she chose a flexible felt rose, then gave the rest of her prize points to the little girl and boy beside her. Ares held Krys' pillow that had the plastic crown resting on it. Krys turned to Ares, causing him to stop and look at her. She smiled happily and took her light saber, then acted like she was knighting him, before she put the crown on his head, atop his fitted cap. "My Kingie. So cute." she said. Then she handed him the rose, before skipping out of the arcade. When Ares caught up to her, she was waiting for him at one of the other games. To be more specific, she was waiting by the one with the water gun and the clown's mouth. Ares sat down next to her, then paid the man, so that they could play. When it was all said and done, Ares actually beat Krys. The moment was one out of a movie, when Krys screamed a slow motion "NO!" When the reality sunk in, Krys was a sore loser, too. Ares looked at her, and a chuckle escaped while he looked at her adorable pout. It wasn't as if she let him win, so she was pissed. Ares looked at her and kissed her cheek.

"So, what you want your prize to be?" the guy asked. Ares looked at her again.

"What do you want, baby?" he asked. He was sincere, and he wasn't teasing like she'd been earlier. Krys looked at him and smiled cutely, before she pointed to a big Timmy Turner. Ares laughed and got it for her. He held it as they walked around. "Amusement parks always looked better at night, solely because of the lights." Krys looked at him and smiled. "I'm just throwing that out there." Krys laughed.

"You're right. Amusement parks during the day… they're not worth it." she said. When she looked at him, she laughed. "Okay- I'm gonna ask you something, and I don't want you to think I'm crazy."

"Okay." Ares said, nodding that perfect head of his.

"What's- um, what's your favorite type of gum?" Ares looked at her for a minute, before they broke out into a fit of laughter. "What? it's a genuine question. I really wanna know. Plus- that's one of the only things that I can think of, that I don't know about you." Each word that left her mouth was drenched in laughter. Ares stared at her as their laughter died down.

"I don't know. I like Bubblicious." he said. Krys smiled.

"Me too. But the problem with Bubblicious is that when you've chewed it for a while, it starts to feel like you're chewing a rubber ball." she said.

"So, what is your favorite type of gum?" Ares asked.

"Um… I don't know. I love Trident. Ooh- and I love the gum in Charms Blowpops. But… that gum falls apart. So, you know what the perfect gum is?"

"Nah, what?" Krys looked at him and smiled. Ares was genuinely interested in her gum rant. Either that, or he was a really good liar.

"Okay- well… have you ever tasted the Bubblicious lollipop?" Ares shook his head.

"No." he said.

"Well, since it's inside the hard candy lollipop for a long while… it kinda falls apart, and since its Bubblicious, its kinda hard… so its perfect, because its right in the middle." Krys said, making him laugh.

"That's true." Ares said. When they passed the cotton candy cart, Ares looked at her. "Do you want some?"

"Cotton candy?" Krys said. Ares nodded. "Do you have to ask?" Ares grinned and got her some. They sat down while she ate it, so Ares watched her. Krys held the cotton candy out to him and he shook his head.

"No thank you." he said.

"I wasn't offering. I was asking you to hold it." Krys teased. Ares laughed and took it from her as Krys got her bag and put on hand sanitizer, then let her hands air dry. She looked at her hands, then wiped them on a paper towel, before she took the cotton candy from Ares. He watched her the entire time, amused and in love. Krys looked at him, as she tore a small piece of cotton candy off of the paper tube. She put it in her mouth and Ares stared at her. Krys stood up and held her hand out to him. "Aren't we walking?" Ares nodded and took her hand. After a few steps, Krys stopped and turned to him. "You want some?"

"Now you're offering?" Krys nodded.

"Its my way." she said. "I'm a giver." Ares laughed and nodded.

"Sure." he said. Krys tore off a small piece and put it in his mouth. She actually put it on his tongue, before he captured the excess on her finger, in his mouth. Krys gave him a look, before she licked the same finger, smiled and kissed him, before she continued to walk. When Ares caught up to her, she was still smiling slightly, before she sat down again. Ares sat next to her, and they both stared ahead. "Are you having fun?"

"Of course." Krys said, as she turned to look at him. She sat Indian style on the bench and stared. She was still eating the cotton candy and she held some out to Ares, who nodded, before she again put it on his tongue. She stared at him and smiled, as he pointedly looked ahead. "What're you thinking about, weirdo?" He took a minute to answer, as if he had to finish his thought before he spoke of it.

"You."

"What about me?"

"Secretly praising you for giving me a second chance." Ares said. Krys looked at him, and finished the cotton candy. "Admiring how beautiful you look right now."

"You weren't even looking at me." Krys said, through her happy laughter.

"True, but I was thinking about you. And it was a good thought."

"You're good at this."

"At what?"

"The dating conversation and the comfortable silences." Ares smiled.

"You're avoiding my comment."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I'm a crazy. And… I bet you say that to all of the girls." Ares turned to her, and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Uh-uh. You have no idea how beautiful I think you are."

"See- but maybe I'm not beautiful at all. You just said how beautiful you _think_ I am."

"No, Krys. You're beautiful." Ares said. "And I love you."

"Uh- please, don't do that." Krys said, making Ares stare at her.

"What?"

"Um… it just- its sorta making me uncomfortable and I don't wanna say it. Not so soon, anyway. I'm sorr-"

"No, no. Don't be." Ares said softly.

"Just let me explain." Krys said. "Its just because when you tell me that you love me, I feel compelled to say it back. And its not that I don't feel it. Of course I feel it, but I think that the reason it didn't work the other times was because we rushed into it. Also becau-"

"You don't have to say anything. I was just… I'm sorry."

"No. I'm so-"

"Do not be sorry." Ares said firmly. "Are you hungry?"

"Slightly. Even though I just ate a big ass puff of sugar. But thank you for the cotton candy." Krys said. Ares laughed as they got up and walked around one of the many places to eat.

"Where do you want to eat?" he asked. Krys shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. As long as I get some French fries, and a nice gigantic soda." she said.

"You wanna go hit BK?"

"Okay, Kingie." Ares took her hand and they strolled along to Burger King, where Krys could get her French fries. They talked happily, and all went well- perfectly, until Ares accidentally knocked a big cup of Cola in Krys' lap. Actually, Ares believed it was his fault, because Krys knocked it down getting his napkins.

"Shit. I'm so sorry." Ares started to help her soak up the soda.

"Its good, baby." Krys said, as she got up and tried to soak up the Coke and clean it off of her pants and top. "Nothing that a little air can't fix. Plus- its not even your fault."

"I'm really sorry, Krys."

"Its okay. Hey- are you ready to leave?" Ares nodded, and they cleaned up, before they walked to the car. When they got there, Krys leaned back against the car and grabbed Ares by his hoodie, before pulling him to her. "What's wrong with you?"

"Clumsy. Bad date." Ares said.

"You didn't have a good time?" Krys asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I had an amazing time. You didn't."

"_Says who_?"

"I spilled coke all over you."

"It can be cleaned."

"You were wearing suede."

"Who the hell told me to wear suede to an amusement park? Plus- its nothing that a little snap of the finger can't fix." Krys smiled and pulled him closer to her, by his hoodie. "Don't you like me anymore, papi?" she asked in a cute voice, with a cute pout and puppy eyes. She then bit her lip in an enticing way, before she wrapped and clasped her hands behind his neck. Ares nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Do you think after wishing for you-" She kissed him. "Hoping for you." She kissed him again. "And praying for you, I would forget all of that because of a crazy fun, yet weird date?" She kissed him four times. Each kiss went a bit farther. She kissed his top lip, then his bottom lip, before she trailed her tongue under his top lip. Ares opened his mouth wider, and Krys lightly trailed her tongue over his on the last kiss. When she pulled back, she gave an involuntary groan, and stopped herself from getting lost in another kiss. "Do you remember what I used to say are the only things I need from you?" Ares nodded. Krys kissed him again, then left her hands resting on his shoulders, as he kept his hold on her waist. "Okay, what are they?"

"Love." Ares said. Krys nodded and kissed him again. She moaned, then forced herself to pull back, so she could finish her thought, but Ares was still leaning in. Krys pecked him, and kissed his chin, before she lightly pushed him back.

"And…?" she asked.

"Lovin'." Krys nodded, then pulled him down and kissed him again. First she nipped at his top lip, then his bottom lip. She pecked him twice, then repeated nipping at his lips. She pulled back. Again. Poor her.

"Love, I get from every word that you say. Every hug- kiss, action towards me, from you. Today." She pecked him on the lips. "Yesterday." She pecked him on the lips again. "Everyday." she said, kissing him again. "And lovin', which I better be getting. Tonight." Krys kissed him. "Tomorrow morning." She kissed him again. "Afternoon, evening." She kissed him, and he held her close. "That night, and the night after." Krys kissed him long and deep. "Every night." Ares smiled and leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you, Ares Delgado. I love you with all my heart _and…_ soul. And I'm not talking about the love based on our nine years of being more than friends. I'm saying that I love you based on tonight- _today_. I love you based on our one day back together." Then she looked thoughtful. "We are back together, right? I'm not assuming too much, right?" Ares smiled and nodded.

"We are definitely back together." he said.

"Good." Krys stood on the tips of her toes again, and kissed him. After she nipped at his lips, she trailed her tongue over his bottom lip, and Ares opened his mouth slightly, before Krys sweetly massaged his tongue with her own. When she pulled back, she pecked him on the lips six times. "Aren't you gonna say it back?" she asked cutely. Ares smiled.

"I love you too." he said, before they kissed that perfect sweet kiss. They were happy… and they were them.

Oh my God, people. I am so sorry that it took me so long to update. School, as always, is kicking my ass. And I thought that it;d be easier this year… well- I was so damn wrong. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I love and miss you all. Well- I don't really love you- alright, it'd be safe to say that I love you guys as readers… so, yeah, sure… I love yall. Stay cool.

AlexzAndi.


	55. I'm so sorry

So sorry, guys. I have AP midterms, and… you know how that goes. I've just been swamped. But… it is definitely not the last chapter. I'll update as soon as I can. Really. Especially because I have regents week soon. So, hell yeah.


	56. Stop Rewind Rerecord

In an alternate universe is where this life- this _story_ belongs. She used to think that living the way that she lived was the way that she should've been living. She used to think that living the way that she lived was the way that she should be living. This life is in an alternate universe. This life is that one decision that she would've made. It lets you know that you affect everyone that you know. The line of fate was made and not to be broken. The line of fate was made and not to be tampered with. It lets you know that although you are but one in a world of billions, you control this world as much as the deities that it is supposed created it. It is our world. We make the decisions. We make the world go round. Although my decision doesn't affect you, it eventually affects someone that will eventually affect you. So, who's to say that I don't control your destiny? What can I say?

Now at this point, you may notice my redundancy. And if you don't, read closely. "So", you say. "Hold up, man. If the line of fate isn't to be tampered with, then how do we make the world go round? How do my decisions affect the world?" Hold on. Let me explain. I once said that the line of fate is only in serious danger, and has seriously been tampered with, only by dark magic. This is true. And so is the fact that we control the world. But there is an order to this. And quite frankly, that is just the way it is. In this universe. In this session. Today.

If only Hermione would have put her pride aside. If only. What can we say but that? If only. Yes, if only. If only Krys had told him. What can we say but that? If only. Yes, if only. But, they didn't. She didn't. She didn't. They did not. So, _if only _is but a mere possibility in a world that is full.

This is not what this world is about. Not in this universe. Not in this session. Not today. It is not about Krys' wrong decision, or Hermione's wrong decision. It is not about why she didn't tell him, or why she let her pride cloud her better judgment. It is about how they were wronged. Not by the men that they loved, but by the man that they forgot. It is about how that one person hurt lives in dramatic ways. It is about that one rift in the line of fate. It is about him.

Now when I say him, we all assume that I'm speaking in religious matters. Religio terms and whatnot. Not today. Not in this universe. Not in this session. You may see the word God placed here and there- thrown, as a matter of fact. But that's not what this is about. This is about that one day that changed lives for miles. And in this, to humor you, I will skip one divergence in the line of fate, and cut to the one that pushed her over the edge. And in this, to shake you, I will skip that one discrepancy in the line of fate, and cut to what brought them together or what ripped them apart. And in this, I make the one that they both love so dearly the hero, as he should be. So, I take you back. I share what would've been. What might've been. And in this, you'll see. And in this, to redeem myself, I will end my long winded introduction.

A few months into Healer Training……….

As Hermione walked through the house, she could tell that her friend was hiding. Ever since the making of the appointment, Krys had been acting as if Steven Spieldberg's _It_ was coming to kill her. She had done everything from canceling the appointment a hundred times and rescheduling for different locations, to canceling the plane tickets and maxing out Hermione's credit cards so that the tickets would get canceled. In fact, she'd done everything short of telling Hermione that they weren't going. Hermione, for one, couldn't understand why Krys had been acting that way in the first place. They were going to Germany via comfort first airplane in a first class cabin. Then they were to be escorted to the actual appointment by a stretch limo, just for Krys. "Krys, come on." Hermione shouted, as she continued to search through the house. "We have to get there, our flight is in two hours. Come on." Hermione checked her watch and nodded to herself. "And now it's in an hour 59 minutes." When she finally found her pregnant friend, Hermione realized that it shouldn't have been so much of a search. Krys was in her room, in plain sight, speaking on the phone. Her room, on the phone, meaning she was in the half-finished nursery that she'd started to live in once she'd accepted the fact that she was really pregnant. As soon as Hermione walked in, Krys ended the call with a,

"Yeah, I love you too. Fight the good fight, Prongsie." When Krys hung up, she looked to Hermione with an indifferent look on her face. The look immediately scared Hermione. She felt a ball of lead drop in the pit of her stomach, simply from the look that Krys gave her. Ever since Krys had been pregnant, she had a definite and straight forward opinion about everything from bubble gum to dental floss. Nothing left her undecided, and she voiced most of her thoughts with no fear.

"What happened?" asked Hermione, scared out of her wits. If she hadn't known Krys, she would look at her with the question of 'what the hell could be bothering this young girl?' Any other time, Hermione would hold her tongue. Not today. "What the hell could be bothering you? I mean, you're young, you're pretty, and you're about to have a baby." Krys looked at her.

"Okay- you highlight the things in that sentence that shouldn't be bothering me, and I'll wait." Krys said, making Hermione snort with laughter. Hermione looked at her and knew that she didn't want to hold her laughter either, and was slightly satisfied when Krys started to laugh too. When the laughter was over, Krys' indifferent look overtook her face again. Hermione threw her head back, and voiced a,

"What now?" Krys looked at her with her eyebrows raised.

"Well, _excuse me_. Who the hell am I to feel any way but happy?" she asked.

"I meant, what's wrong?" Hermione said. Krys inhaled deeply, and ran her hand through her beautiful and glossy long locks. This was a move that she'd developed when she thought that she was worried for nothing, when she had no idea what to think, or when she was thinking about her answer. Basically, it was what Hermione called 'The Krysta-scapegoat'. She always teased Krys and said that it was a ploy because by the time she _dazzled_ _with her beauty_, and did the 'popular girl' move of running her hand through her hair, whoever she was stalling would forget all about what they wanted to know in the first place. Krys would simply laugh and give Hermione the finger. But today was different. Hermione didn't feel the urge to tease Krys about it, and Krys didn't look as if she'd answer the same way. Instead Krys ran her hand through her hair a second time, and bit her lip when she was done.

"Well… nothing really. It's just that… he's dead." she said.

"Who?" Hermione asked the question hurriedly. Who? Flashes of panic smacked Hermione in the face and she'd instantly gone from painful purgatory to hellacious hell. Flashes of mangled bodies, fires, and explosions at the Watchful Eye auror training program. Accidents at the ministry. Hell. Hermione's imagination put her through utter hell. "Not-… Ares and Ron are okay, right?" Krys didn't say anything. She was looking down at her hands. That small gesture alone forced Hermione's eyes to tear. Through her mind flashed black. All black. The darkest and saddest funerals ever. A pregnant Krys in a black widow's getup, and Hermione next to her, throwing herself over Ron's and Ares' bodies. "Right?" Hermione asked, begged. Finally, Krys looked up.

"Oh- sorry, I just had an idea for a middle name." she said. "I'm sorry, what happened?" Hermione sucked in a big rush of air, then let it out sharply like she was in labor. Then she looked at Krys like she was crazy.

"Krys-" Looking at her friend, she couldn't even say anything but, "You're too much."

"So I've been told." Hermione looked at her again. This time, her stare was bold yet even more pleading than the one before. She'd honestly never felt more scared in her life. But the one thing that didn't cease to calm her was Krys' joking attitude. The fact that Krys lost her train of thought made Hermione smile on the inside, despite how scared she'd been. She knew that it was someone close to home. But the fact that Krys could lose her mind in something else said that it wasn't something that they'd cry over too much.

"So, who- who died?" she asked. Krys looked at her. Her look also eased Hermione. Krys' eyebrows were raised, but she didn't look happy. Scratch that, she didn't look like she wanted to be happy. The girl scratched her dark haired head and bit her lip before she answered.

"Pettigrew." Hermione looked at her, before she sighed and relief washed over her face. Pettigrew was dead? Woo-fucking-hoo. Or was it Boo-fucking-hoo? Sarcastically, at least. Was she supposed to be sad? Because she wasn't. Honestly, Hermione couldn't understand how Krys could actually be anything but happy. They were talking about a man who caused their family a mess of pain. One man that managed to screw so many lives royally.

"Oh. Thank God." she said, making Krys look at her. "Oh- I only meant… I thought that it was Ares or Ron. Jason or A.J- Ginny- someone close."

"Oh no. No. Don't worry. They're all good."

"How good?"

Krys looked at her and did something dramatic with her eyes and made her lips pouty. "_Good_."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm actually… I don't know how I feel." Krys looked up and smiled. She was trying. She really was. "I don't wish death on anyone, but… who the hell am I kidding? I just don't want bad karma, since I'm about to bring someone into the world. I just keep thinking that all this bad shit that I've done… I just keep thinking that it's gonna come back and bite me and my baby's ass. Thus, biting my ass twice." Hermione laughed, then sat down on Krys' bed. She looked at her worried friend and felt some worry herself.

"Well… I think that you've put out enough good in the world to cancel out the bad." she said, in a reassuring voice.

"But that doesn't negate the fact that I've done some really bad shit."

"Like what?" Hermione asked mockingly. Krys hadn't done anything bad. With the exception of a few ass kicking's and a few tongue lashings, she'd almost been a saint. Well, sort of.

"Like what." Krys' voice was mocking as she struck a thoughtful pose, with her eyes rolled up to the ceiling and her forefinger on her chin. The black haired girl didn't believe that she'd been a good person. Krys looked at Hermione like she was crazy. She hadn't done anything bad? Of course she had. She'd killed people. She'd killed in war- she'd ended someone else's life. "Like- there was a much easier and nicer way to break up with Ares." she said, leaving the heavier things in her mind. "And I could've tried harder with you and Ron."

"No, Krys. There is nothing more that you could've done with me and Ron." Hermione looked at Krys, who was letting her hormones get the better of her, and laughed. "I blew it with Ron. And when I was ready, it was too late. Way too late. I mean… he deserves to be angry. And I deserve all that he's throwing in my face." Krys shook her head.

"No you don't." she said. When the alarm clock by Krys' bed went off, Hermione looked at her watch.

"Come on. We have to go." she said, as she picked up Krys' bag. "How long are we staying this time?"

"Well… Madam Pomphrey got us three days. I only think we need the day to get there, the checkup, then we can take the train back to school."

"But aren't you supposed to meet with Mrs. Delgado and give her the update?"

"Yeah, she has a meeting in Switzerland the day after we get back. She set it up that way." Krys stood up and looked at Hermione. "Thank you" she said. "You've probably blown off like twenty classes already. And I know how important healing is to you, so… thank you so much." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You're so _dramatical_." she said, throwing her head back and making Krys laugh.

"Did I tell you the plan?" Krys asked, as she picked up the lighter bag.

"No. What is the plan?" Hermione asked.

"I'm gonna have the baby in Puerto Rico. Where Mrs. Delgado was from in Aguas Buenas. And I'm gonna stay with him for about a- I don't know, but then Mrs. Delgado said that I have to go to school, but she'll watch him during the days. And I'll stay there for weekends. The nursery in her house is almost done." Hermione looked at her.

"She's gonna stay with him?" she asked. "But isn't she like, the most important witch in the ministry. She controls the alliances and all that, right?"

"Yeah, but most of her work is paperwork, and she negotiates settings for meetings through paperwork. So… there's that whole crib in office, while work is being done thing."

"Well, that's cool." Hermione said, as she and Krys got into the taxi that was honking like there was no tomorrow. "I called him a while ago. I wonder why he waited." Krys looked at the taxi, then trudged along.

"Come on. Lets go." she said. When she got into the taxi, it smelled of new car and air conditioning. In other words, it smelled horrible. Both girls looked up at the taxi driver, while Krys opened the window. He pointedly glared at her until he saw the belly, then he turned off the air conditioning, and asked,

"Where to?" in a thick accent.

"Airport." Hermione said. "The one-"

"The closest one to here, or a far one?"

"The close one." Hermione said.

"Okay." The whole ride to the airport was silent, along with the whole journey through the airport, and the beginning of the flight. When the two girls got settled in their first class cabin, Krys looked at Hermione.

"What?" Hermione asked. She was scared by the look that Krys was giving her. As Krys shook her head, her squint reached her eyes. She looked as if she were trying to figure out some painfully difficult puzzles.

"I just have a weird feeling." she said. Then she shook her head, and ran her hand through her hair.

"Do you need anything?" Hermione asked. "I- are you feeling sick?"

"No- no. I think I'm just tired. I just- I should make- I have a phone call to make." She picked up the airplane phone and started to dial Harry's number. When he finally answered, he used a hushed tone.

"Padfoot, I'm in the field." he whispered.

"I'm so sorry." Krys said. "It's just… can you do me a favor?"

"Why do you sound like that?"

"I don't know. I feel weird. I'm- I feel- don't laugh at me. But I feel like someone is watching me. And… it's a scary feeling, right now. And… I don't know why. I just… I'm gonna keep in touch, because… I need you to be strong for me."

"Hold on, hold on-" Harry said. She heard him having a conversation in the background, before she heard footsteps. "Alright, what happened?" His voice was no longer hushed. "Why- what are you talking about? You're scaring me."

"I'm scaring me too. I just feel really weird, Prongs. This gut feeling."

"So, what do you need me to do?"

"Just… I want you to… _make a live sheet for the plane and just set it straight_. _Just put the map to life, and use your wand to draw a straight untainted line, out of ranges of other planes, but straight to Germany. Straight, Prongs._" She finished her words in Parseltongue.

"Okay." Harry said. "Safe flight."

"Thank you. And don't tell Moody that I was paranoid. Please, don't. He'd make me feel weak." Krys said.

"No he wouldn't. But, okay. Tell Hermione I said hi."

"Alright. Kick some ass. Tear those bitches up." Harry laughed.

"Alright, see you this weekend." he said. And then she hung up. She turned to the stare of Hermione.

"What happened?" Hermione asked. She wore a worried look. "Are you okay?" Was she okay?

"I am now." Krys said, nodding. She was.

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"So how have you been eating? What have you been eating?" asked Dr. Burgos, with her heavy Spanish accent.

"I've been eating a lot. And… um- well, I eat a lot of spinach, and meat- no pork, but a lot of cheese and carbs. Then, I cut the caffeine, like you said."

"What about the sweets? Are you still with the sweets?" Dr. Burgos asked.

"Yeah. But not as much. I cut back a lot. Like, now… a whole cake takes me two days." Krys said, making the doctor laugh.

"Well, you have the sonogram. And, do not forget your prenatal vitamins. Your fetus's picture- your fetus- the baby is healthy. Strong heartbeat, but I told you all of this before. Now I want to speak to you, about you." Krys looked up from her seat.

"Yes?" she asked. What was shown in her eyes was almost that of what a child looks for in her mother. But it wasn't Krys looking for the motherly love so much as it was Krys looking to a great influence, valuing her opinion, and plainly seeking guidance.

"I know that this is none of my business, but I have been your doctor for the past three months- and I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but… I feel in this case, from what you've told me… maybe we _should_ talk. You should come to my counseling sessions. Unfortunately, you're in America, and I'm here in Europe. But- I wish to talk to you about the father." Krys bit her lip and shook her leg. The tension in the room that radiated from Krys could be couldn't even be cut with the sharpest knife. "You have to relax. You are too stressed, and so far, it hasn't taken a toll on the fetus, but on you. I do not want to see you in any danger, and stress is dangerous. So one, you should really stop traveling so much during this time."

"But, I like having you as a doctor. Your hands are never cold. It took me three weeks to find you." Krys said.

"Well then… if we're meeting in Europe, we can just meet in my home country."

"That would've been smart." Krys said. "So, next time in Spain."

"Yes."

"Okay." Krys said. "What's today's date?"

"The 23rd February. And you still wish to have your baby in Aguas Buenas?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"There's something else, isn't there?"

"Yes. Over the past three months, in our letters, phone calls, emails, and appointments, I've come to notice that you're very smart, Krystathalia. And I know that this is overstepping my boundaries, but, you have to tell the father. And it may seem like a matter of opinion, but, Krys- he should know, especially if he can ease the stress."

"Dr. Burgos, he can only add stress. Not intentionally, but… knowing that I'm taking his future from him, that adds stress. If anything, my secret has eased the stress that would be induced if I told him." Krys said, rolling her shoulders.

"Well then, you at least need a stress reliever. More of one, whatever can help you, because… eventually, your stress will start to take its toll not only you, but it will hurt the baby." Dr. Burgos said, writing something on her clipboard. "Okay honey, I want to see you next month, and you'd better be relaxed when I do."

"Okay." Krys said.

"And note, do not get an attitude when I say this, but…"

"But…"

"Your weight. You are a good weight for this. The pregnancy is doing well for you. Although, Krys, you could stand to gain a pound or two. And I hope you've thrown the injections out, because they're harmful."

"Yes, I've thrown them out." Krys said.

"Okay- well, I'll see you next month." Dr, Burgos said, before Krys walked out. When she walked out of the room, Hermione was waiting for her.

"You okay?" she asked. Krys nodded.

"I'm good, yeah." she said.

"Okay- well, this trip was planned perfectly, because we have just enough time to get to our train." Hermione said, as she and Krys started to walk.

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Exactly 8 weeks later………

"Please stop trying to give me massages, people." Krys said, as they sat around her old room. She was the only one lying down while the rest of them sat around her, as if she were the fire to their stones. As she played with the fabric of her t-shirt, everyone sat quietly, staring at her and studying her intently.

"If your doctor says you're still stressed, then you should do something about that." Jason said, reaching to rub her shoulders again. With one frosty yet somewhat awkward look from Krys, his hand crept up to his neck as if he were going to scratch the back of his head. Krys rolled her eyes in attempt to change the subject with discretion. Another look delivered to Krys by Jason, made her lie back, before Jason shook his head as if to rid himself of impure thoughts. "Maybe telling A-"

"No." Krys said, looking at Harry, then Jason. "I have to go to Puerto Rico via private plane. So, I have to get to New York tomorrow. I'm gonna spend the last week of my pregnancy in Puerto Rico. Maybe going to church will ease some stress." Krys sat up and looked at her nails.

"So, who are you taking with you?" Hermione asked, as they all secretly prayed the 'please me's'.

"I've kept you all out of school enough. I don't want any of you there. God, I don't want any of you looking down- let's just cut this conversation." She looked up. "I mean, I want you guys there, I just don't want anyone telling me to breathe. And while giving bir- I hate that word 'birth'. Ugh. Its like the name Bertha- I hate it. Anyway, I don't want you guys there while I do it. I just want you in the waiting room, where people belong. If you guys can be there at all- look, it's just a regular day. Due date is May 15th. I hate the month of May." Krys sighed and lied back down. "I need a massage chair."

"Probably." Hermione said. "You need something to relieve stress. What usually did the trick?" They all looked at her with condescendingly raised eyebrows. "Ill, that's disgusting. Am I the only virgin here?"

"Yeah. Look at it." Krys said, pointing at her belly, making them all laugh. "Marcus Raphael Rodriguez? Joshua Marcus Rodriguez? Joshua Marcus Alexander Rodriguez? Marcus Alexander Joshua Rodriguez?"

"Marcus Delgado?" Jason said, making Krys look at him, then close her eyes. She waited for a minute, before she opened them back up. It was almost as if she was trying to re-see everything. As if she didn't like what she saw in her first life and the second time around would be much better.

"I am such a Latina." Then she smiled, while looking at the rest of them. They all seemed to be looking at her tummy, which was hidden beneath her shirt. She rubbed her own stomach in a self-conscious manner.

"I can't believe you're the first one pregnant." Harry said. "I had my money on Hermione." Hermione looked at him, clearly mortified and wondering what she did to deserve a comment like that.

"At this young age? Not in a mill-… oh." she suddenly stopped, and closed her eyes tight, before she turned to Krys. Looking up, Krys shook her head.

"Honestly, Prongs, I thought it'd have been Hermione, too. But, as evident, it is me that's knocked up. Unwed, in school, and just eighteen years old. I feel bad for the poor innocent child that's dealt me as a mom." She sighed, and threw her head back, before she folded her hair up and used it as a pillow. The room was silent for a while, before Krys swiped a small tear that rolled down her face away.

"Krys-" Hermione tried, but Krys held her hand up.

"Please, don't." she said, with a small laugh. She started to sit up, and the three jumped to help her, but she shook her head and did it herself. "Can you believe that I can't finish the nursery by myself, because my doctor doesn't want me to inhale the paint fumes?"

"Well- shouldn't you expect that? Paint fumes are bad regardless. In this case, you're about eight months pregnant." Harry said. Krys rolled her eyes and rolled her shoulders.

"Trying to relax?" Hermione asked.

"No, I'm trying to row a goddamn boat." Krys said sarcastically. "I mean, Jesus Christ, Hermione! For someone so damn smart, you need some damn common sense." Hermione looked slightly hurt, although she knew that Krys was just hormonal. Harry and Jason looked at Krys, then at Hermione.

"Yeah, Hermione." Harry teased, shaking his head mockingly, and making Hermione glare at him. But before Hermione could say anything, Krys hit Harry on the head.

"Don't say anything that hurt my friend's feelings." Krys said, with another hand threateningly raised. "And I'm watching you." She rolled her shoulders and licked her lips, before yelling "Come in." to the knock at her bedroom door. In through the door walked McGonagall. She wore a smile and carried an obscenely large box. As soon as she walked in, Harry, Hermione, and Jason sat up and threw their hands out,

"Surprise!" they yelled, before the others spilled into her old room. Razz, Dread-Head, Angel, Jaime, Ms. Delgado, A.J, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Veronica, Charlie- the whole gang, excluding Ron and Ares, all bearing gifts. Krys plastered on a smile and muttered,

"Jesus Christ," under her breath, before she sighed. The men all set the gifts down, before greeting Krys with cheek kisses and pats on the belly, before they left the women in the room.

"So, baby, what's going on?" Razzie asked.

"Nothing." Krys said. She looked around at Ms. Delgado and A.J. "Why are you guys here? I mean, today is April 23rd."

"We know what day it is, Krys." A.J said. Krys nodded and started to get up, making virtually everyone in the room jump to help her. Shouldn't they be in France celebrating Ares' 19th birthday with him? Why the hell were they bothering her? Why were they all there scrutinizing her for being pregnant? No… that was an ill and selfish thought. They're there for you, Krys. When she realized that, Krys smiled and looked around at them all there trying to help her up. As laughter escaped her throat, she shook her head.

"I'm okay, people." she said. "I'm good. Thank you very much." She inhaled deeply, and stretched. "I just feel like the most underdressed person in this room." She started to waddle cutely to her bathroom, as they all stared after her.

"So, when is she due?" Ginny asked, as she sat down next to Hermione.

"May 15th." they all said in unison.

"I can't wait to see him." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I know." Hermione said. "Wow… Krys is gonna have a baby."

"I still can't believe it." Mrs. Delgado said. "She still hasn't mentioned telling him, has she?" Hermione looked at Mrs. Delgado and shook her head.

"No." she said. "We've tried, believe me." Mrs. Delgado jumped when she heard what seemed to be a squeal or a suppressed scream.

"Baby, are you okay?" she called.

"Um… yeah." Krys yelled back, before they heard the water start to run. As they continued to talk about the pregnancy, Hermione continued to stare at the door. Finally an hour had passed by and Krys still hadn't come out of the bathroom. They all glanced at the bathroom door nervously from time to time.

"So." Hermione said, shaking her leg. "How is Ares?" she asked, making it the 27th time since they got there.

"I spoke to him this morning." A.J said. "He seemed good, actually." Repeated response, it was. They'd basically all been having the same conversation every five minutes in between talking about the nursery and a party for Krys.

"So, what did he say?" Hermione asked coyly.

"Oh- its okay. You don't have to ask her, Hermione. Ron and I were sending each other messages all morning. He said to write him when Krys has the baby. He wants to see him." Ginny said. Hermione nodded uneasily. "Oh- and he asked about you."

"Hmm." Hermione said. As Hermione kept her face cool and collected, she squealed on the inside happily. After sending Ron a letter each week, apologizing for what had happened between them, she'd finally given up hope. "Oh- that's cool."

"Yeah." Ginny said, nodding at Hermione, and then sharing a look with A.J. As Hermione looked away, she started to shake her leg nervously again. It was almost as if they were trying to get themselves lost in conversation so that they wouldn't be staring at the door and waiting for Krys. When the door cracked, all of the women let out a collective exhale. Krys walked out wearing cute black slacks, and a flowing cotton gray halter top that tied in back and actually hid her belly instead of drawing attention to it. Being pregnant didn't take its toll on her physical appearance. Except for the belly and the swelling of her breasts, no one would be able to tell that she was pregnant from the back, or even the front. Her stomach had to be looked down on to be noticed. Her hair was pinned up, and she wore black and gray sneakers. When she walked out, she walked past them and to her door. Hermione and the others didn't let her leaving keep them from keeping an eye on her, which was evident to everyone as they followed her out the door. Krys walked into the nursery, and the women followed behind her. The noise of men speaking and working filled the room, and even when all of the women entered, they still didn't stop. They were fixing up the nursery.

"Prongs, may I speak with you for a minute?" Krys asked calmly. They all looked up and stopped working. Harry looked at her and started to walk towards her. "Thanks for doing this, men people." The guys laughed and went back to work, as Krys dragged Harry out of the door, the women still on her tail. "I'm gonna talk to Harry in private for a minute, okay?" She didn't bother to wait for a response, before she pulled him down the stairs with her.

"What do you think that was about?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." Ginny asked. After a minute, she looked at Hermione and A.J. "You wanna go spy?"

"Ginerva." Mrs. Weasley warned, making Ginny whine,

"Mummy, don't you wanna hear what they're saying?" Mrs. Weasley looked contemplative, before she shook her head.

"If she wanted us to know, then she would've told us." she said, before she turned around.

"I think that we can fix a nice linner." A.J said, making them all look at her.

"Linner?" Hermione asked. "Do I even want to know?"

"Yes. Linner. As in Lunch/Dinner." A.J said. "If the word brunch is acknowledged in the dictionary, how come linner can't be?"

"Because…" Hermione trailed off. "Yeah, when you're pregnant, linner can be good."

"See- Hermione knows what I'm talking about." A.J said. "Jason thinks that I'm crazy because of my linner."

"Don't ask me what I did to make her this way." Mrs. Delgado said, making them laugh. Hermione was the first one to walk down the stairs, and they all followed her.

"Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Delgado, I'll have to admit to you both that I cannot cook at all." she said.

"Neither can Ginny." Mrs. Weasley said as Mrs. Delgado said, "Neither can A.J." The two looked at each other and laughed.

"Hey- I resent you guys bringing up the fact that I can't cook." A.J said. "I can do other things."

"Exactly." Ginny said. "And… I have nothing to say in my defense."

"Well- you can learn." Mrs. Weasley said, earning looks from the teenage girls.

"Well, Molly- I think I've discovered the real issue here." Mrs. Delgado said, looking at Razz, then Mrs. Weasley.

"Its not so much that they can't cook, as they don't want to cook." Razzie said, as they looked around Krys' wonderful kitchen. "And this is a kitchen made for chefs."

"Okay- what do we have to cook for our mummy-to-be?" Hermione asked looking through the cabinets. Before she continued on her journey to find food, she spoke her next words softly. "Do you think that she'll ever tell him?" That question caused the kitchen to go completely silent. "I mean, about a month, his first child is going to be born. He's going to have a baby boy and he doesn't even know it. And… if she doesn't have to tell him, I don't think that she will."

"Um… Hermione, I don't know what to say about that. I don't think that she will either, but… you guys have another year in school, and if Ares comes to my house, he's bound to find out. '**Hey mami, who's that baby that looks just like me and ex**?' He's bound to find out." Mrs. Delgado said, pulling fresh vegetables out of the refrigerator. "And… although I don't think it's fair to him… from a selfish point of view, I don't want Ares to know either."

"Um… Mrs. Delgado-" Hermione started. Mrs. Delgado looked at her and shook her head.

"Jules, Jadey, Jade, Julie, Julia- anything but that." she said. "I look way too young for _Mrs. Delgado_." They all laughed.

"What did you just say?" Hermione asked. Mrs. Delgad- oh, that's right, _Julia_ smiled.

"Uh- roughly translated in English…" she trailed off. "**Razzellia, how would I say it in English**? Um… I forget how I would say it in English." Razzie looked thoughtful for a minute.

"If Ares got to the house, he'd look at the baby and say 'mommy, who's the kid that looks just like me and my old girlfriend?'" she said. They all laughed.

"And if he doesn't show up around the house in the next year, that's okay, because the aurors of the Watchful Eye auror training program graduate before you guys do at Nemonora." A.J said, before she winked at Hermione. As Hermione ran her hand through her hair, A.J hopped off of the counter, and started to look through cabinets. "See, mommy, I may not be able to cook, but I can make desserts."

"Whatever." Mrs. Delgado said, as she pointed her wand to the frozen chicken. Half an hour later, they were all sitting around the counter, as pots boiled, ovens baked, and pans fried.

"I wonder where Krys and Harry are now." Razz said, holding her cup of tea to her mouth.

"Oh- they're probably just discussing their top secret whatever." Hermione said. It was then that Harry popped into the kitchen.

"Okay." he said, completely out of breath. "She- K-Padfoot is officially in labor."

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Never can one describe that feeling that they get when they know of the new miracle about to be brought into the world. The feeling you get, and your way of explaining and coming to understand that feeling. For Jason, it was pacing. He was having a hard time imagining his best friend as a mother. For A.J., it was trying to calm Jason down. She knew that she would be a big part in the baby's life, and she knew that he would be too. For Hermione, it was making phone calls. She called her parents, she called and ordered toys- she went crazy with calling. Krys having a baby made Hermione feel like she was going to be raising a child also. For Mrs. Weasley, it was knitting. She was knitting crazily, making what looked like a small christening gown. Razz looked through an old photo album that she'd brought by for Krys. It had pictures of Krys at age two- pictures of them at the orphanage, before Krys was adopted. Harry stared down at his Marauder Chain, while repeatedly looking at the picture that Remus had given him. He stared at the picture of him and Krys eating the same cake on their first birthday. The rest of the men stayed at the house, rushing to finish the nursery. Everyone sat around doing something, worrying about something. But mainly, this was just their way of worrying about her.

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When you're lying down with your feet in the stirrups and about to give birth, you can only describe the feelings to come as scary yet exciting. And that's exactly how Krys felt. She was scared shitless. Wouldn't that hurt? A baby coming from "down there". She was about to bring a child in the world. She was going to be responsible for someone other than herself. She was going to watch a baby grow; depend on her, someone that would need her. She was so excited. She was about to bring a child into the world. She was going to take care of someone. She was going to watch a baby grow, depend on her, someone that would need and love her unconditionally. Someone that would love her even when she pushed them away. Someone to be there forever.

"I can't believe it, baby." Mrs. Delgado said. Krys nodded and looked around.

"Alright, Krystathalia, you're fully dilated. This baby is ready." Healer Cortez, the head obstetrician at St. Muggles and Magic's Medical Center said.

"Just breathe, Krys." As Krys tried to focus on her breathing, all that she kept thinking was how excruciating the pain actually was.

"Come on, Krystathalia, push." Krys took a deep breath and pushed with all her might. When the push was done, she let out a sharp breath that was somewhat like a scream. "Okay- we see a head. Come on. Push, Krys." Krys looked at Mrs. Delgado who was holding her hand, and squeezed it, before pushing like the Doctor told her to. On the last push, she heard crying and screaming. And then there were angels.

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When Mrs. Delgado walked out of the hospital room, they all looked up. She looked as if the world was just given to her. Happiness and elation showed on her face as she spoke to them.

"Baby boy. Ten fingers, ten toes. Four pounds, ten ounces. And he's perfect." she said. Noise of excitement and happiness escaped all of their mouths. 

"I'm gonna call Jason and the others." Razz said.

"Alright." Julia said, throwing her head back, making her coffee brown hair move. "Oh- he's so gorgeous. He looks just like him." To almost everyone, it seemed that she was talking about Ares. No dice. She was talking to her first Delgado man.

When they all went in to see Krys, she was sitting up and looked like she'd just woken up. She sniffled and ran her hand through her hair. "Abstinence is key. Babies hurt. A fricking lot." she said, making them all laugh softly. "Come on. Talk to me. Talk to me. You, Hermione. Come on. Talk."

"We brought your bag." Hermione said so softly that it could barely be considered a whisper. Krys shook her head.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Why is everyone whispering?" Krys waved her hand and her bag floated to her hands. "So nice to not have to search for my wand every minute." She looked through it and finally pulled out her toothbrush, before she started to brush her teeth. A minute later, a nurse walked through a door holding a little bundle in blue. She said something in Spanish to Krys, then handed her the crying baby. Krys looked utterly terrified, yet so happy that it was impossible, as she held her son. Krys inhaled and looked like she was fighting back tears as the baby was comforted just by her touch, before she said something in Spanish that made A.J., Mrs. Delgado, Harry, Jason, Razz, and- check this, _Mrs. Weasley _laugh. Was Hermione the only one who didn't know Spanish? It seemed as if even Ginny was following along well with what was said.

"I wonder how distinct his eyes will be." Ginny said.

"He'll probably have the accursed one's hazel, and the beloved's blue." A.J said.

"Here, see for yourself." Krys said, signaling for A.J. to take him. A.J shook her head.

"Uh…no." she chuckled nervously. "Babies make me nervous, Krys. No- each and every time I see myself with a baby, I drop it. I'm so- no." Krys looked like she was on the verge of laughter. But she didn't laugh. She just smiled and nodded.

"Me too." she said. "But… I can already see it in your eyes. You would tuck and roll, before you let him hit the ground. I know it." A.J. backed away slightly, as Krys looked at Razz. "Razzie, Mrs. Weasley, you gonna take him, or what? He's waiting for the attention and the crowding." When the baby was freed from her arms and surrounded by everyone in the room, Krys called Hermione over.

"Yeah?" Hermione asked when she got to her bedridden friend.

"Um… I don't know if I told you this or not, but… you know I want you to be his godmother." Krys said, making Hermione's jaw drop.

"Um- what about A.J.?"

"Oh- um, you know how I like her better than you and everything. And she knows that too, but… I want you to be the godmother of Marcus Alexander… Delgado. Initials MAD. Actually, it's Marcus Alexander Delgado. Actually it's fully Marcus Alexander Rodriguez Potter-Black Delgado. But his name's down at Hogwarts as Marcus Alexander Delgado. You know? Can't leave my dads or mom out of it." Krys said.

"So why didn't you ask me to hold him first?"

"'Cause I knew that if I didn't ask you to hold him, you'd feel alienated."

"And you wanted me to feel alienated?"

"Yeah." Krys said in the most 'well, obviously… I mean, duh!' voice imaginable.

"Yeah. Yes, yes, yes." Hermione said.

"You'd think I asked you to marry me. Gosh." Krys said, making Hermione laugh. "So desperate." She was back.

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The drop of a cell phone. That's all it took. A cell phone drop made everyone look up. Everyone except Hermione, who had been looking up and staring at him- the whole reason that she dropped her cell phone in the first place. Even through the baby's crying, the shock and edge in the silence was heard. The redhead was one of the only new people to visit Krys. But there were the originals that stayed there with her. Harry and Ginny sitting in a chair. A.J. and Jason sitting in a chair. Julia and Mrs. Weasley both making things. Whatever Mrs. Weasley knitted, Julia would make it even more aesthetically pleasing by crocheting designs. And Hermione ordering more things for her godson on the phone. The cell phone drop made everyone look up. And sticking their head in the door was a redhead with deep blue eyes and a gorgeous freckly face. He still hadn't seen her. Instead he stared at the bedridden mother.

"You made it, loser." Krys said, giving him the 'rock on' sign. Ron nodded, then walked into the room.

"You made it." he said, gesturing towards Marcus. Krys smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." she said.

"So, what's his name?"

"Marcus. Mark. Marky Mark and the funky bunch." Krys said, before glancing at Hermione and the others. Big mistake. When Ron saw Krys' eyes travel, he glanced to see what she was looking at, and his eyes widened along with his mouth dropping open. Hermione self consciously tucked her hair behind her ears and straightened her clothes the moment that Ron's gaze fell upon her. Then it was over. Ron looked to his mother, his best friends, and his sister.

"You know, they really shouldn't make hospital rooms like this. Someone can get you like that. I didn't even know that the room was this big." he said. Hermione visually wilted, then looked to Krys, who was admiring her son. Nothing was going to be the same. And somehow, Hermione wasn't sure of how she felt about that.

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"Okay, mommy. Are you going to try nursing again?" the nurse asked, as she handed Krys her baby.

"Um… okay." Krys said, slightly uncomfortable that they were all still in the room, even though they were asleep. She looked down at her baby boy. Her baby boy, with his wide open eyes. He was gorgeous. Born with a full head of curly hair, he was the perfect mixture of Krys and Ares. He already had Krys' eyes, except his were two different shades of blue. The sapphire blue took one part, and a light ocean blue overtook the next section. He had adorable chubby cheeks, and he was perfect. When she tried to nurse, he still rejected it, and in some ways Krys was happy. "Alright, Marcus, are you happy? Formula, here we come." He blinked, then let out a gurgle, making Krys smile. "Okay, so listen up. What do you want your first language to be? Stay quiet if you want English. Gurgle, if you want Puerto Rican Spanish. Gurgle twice if you want Dominican Spanish. Move your arm if you want Spainish-Spanish. And if you want all intertwined- if you want to learn them altogether, so that you're native in all and can differentiate, move me." Krys tapped his nose with her finger, and tickled his tummy, before leaving her finger there for Mark to grab. When he grabbed it, his little hand squeezed, making Krys smile. "Well, Marky, you've moved me. You are gonna learn them all. Okay, Dude… listen. I'm gonna get kinda serious on you, and I don't want you to laugh at me or anything. 'Cause, we… what's our team's name? We can't be the 3 musketeers, because… well, there are only two of us. We can be… the mean team. Or… okay- The Chipmunks." He let out a small gurgle, and squeezed Krys' finger again, almost as if he were making the decision. Krys laughed slightly and nodded. "Okay… we're the Chipmunks. Dude, if I'd have known… I would've named you Alvin. Like, seriously." Then she got serious. "Listen, I know that you won't remember this when it counts, and I know that this is early and irrelevant, but… I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you, but I know that I intend to try. And- yeah, I should tell you this now. I'm not going to be around very often now, but I promise you- I promise that when I am here, I will make those days count. I promise that I will. But you're lucky. Your Abuela Delgado, nana Weasley, and Grammy Razzie are going to take great care of you when I'm not around. And when I am… I am going to try my best. And- you have a god brother and god sisters. And chances are that when we go to really special places, you'll be able to share that with them. And, I just- I… I'm already in love with the idea of being your mommy. And I've already fallen in love with you. So, even if you grow up to hate me. Or you grow up and you're one of those dickhea- jackasses- _guys_, I'll always love you unconditionally, and I'll walk through fire before I sit back and allow someone to hurt you. So, that's something that you don't even have to worry about." Her speech was responded to with a gurgle from Mark. A gurgle and a little blink. Krys stared down at him and stuck her tongue out teasingly. "Just like a man. I pour my heart out to you, and you don't even share your feelings." Krys only looked up when she heard a small laugh.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so infatuated." said the tall redhead, who started to chew his brush-up. Krys nodded.

"I've never seen _you_ so infatuated." she retorted, as she looked from him to a sleeping Hermione.

"How long have you been up?"

"I haven't been to sleep yet."

"Wow. Being a mum has already taken its toll on your sleep. You might want to catch up on that sleep, before you can no longer get it." Ron said.

"I don't know. Hey- so, when are you going back to school?" Ron looked at the clock.

"Very soon. What about you? How long do you have?"

"Maybe I should just drop out of healer training." Krys said, making Ron stare at her.

"Krys, you just have a bit more time left. If you drop it now, then… you might as well have never gone in the first place."

"But… let's talk about something else." Krys said. "Why are you being so shady towards Hermione?"

"I'm not being _shady_ towards Hermione." Ron said. "I said hi to her."

"Well… aren't you in love with her?" Ron looked at her.

"I have a girlfriend." he said.

"No you don't."

"Um… Krys, yes, I do." Ron said, in a 'but really' voice.

"Wow. Um… Ron, who is she? What's her name? How'd you meet her?" Krys asked.

"Her name is Kay. I met her a few weeks ago, when I was shopping to buy you something. And… she owns a beauty salon."

"Oh God- you've stooped." Krys said. Ron looked at her so long that when they'd finally moved on, Marcus was sound asleep in Krys' arms. "What?"

"I- you're something special, Krys."

"Oh God, please don't tell me that you're coming on to me. I've had too much of a thrill today." Krys teased, earning a small chuckle from Ron.

"No, I was just thinking about how none of us could ever get away with saying the things that you say." said Ron. Immediately taking offense, Krys rolled her eyes.

"If you're gonna insult me, you can just leave." she said. "I'm gonna start throwing the fact that I'm a mother around pretty damn soon."

"Oh- no. I didn't mean it in a bad way. A compliment was coming right after it." Krys looked at him. "I just- the way that we all feel about you… you're like our common ground and no matter what you say, you say things in a way that make us all love you even more… regardless of what it is that you say."

"Oy." Krys said. "So is this girlfriend treating you right?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Are you happy?" Ron looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah." he said.

"Whoa. Auror training has taught you to lie."

"Krys, come on. How about we put you in the hot seat, huh? When are you going to tell Ares that he has a child?" Krys looked down at Mark, and then tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You know, if I was still pregnant, I could burst into tears about now." she said, making Ron chuckle quietly. "Look Ron… I know what I'm doing, okay?"

"Let's hope so."

"You don't have to. Because I know what I'm doing."

"Well… whatever."

"Look- when he comes back…-. Ron, I miss him a lot. Yeah, I do. And… I can't wait to see him again or have him meet his son, and marry him, but… not while he's in auror training. Not while he has the opportunity to do something for himself, which he _never_ does. He never does anything for him." Krys said.

"Okay- but… you can't expect him to wait around forever." Ron said, making her look at him.

"Why? What've you heard?" Krys asked, with an angry look in her eye.

"Nothing. Nothing." Ron said, scared out of his wits. "Sorry to leave you, but even though Moody sends his best, I still have classes tomorrow. And I need my sleep."

"No problem." Krys said. "But shouldn't you say goodbye to Hermione?"

"Its better if I don't." Ron said, before he walked over to Krys and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. Then he gave Mark a look, before creeping out of the room like a thief in the night. Once the door closed, Krys looked at a sleeping Hermione who was with her cell phone in hand.

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Some time later……….

"Hermione!" Krys yelled as she walked through their apartment. An irritated groan was made as Hermione walked out of the bathroom with her toothbrush in her mouth. She was foaming at the mouth, like a raccoon, and she had a shower cap on her head already. "Wow. You are quite a looker in the morning." Hermione narrowed her eyes and groaned, before she continued to brush. After she finally spit the toothpaste out of her mouth, she looked at Krys.

"What?" she asked in mock nastiness. It was already 11am; of course she was up and chipper. She only looked like hell because… well, some things are best unsaid.

"Hair appointment." Krys said, tapping the face of her watch.

"What the hell is with this hair appointment thing, anyway? I mean, why should I have to leave the comfort of my home to get my hair done?"

"Dude, you booked the appointment!" Krys yelled. She had been the one who adamantly objected. She didn't need anyone to do her hair. Why was she getting her hair done in the first place? Hermione laughed at the look on her best friend's face, and then nodded.

"I know. I have to get it dyed professionally this time. Do you not remember what happened when I dyed it myself?" Krys had to laugh at the reminder. The last time that Hermione dyed her hair by herself, her hair had turned green, when she was trying to go back to being a brownie.

"I don't understand it." Krys said. "Why are you going back to being blonde anyway?"

"Oh- see, I actually liked being blonde." Krys shrugged and ambled her way to the bathroom.

"What's taking you so long?" she asked. "You woke me up." Hermione gave Krys an annoyed look.

"Okay… I needed to cut out the pictures for the haircut that I was thinking about. I had to think about what I'd want it to look like if I went the curly route or what it'd look like if I went the straight route." she said. Then she tugged on Krys' hair. "You could change yours too."

"And why would I want to do that?" Krys asked in a breezy voice, making Hermione laugh.

"Because you're going to be twenty soon, you're a mother, and the spiral curls make you look fifteen."

"I don't look fifteen." Krys said indignant.

"Well, not always… but, usually? Yeah, you do." Hermione said in the 'I hate to break it to you' voice. Krys rolled her eyes and looked at her watch again.

"Can you get dressed already?"

"Gosh, whatever, Krys." Hermione said, snapping her fingers, before she was fully decked out in yellow sundress. Krys nodded, and then grabbed Hermione's hand. With a pop, they were in France's version of Diagon Alley, and they were standing in front of what looked like a luxury spa. Krys looked at Hermione.

"How much are you paying to come here?"

"Gold." Hermione said, nodding her head. The click of Krys' heels hit their ears as she walked to the desk of the spa like salon.

"Hello, Kay and Emily's, how can I help you?" the young girl at the desk asked. Well, she wasn't a young girl. She was at least 20, but, you know.

"Um, full treatment under Granger." Hermione said. Krys rolled her eyes and walked over to the seating area. She crossed her black slack covered legs, before she pulled her vest down a bit. "Dude, come on." Krys looked up to find Hermione with her hand out.

"What do you need?" Krys asked as she looked up.

"We have an appointment."

"We?"

"Yes you." said a blonde woman about their age. She had an English accent, long blonde hair, and long nose. But even with the nose, she had an attractive and fun quality about her. "You have an appointment. Your friend has told me all about you, and… well, girlie, you have to get your ass in gear." She took Krys' hand and looked at her. "My name is Emily, by the way, and I'm one of the owners. I hope you're going to let me, and my partner, do both of your hair, and my protégé and my partner's protégé will do your nails and toes." Emily fluttered her eyelashes dramatically. "I have a protégé." she teased, making Krys laugh.

"Okay, I like you." Krys said. Emily looked at Hermione and smiled.

"She likes me." she said. All three of them laughed, and Krys stood up. "Okay, so, let's get off our asses and get you two even more beautiful."

"You're laying it on thick, lady." Krys teased.

"Okay, come on." Emily said, dragging Krys away.

"Ah! Dude, we barely know each other, can we really be this close this fast?" Emily laughed.

"Your friend hired me. It's my job to do your hair, girlie. But I should have you know the truth. My clients work for me." she said, before she pushed Krys down into the chair.

"Okay, lady, this is not prison." Krys said, as she crossed her legs. She visually relaxed as she saw Hermione being seated in a chair next to her.

"See what we do for our luxury customers?" Emily asked. Krys made sure she kissed her teeth along with rolling her eyes, just to get her point across.

"Hmm… see what we're doing for your pockets, woman?" she asked.

"Okay, well, hush up with that." Emily said. "We have clients who have platinum cards in here… and I'm really not looking forward to losing that.

"Whatever." Krys said, laying her head back for her hair to be washed. "How long is this going to take? Because I have shit to do, you know."

"It should take about two hours, considering what we do." Emily said, practically yelling over the sound of rushing waters. Once Krys' hair was washed, Emily started to ring it out. "This is your natural color?"

"Why does everyone always ask me that?"

"Because black is in. If you ever dye your hair, it must be dyed black at least once."

"That's true." Hermione said. "I dyed my hair black once."

"Yeah, and what a disaster that was." Krys teased.

"It was." Hermione agreed reluctantly.

"Are you dying it again?" Kay asked, ringing Hermione's hair into coils.

"Yes." Hermione said. "I'm becoming a straight haired Blondie today." As soon as she said that, she looked at Kay, then Emily. "I want Rihanna's hairstyle. The one she got two years ago. Oh. But I want it a bit longer in the back."

"Oh, okay. Kay can do that in her sleep. As soon as Rihanna got that haircut, we had a thousand of our friends ask for it once they got from their 6th year abroad. Then we were still getting requests for it when we started this place. Only the requests were by 40 year old women, who looked surprisingly good with the short hair." Emily said.

"Okay, that's good." Hermione said.

"What about you, girlie?" Emily asked Krys.

"Why do you insist on acting like we're friends? I don't like you, just so you know." Krys said teasingly, as she looked up at Emily. "Unwise, I know, since you control my hair's destiny at the moment. But, what do you want me to say? I'm just gonna tell the truth."

"We know the truth, girl. You do like me, but you're one of those people that have to know someone for years, before they can have any type of relationship with them. Or, as I like to call them… you're a loner. Except, you in particular never have to be alone, because you're probably quite popular. And… if you are in fact popular, it's for a reason that you can't pinpoint. Am I right?" Emily asked. They all laughed as Krys rolled her eyes, but wore a guilty look through all.

"She's got you, Cook." Hermione said.

"Whatever, Bonnie-Bee." Krys responded.

"Cook?" Emily said.

"And Bonnie-Bee." Kay answered.

"Weird much, Crisco?" Emily asked Kay.

"I'm afraid so, Leopardhead." Kay answered.

"Excuse me, Leppie, but its _Cookie_ to anyone but _Bon_-_bon_." Krys said.

"Oh, well, Cookie and Bon-bon are much better." Emily teased.

"I know."

"So… _Cookie_, what are you doing with your hair?"

"Nothing. And… it's Krys to you."

"Um… no." Emily said.

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean… no. I refuse to just wash your hair." Krys sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Christ H. Jesus H. Christ," she said, touching her hair. "Just cut it and straighten it."

"Oh goodie. How much are we cutting?"

"I want it off my shoulders. Straight, cut into layers, and spiked."

"Okay. That's cool. I can do that. That, I can do."

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"Okay… so, after this, I think that we should go out." Emily said, as soon as Krys came out from under the dryers.

"You know that you're at work, right?" Krys asked, as Emily tapped Krys on the head, then brushed hair off of her shoulders.

"Um… I own this place."

"Excuse me, but… _we_ only this place." Kay said, throwing a small comb at Emily's head.

"Dude… this is my graduation hair." Krys said.

"Graduation? How old are you?" Emily asked her, as she started to gel her hair.

"I'm nineteen years old."

"Oh- so what are you graduating? Are you graduating Auror or Healer?" Kay asked.

"We're graduating Healer." Krys said, before she turned to Hermione. "I can't wait to see Mark."

"Ooh- is that your boyfriend?" Emily asked.

"No, that's my son." Krys said. It was almost as if she said it that way, waiting for a bad response. It was as if she were testing Emily. She wanted a real response.

"A kid? Cool." Emily said. She'd gotten the response that she wanted.

"Yeah, he is."

"So, you're not married, right?" Emily asked.

"Nope."

"Still with the father?"

"He doesn't have a father." Krys said. "My son sprung from my head… and I have absolutely no idea how I got him." Looking around, Krys broke out into a small tinkling laugh that triggered off Kay, Emily, and Hermione's laughter.

"So, I never do this." Emily started. "But, for some reason, I feel a connection with you two… basically, I like you, Cookie."

"You're not coming on to me, right? I've had enough thrills in my life, what with being a mother and all." Krys said.

"No, I'm not hitting on you, conceited." Emily said. "Even though, no mistake about it, you're hot." Krys laughed. "No, I'm serious. Smokin', and a total babe. And don't ever forget it." Then she looked at Hermione. "You too. And now even more so, with that haircut and dye."

"Really, Bonnie-bee. Smokin." Krys and Kay agreed. The two looked at each other and laughed.

"What was I saying?" Emily said to herself slowly. "Oh yeah. Okay- so… I really like you guys… and we're gonna hang out. After I finish your hair, Kay and I are gonna change… and then we're gonna hit a club."

"Um… no." Krys said.

"Yeah." Emily said.

"I don't want to."

"Doesn't matter."

"Cook, we're going." Hermione said.

"But I don't want to." Krys whined. "I wanna go home and call my baby."

"Cook, we're going."

"Fine, dammit. But tomorrow, if I'm too sleepy, you're getting Mark."

"Fine." Hermione said.

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As soon as they were able to see their hairstyles, both women stood shocked. They'd both had the shortest haircuts they'd ever had in their lives… and it looked good. Shorter hair made them both look more mature. Hermione, with her honey blonde asymmetrical Rihanna bob, highlighted golden and platinum blonde. And Krys, with her cute little pixie cut, that stuck up a bit, curled a bit, spiraled a bit all over her head, never leaving more than an inch and a half away from her head.

"Emily…" Krys said, breathing slowly. "I said just a bit. I said that I wanted it to touch my shoulders, or be a bit off my shoulders. My… hair- my hair is gone."

"Krys, you do look hot." Hermione said. "I mean… you were hot before, but now… you look 22."

"I like looking young. It keeps me sane." Krys said, before she touched her hair. "Okay, this won't be a problem if I can get it looking like this all the time."

"All you need is some gel." Emily said. "You can have it flat to your head, you can make it classic, you can do anything that you want with it."

"Except a ponytail." Krys said, making them laugh.

"Yeah, but ponytails are 1980's."

"This was Jada Pinkett's hairstyle in the nineties. What do you mean? I'm still living in the past." Emily looked thoughtful.

"Okay, how about we try the hairstyle out… and if you don't like it, I'll give you a free hair packet that includes hair-grow-back serum."

"Is it honestly called that?" Krys asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately. So… are we ready?" Kay asked.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, blowing on her nails.

"You've had your manicures and pedicures, and now its time to go shopping for some good club dresses and shoes… and then… we're going out." Kay said.

"Um… I don't know." Krys said, almost biting her newly manicured nails, making Emily smack her hand. "Ouch, you whore."

"Hey, I'm a pretty whore that knows how to have a good time." Emily said, turning Krys around in her chair and primping her slightly. "Okay now, get out of my chair, and let's get going."

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"So, what kind of club is this again?" Krys asked. Hermione laughed and pulled the passes out of her clutch purse.

"Does it really matter?" Emily asked. "I mean, you really need to get out more."

"What do you mean I need to get out more? I have a kid. I got out enough to have a kid. I need to keep my ass home and feed my son. Fucking psycho." Krys said, making Emily laugh along with Gem, Nic, Hermione, and Kay.

"When is your graduation?" Emily asked.

"Tomorrow." Krys said.

"Well, you'll be relaxed then, won't you?"

"No, I'll just be lucky if I'm not pissing GHB, Ketamine Hydrochloride, or Rohypnol tomorrow morning."

"Krys, raves are not that b-" Hermione started.

"Rave!? You said that we'd be going to a club, not a rave."

"No. See- technically it is a club. The rave is being held in a warehouse, whose owners belong to the Gallionaire's _Club_." Hermione said, earning a scary look from Krys.

"Who owns this warehouse, Hermione?"

"Allen's family owns the warehouse."

"Who's Allen?" Kay asked, chewing on the end of a licorice wand.

"Allen is Hermione's gallionaire boyfriend." Gem said.

"You have a boyfriend?" Kay asked. "Really?" Hermione nodded.

"We all do. Except for the one who rejects, like, virtually the hottest guys ever," she said.

"Okay, first off, I'm really not about to get with any guy that comes up to me with the line 'whoa, whoa, babe, are you okay? 'Cause you're on fire.' And, 'Did it hurt? When you fell down from heaven.'"

"No they did not." Emily said.

"No, no. They did. They have. They do. And those are the nice ones. You should hear some of them that I heard. The one I heard when Ms. Delgado made me go to Hell with them. I've heard, 'Honey, there must be a keg in your pants, cuz I wanna tap that ass.', 'I'd like to kiss you passionately on the lips, then move up to your belly button.' And my absolute favorite 'Baby, do you give head to strangers? If not, let me introduce myself, my name is Daddy.'" The girls snorted with laughter as Krys glared at them. "And those are just the dumb dirty ones. I've heard some funny nasty one's too."

"You know, the one about the keg usually does the trick for me." Gem said, making them look at her. "Just kidding." They all laughed.

"No, you're not." Krys said through her laughter, making Gem wink.

"You know it," she said. When their laughter died down, Hermione laughed, making them all look at her.

"Actually, Krys has heard some shitty ones, but… I have a favorite." She said.

"What?" asked krys.

"If I were to ask you for sex, would your answer be the same as the answer to this question?" Krys laughed, while the rest of them looked at Hermione in confusion.

"If he asks you for sex, would you answer that the same way you'll answer this question? If you say no, then you'll say yes for sex. If you say yes, then you're answering the same way and still you're saying yes to sex. It's yes for sex either way." Krys said, making them all shake their heads in shame. "Guys are dicks."

"Nu-uh." Emily said. "Not mine."

"Then he's ugly. Cause if they're good, then they have to be hard on the eyes."

"No. I have a good guy. And he's gorgeous." Kay said.

"Ugh- I don't even wanna hear about it." Krys said.

"I have a good one, too." Hermione said.

"No. Your boyfriend is a jackass."

"He is not."

"Whatev. I know that my man is a dick. Eric cheats on me nonstop. But that's okay, because, I cheat on him too." Gem said. Emily laughed.

"I have cheated, only once. But, A-"

"Hey, Krys." Some behind them said, making Krys turn around and squeal.

"Ryan!" Krys squealed jumping up and hugging someone. "You're a techno geek?"

"Yes, but you are too."

"Nu-uh, I only know two techno songs. One is 'I'm Blue' and 'One More Time'. And they'd better play them, because otherwise, I'll be sitting at the bar fearing that I'll wake up with my panties mounted on someone's wall." Ryan shook his head and hugged her.

"I can't believe I'm seeing you here." he said, squeezing her tighter. "Hold on, what are you even doing here? You're only like seventeen." Krys laughed and shook her head.

"I'm nineteen. And I'm gonna be twenty in August," she said, before she turned around to see her friends staring at her and eyeing Ryan like he was a piece of meat. "Okay, guys, this is Ryan my very sexy, very homosexual friend. He's also Vinny's little brother."

"Hold on, Vinny has a brother?" Emily asked. "Why wasn't I told about this?" Krys laughed and allowed Ryan to sling his arm over her shoulder.

"If you're wondering, it's all Krys' fault that I'm gay. When we were younger, she always turned me down when I asked her out. We could be married by now, with kids, a dog and a house. But, Krys decided to ruin me." Ryan said. The girls laughed, not listening to a word he was saying, because this guy was… whew whew smokin'. "Ladies, this is the one that got away." Krys rolled her eyes, and stood on the tips of her toes, before she kissed him. Now, where the hell did that come from, Krys kissing Ryan? Krys kissing gay Ryan? And we're not talking about peck peck here and there. We're talking about this Krys with her hands on his shoulders, foot popping, standing on the tips of her toes, while Ryan had his arms around her waist, Krys leaning into him kiss. What the hell was going on?


	57. Play

It was as if some sort of radioactive bubble was around the group of women, seeing as to how when they walked through, everyone moved out of their way. When they got to where they wanted to be, which was as usual the bar, they all turned and looked to Krys.

"Hold on. Hold on. Why were you making out with the hot gay guy?" Gem asked. A devilish smile appeared on Krys' face, as she looked past all of them.

"Because," she said. Yeah right, if I'm making out with a hot gay guy, trust me, there'd better be a reason.

"Because why?" Hermione asked, taking off her white trench coat to reveal her halter top. Her incredibly beautiful gold and cream silver halter top. It was amazing and must be dwelled on, because of its beauty. It was a gold and silver double lined, mandarin collared halter with frog buttons and a Chinese dragon print. And on the bottom, she was wearing cute white gaucho pants, with gold wedge heels that tied around her ankles. And then there was the Rihanna slash Victoria Beckham hair. Oh me oh my, she was maturing. "_Why_, Krys? I mean, you could go out with Lewis. He's smart, he's cute, and he's successful."

"He hangs out with your good for nothing boyfriend. And, I've never even met him." Krys said, looking at Hermione with the '_that's_ why' look. The new blonde bombshell rolled her eyes and decided to drop the topic. She couldn't understand why Krys didn't like Allen. He was sweet and thoughtful, smart and successful, goal oriented and a great businessman. Plus, he was one hell of a sweet talker. Sometimes there was the belief that Krys was just kidding, but then there were times when Krys took it all way too far. Krys never liked him. From the very first day, when Allen approached Hermione in that party, Krys instantly told him to shove it you-know-where. And ever since then, it's been one rude remark after another.

"Okay so, what was that kiss all about?" Hermione asked once more. Krys looked at her, brushed a piece of imaginary lint off of her arm, and then looked down at her super hot black skinny jeans and white sequin and bejeweled open toe stilettos. Hermione walked closer to her and started to fix Krys' white backless halter, with spaghetti straps, sequins, beads, v-bust, and mesh bottom.

"Because he's sexy," she said. "And... he was like, my _only_ friend growing up, before I met A- the dude. And I'm the one he came out to, like… when we were thirteen. And… if I didn't fall in love, he would've been my first. He's my… never-gonna-get-him, never-could-have-had-him platonic soul mate. I love him. And again, he is sexy."

"You know, I like your hair like this, but… I'm starting to miss your curls." Hermione said, fixing Krys' bangs.

"I know, Bonnie, I'm missing you as a brownie." Krys said.

"Okay girls… I say that we find some cute guys to buy us drinks." Gem said.

"Um, the last thing you need is a drink. Especially, since you're the salutatorian." Hermione said.

"Yes, but no one is awaiting her speech, Main Medic." Nic teased, slinging her arm over Hermione's shoulder.

"Hold on, you're the Main Medic?" Kay asked Hermione. They all nodded, while Hermione blushed slightly.

"Yes, she is!" Krys said, finally having to shout over the blaring music.

"Then drinks are on us tonight!" Emily shouted, leading them to the bar. "Congrats to the Grads!"

"No. No drinks." Krys said. "We can only have water and soda. Our graduation is at nine o'clock tomorrow, and three of us here are giving speeches."

"Mamma hen, we know that you'll have us up and going by seven thirty a.m." Nic said, getting her tequila made into a double. Krys rolled her eyes, and then sat at the bar. After getting her water, she rolled her eyes again as she heard a trademark squeal. It could only mean one thing, she thought, turning around. And yes, it could only mean one thing. She was completely right. There was Hermione sitting on her barstool, and making out with her unchangeable toad of a boyfriend.

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Sitting there in front of her wonderful boyfriend, leaning in to his touch as he stroked her hair, Hermione smiled.

"So, are we going out to dinner tomorrow night?" Allen asked. That was his question. As if she would turn down time to spend with him.

"Yes. You, Krys, Lewis and I are going to dinner tomorrow night, after the graduation." Hermione said with a devilish glint in her eye.

"Hermione, no-"

"Come on, Allen. Do you know how good Lewis would be for her?" Hermione asked him. Allen looked to the side, and then touched Hermione's shoulder.

"Hermione, it's not our business what she does, who she does it with, or how she does it. I don't feel right setting them up."

"Allen, either you do it, or I will."

"No, we wi-"

"It's fine. I said that I would do it." Hermione said, hopping off of her stool. "I'll do it myself." Before leaving to Krys, she caught sight of Allen staring at her. Ha-ha, she had him where she wanted him.

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In a club, once the right song comes up, you _have_ to dance. It is a definite _must_. And it doesn't matter how self conscious you are, or how much you hate to move, when that song comes up, you have to move somehow. When 'One More Time' by Daft Punk came on, Krys bopped her head religiously. After all, it was the only techno song that she knew.

"I always knew you were too cool to dance." Krys looked around and almost groaned when she heard who was talking to her. "Okay, love… I can tell how thrilled you are to see me." Allen said.

"Christ H. Jesus H. Christ. What do you want from my life, Allen?" Krys asked.

"I want you… and a part in your life. I want to be a part of your life."

"At the moment, I'm not too keen on seeing you. At least, I'm not too keen on seeing you without your better half." Allen smiled slightly, tilting his head to stare into her eyes.

"And who else would that be?" he asked. "There are only two parts of me, and I'm here with you. So… who would you call my better half?"

"Okay, get away from me before I sucker punch you, Allen. Why are you doing this? Gosh, leave me alone." Krys whined. She was saved not a minute too late, when Hermione walked over, with Lewis on her tail.

"Hey, babe." Hermione said as she walked over.

"Hey." Allen replied.

"Oh," Hermione said as she looked at him. "Hey, to you too, but I was calling Krys babe."

"Feels good to know it, don't it? I've gotten farther with your girlfriend than you ever will." Krys said, hopping off the stool and earning a nervous laugh from Lewis, and unfortunately a chuckle from Allen. "What, Hermione?"

"Krys, this is Lewis." Hermione said, taking Krys by the shoulders, and moving her in front of Lewis. "And Lewis, you remember Krys, don't you?" Lewis smiled shyly and nodded.

"Yes, I remember her. But, with much longer hair." He said. Okay, now… we must ask ourselves who the hell this guy is to remember someone. Well, no, that doesn't sound right. We have to ask ourselves who the hell this guy is to remember _Krys_.

"Um… you remember me? You _remember_ me." Krys said. Lewis nodded, with his hands in his pockets, and a small grin playing at his lips. He was just there smiling shyly, and swaying from side to side. She didn't remember him from anywhere in particular. She did remember seeing him at school or at any of her and Hermione's old hangouts in the past two years. Then again, he could have been from before. How the hell was she going to remember all the people that she'd ever met in her life? So… she straightened up and looked at him. "Who exactly are you?"

"Come on, Allen. I think we should leave these two alone." Hermione said in a slight falsetto voice, looping her arm with her boyfriend's, and walking away. Working through his resistance, Hermione got Allen away eventually.

"Where do you know me from, again?" Krys asked, with her arms behind her back, her head tilted to the side and an inkling of a smile on her lips.

"Well, if you'll let me buy you a drink, then we can talk about that." Lewis said, holding his hand out for her to take. Naturally, she didn't take it. But she _did_ roll her eyes and walk ahead of him to the bar. When they were sitting on stools next to one another, Krys looked at him.

"The nerve of you to offer to buy me a _drink_. And with a cliché at that. The nerve, I say." She teased, making him laugh slightly.

"Barkeep, I will have a Sam H., and the lady will have…" He looked to Krys, who was rolling her eyes with her signature playful roll.

"Oh, you know me so well," she said sarcastically. "Anyone that's ever met me knows that I only drink mineral water when in a bar. It's my icebreaker." A small catlike smile that reached and crinkled his eyes, played at his lips. Then he looked back at the 'barkeep'. And all the while, only one person came to mind. Him. No, not God, but Ares. Two years apart, the breakup… that would all _definitely_ take a toll on their relationship. Or maybe there's a chance that he forgot about the whole thing. Yeah… that was likely to happen. Her thoughts were interrupted, when the bartender tapped on the table, right in front of Krys.

"And what will the lady have?" he asked.

"And the lady will have a mineral water." Lewis said, before he sat on a stool and turned to Krys. "So… hello." Krys raised her eyebrows.

"Hello?" she said, before she moved closer to him. A look of shock crossed Lewis's face, before he visually gulped. Moving farther in her charade, Krys moved closer, and then touched his chest. A small laugh escaped her throat, as Lewis's breath hitched each time she moved her hands further south. And then, just as quickly as she started, she stopped and hopped back on her own stool. A look of confusion washed over Lewis's face as he stared at her. "Hey, where do you think the bartender is?" Clearing his throat, Lewis fixed his sports coat, and then looked around casually.

"Um… he's coming with our drinks right now." He said, before the bartender set a beer and a bottle of water on the bar. When he heard the price, Lewis started to feel around for his wallet. "Um… I seem…" He continued to feel for his wallet. "I seem to have misplaced my wallet." He looked at Krys with 'embarrassed' written all over him. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh- no, it's okay. I actually wanted to pay. See, this way, I don't feel obligated to sleep with you. And then I won't feel self conscious or cheap, because selling myself for a single bill mineral water… that's just not cool." Lewis laughed, and quieted down into a small smile. But not before long did his look once again turn to shame.

"Yes, but now, _I_ feel obligated to sleep with _you_."

"Oh, that's the last thing I want." Krys said, turning her nose up and pulling out some money. "Okay- well, bye."

"Wait-wait, what do you mean 'bye'?"

"I mean _goodbye_." Krys said, clearly confused about what he didn't understand.

"Can I have your number?"

"Um… I don't think that's a good idea. See… if I gave you my number, then that would give you the impression that I _wanted_ to speak to or see you again. That is not so, so I don't wanna steer you wrong by giving you my number."

"Well, here's my card." Lewis said, tucking it under her halter strap. "You know, in case you change your mind." And then he pat the card down under her strap, twice, and accidentally grazing her breast. It was actually cute in a ballsy yet way, you know, being courted through sexual harassment. It didn't take a minute for Krys to smile by second nature.

"Hey-hey, watch those hands, buddy." Krys said, before she started to walk away. When she was a few feet away, she turned around to catch him staring at her, and raised her eyebrows. "One last thing." She called back. It seemed as if the people cleared the path for her to look at him. Krys reached behind her back and pulled out a black leather wallet, before she tossed it to him. Lewis's eyes widened as he caught his wallet. Krys laughed, and then turned on her heel to walk away. As soon as she got a few feet away, she was practically tackled by Hermione.

"Dear sweet Merlin, how did it go?" she asked. "Please tell me you were smart, and cute, and charming… and that you were funny and likeable." Krys rolled her eyes.

"Christ, Hermione. I'm not any of those things on a regular basis, what're the odds I'd be that way around a stranger?" She said. "What the hell was that all about?"

"Come on, Krys. Tell me that he's not a fox."

"What are you, fifty years old?" That question alone made Hermione laugh.

"You know that it's true." Hermione said.

"Yeah, he's cute, but he's not A-"

"If you mention that name one more time, I will take the rest of the hair that you have left and…- well, I can't find anything to do with it, but… don't mention it again. We're way too old to hold onto high school love." Krys looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I know." She ran her hand through- well… over her hair. "Gosh, I mean…I think this would be so much easier if I didn't have his kid. I mean… I need to remember that even though I have his son… not everyone with kids stay together." Krys inhaled deeply, and then touched what was left of her hair.

"You need your hair back." Hermione said. "You're not you without your hair." Krys laughed slowly.

"I know." She said. "Look… dude, we have to get the hell out of here."

"Yeah. About half an hour ago, Gem had her tongue down some poor bloke's throat. We have to get them. Ooh- but first, I have to do something. Wait here for me?" Krys nodded slightly, then stood with her hands behind her back as Hermione walked off. Looking around the club with the glow sticks and the glowing people, Krys nodded slightly. Not in approval, not in answer to a question, but… just nodding. Just as a random and very creepy, to tell the truth, guy came up with his hand out, Hermione took Krys' hand, and together, they eased on through the club. The first one that they found on their journey was Emily. She was really hard to miss, actually. She was all giggly and talking with some guy, both were obviously drunk. Being the girl that she is, Krys walked straight up to her and yanked on her hair a bit, making Emily look away from boytoy and look at her. When she saw Krys, she smiled.

"Hey." She squealed. "Cookie, this is my friend-. Hey, what's your name, again? Coli-"

"Okay, it really doesn't matter." Krys said, taking Emily's arm and yanking her from the guy.

"Cook, Colon- no, sorry, it's Colin, right? Colin and I are gonna go hang out in another nightclub-"

"Ha- no, you're not." Krys said, shaking her head.

"But, Cookie!" Emily whined. "I like him."

"Okay. Well, if you like him, I guess we can make an exception." Krys said, turning to the guy. "Give your number, and she'll call you." After a minute when the man didn't budge, Krys nodded. "Okay, missed your chance." Then they were off to find the others. The next one that they found was Nic. Nic was casually talking to a guy, laughing with him, casual flirting- nice. Picking her back up was no problem. Next was Kay. Kay was also easy enough. She was just hanging out at the end of the bar. But, she was a bit tipsy. And then there was the problem child. The terror. The 'Gem'. Gemini was on a lounge couch in some guy's lap. She had her tongue down his throat, her hand in his pants, and they might as well have been- well, you know.

"Krys, you're gonna handle this one." Hermione said, making Krys glare at her.

"Why?"

"Well, even if the rest of us were sober, we couldn't handle it anyway. It's your game, and you know it." Krys rolled her eyes and walked over to Gem. With each step that she took, she cursed herself for being there in the first place. Why the hell _was_ she there? She could be at home with her baby. At this moment, the only child that she should be dealing with was her own. But… there she was, dragging drunken women out of a techno club the night before her graduation. It just doesn't get any better than that. Hot dog, no it don't.

"Gem." That was it. When Gem didn't respond to her name being called the first time, Krys grabbed a handful of her hair and gently yanked. When Gem pulled back and looked at her, Krys gave her a wave.

"Hi!" Gem squealed. Then she stood up. "Oh my God, honey. Hi." So drunk. I mean, so drunk, she was. The slur of her words, her slouch in stance, how sloppy she looked- everything- EVERYTHING screamed 'Drunk. Drunk, I am!' Krys nodded.

"Um… Gemmy, it's time to go, Hemie." she said.

"No, baby, it's okay. It is _all_-right. I am going home with him tonight." Gem said, pointing to her boy toy.

"Um- no, no you're not." Krys said, shaking her head.

"Krys, come on, we're going back to his place. Trust me, I've felt it. He's _worth_ it." Krys laughed, and then looked at the guy who was tugging on Gem's shirt.

"Gem, you like him?" Gem nodded.

"No. I like _it_." She whispered close to Krys' face. The scent of Grey Goose burned Krys' eyes.

"Okay. You want it? Get his number, call him tomorrow, and fuck him on your own time. Because right now, we're going to my place, and you're going to bed."

"Kryssie, no, no, no. You're not my mommy. Stop telling me what to do!" Gem whined. The roll of Krys' eyes said it all. 'Why must she be so difficult?'

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. I don't really give a shit if you wanna come back and have sex on the bar. But… since you came here _with me_, you're leaving _with me_. And it doesn't matter if it's against your will or not." And those were her last words, before she dragged Gem out… by her hair.

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"Hermione what the hell are you doing?" Krys asked, shaking Hermione from her catnap on the couch. Groaning and slapping her best friend away, Hermione rolled and groaned. "Um… Bonnie B, we only have half an hour to get to our graduation." As the words 'half an hour' rolled out of Krys' mouth, Hermione rolled out of her bed. On the floor, tangled in the sheets, Hermione groaned.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she screamed.

"Well, darling, observe how I am now waking you up." Krys said slowly. "Dude,… get up and get dressed. Your ass on the floor is just making us even later." Hermione hopped off of the floor and ran in the shower quicker than the Flash. Twenty minutes later, she was in Krys' room drying off in a towel. "Am I getting a peep show? Is this like, my gift for being good all year?" Hermione looked at her and raised her eyebrows.

"You've been good?" she asked.

"Um… there's been no sex, no drugs, and no liquor."

"There was never any sex, drugs, or liquor. Oops- well, there was sex."

"Yeah, I do miss that. How has it changed since the last time?" Krys teased.

"When was the last time that you…?" A small laugh escaped Krys' mouth, as she smiled.

"Um… it was the morning that he and I broke up. It was at about… 3 am." She said, hugging her pillow. "SO… has it changed since the last time around?"

"Well, you know that I wouldn't know anything about that."

"Well… I feel better knowing that you're not having sex with that thing that you're seeing." Krys said with a look of pure disgust on her face. Hermione looked at her and shook her head before,

"Help me zip up my dress."

"Whatev." Krys said, zipping up Hermione's beautiful Gucci spring dress. As Gucci describes it, her black and white graphic flower embroidered silk drape fold dress with jewel patch detail. The short dress from the spring 2008 catalogue reached her upper thigh, which was accentuated by her 4.5 inch Adora silk satin sandals by Jimmy Choo. Krys clapped in her own Guess dress. Her dress was in fact, not a dress at all. She was wearing fitted light blue Guess jeans with her white on gray suede Uptowns. Her shirt up top was a cute fitted gray polo that fit her perfectly. And, luckily, it did not clash with her new hairstyle. Sadly and luckily, because she'd shed her new haircut as soon as she arrived home, making her silky black hair hang past her shoulders when in its natural curly state.

"Oh my God!!" Hermione yelled. "It took me forever to get dressed- we're late!"

"Um… no, we're not. I kinda just lied to you. It's only 7 am." Krys said, sitting down. "So now, we don't have to rush." Hermione glared at Krys.

"You did all of that for what?"

"To get your asses up and ready." Krys said. "Gem and Nic got the same exact thing. Only now, they're already dressed, and they're eating in the dining room. We have a small breakfast platter. So go sit down, and eat with Gem and Nic." Hermione looked at her best friend and felt tremendously grateful. As the smile on her face built, Krys rolled her eyes. "Just say 'dude, I love you' and sit your ass down." And with that, the moment still wasn't ruined, so Hermione sat.

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Getting to your graduation and being able to snap and arrive without a fuss is one of the greatest feelings that you'll experience. I mean, there are way better feelings, but not being late to your graduation is definitely one of the good ones. Some of those great feelings are; standing at the podium, watching your best friend stand at the podium, watching your god mommy at the podium, and watching your mommy about to graduate. Before Hermione made her speech- even before she could get a word out of her mouth, the clapping of a baby toddler was heard above all in the 5th row back. The clapping, and the 'yay, Bonnie-Bee, yay!' With those three words, Hermione was able to laugh through her speech happily. Those last few minutes of the ceremony built anticipation as the 'dynamic duo' waited to see their favorite Marky in the world. And as the anticipation built, so did the love. Hermione stepped back and smiled, waiting for chocolate brown and sapphire blue eyes to reach slate blue and green hazel eyes. And as the two connected, a 14 month old toddler practically jumped off the lap of his grandmother, and ran a wobbly sprint to his mommy. It was a sight to see.

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"So, how is this going to work?" Hermione asked.

"How's _what_ gonna work?" Krys asked, being the only one who didn't look up from her plate.

"Well… we're out of school now. And… Jules loves Marky more than most grandmothers love their grandkids. How's the arrangement with her going to work?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, that's simple. Tia and I have already discussed it. If she still wants, she gets him on weekends. If not, then not." Krys said, sticking her tongue out at Mark while he pinched her cheeks. And then, as quickly as her joy surfaced, it sunk with a squeal and five words. The squeal is what originally set it off. As soon as she heard the squeal Krys knew what was coming next.

"So, what did I miss?" asked the voice of Allen. Everyone, except for Hermione, looked at Krys as her eyes turned a disturbingly dark shade.

"Mommy?" said the voice of Marcus, as he held his hands on Krys' cheeks. And then, the tension was cut, as Krys focused on her son.

"I hope you guys don't mind that I invited Allen." Hermione said in that smitten voice of hers. And as we know, Krys holds her tongue and attitude for no one. So, taking Hermione's statement as an invitation, she stood and picked up Mark.

"Actually, I mind so much that I'm leaving." And with those words, she walked away.

"What was wrong with her?" Hermione asked, after she walked away. Allen quickly looked to the door, then back at Hermione.

"You should go get her back here. That _is_ your best friend." He said, before kissing Hermione's cheek.

"Okay." Was the smitten 20-year-old's word to her deceitful boyfriend? Christ, she was up for heartache.

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"Krys, what the hell was that about?" Hermione asked, with her hands on her hips.

"I apologize, sweetcakes, but I don't want to be there." Krys said, with her Mark on her hip.

"Why not?"

"I've made it clear that I don't like him. As a matter of fact, I think that I have made it abundantly clear."

"Yes, and just because you don't like him, that means I'm supposed to dump him? Well, I can't help you with that one, Krys, because I really love him." Hold on. WTF? She loves that sick son of a bitch? Okay, back on, we are.

"No, it means you're supposed to get wise." Krys yelled.

"Get wise, how?"

"Realize that he's a dickhead."

"And after I realize that he's a dickhead, what am I supposed to do? Krys doesn't want me with him, so I shouldn't be with him? That's what you're saying. I mean, honestly, Krys, sometimes I think you're just jealous!" Hermione yelled.

"Hell yeah I'm jealous. Who wouldn't want a boyfriend like Allen?" Krys asked sarcastically. "I mean… what a catch. Never will there be a day when I don't look back and wonder where my life went wrong, because I'm not with a man like Allen. I mean… what did I do wrong in this lifetime? Why isn't it me? Why isn't it me that he'll eventually screw up?" Taking it a step farther, Krys looked at Mark, and sobbed so theatrically that it made him giggle as if he were being tortured through tickles.

"You're so… annoying." Hermione screamed in exasperation. "Look, can you just come back inside? Allen is so nice that he was actually concerned about you and your… _extremely unpleasant_ self…"

"I'm unpleasant? I- me- me Krys is unpleasant?" Krys interrupted, all the while Hermione was still talking.

"…and sent me out here to get you. That's how caring he is. How caring you are? Well, your sense of caring is the same as sociopaths " And as extra insurance, Hermione held her arms out and took Mark before walking right back into the diner. So… Krys was left there alone… as usual.

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Sitting at that damn table with Hermione's boyfriend could've put the worst insomniac to sleep. It was as if the most interesting thing that could have happened was the fly that landed on the wall of the diner. The fly that incidentally brought the cleanliness of the diner to everyone's attention.

"So… Allen, how long have you and Hermione been together?" Julia asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Um… we've been together for about…" Allen looked to Hermione. "Six months?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Oh… so, I guess I can expect our one year anniversary dinner six months late, huh?" Allen's eyes widened.

"We've been dating for a year?"

"In a week, we'll make a year." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh- yeah, I knew that." Allen said.

"Whatever." Hermione said.

"I wouldn't take that if I were you, Hermione. Honestly, I mean… just say the word, and I can decorate our den with him. His head could go right over the fireplace." Allen looked at Krys and smiled, before he laughed. Hermione looked at her too, but Krys had no such luck getting a smile from her. "Well then."

"Um… honey, you can take my place. I have an international meeting that took almost six months to assemble." Julia said, before she kissed Mark, Krys, and Hermione's cheeks. "Okay… so, I am taking him tomorrow. He has a play date with this adorable little girl named B.B."

"Okay. I can drop him off on my way to the beach." Krys said. "Love you, nana."

"Bye, momma." Mark said, waving.

"He calls her mum?" Allen asked after Julia left.

"No. Watch this." Hermione said, looking at Mark. "Marky, whose name is Krys?"

"Mommy." Mark said.

"Who is Julia?"

"Momma."

"Your mother?"

"Mommy."

"Grandma?"

"Momma."

"Who loves you more than anyone on earth?"

"Mommy, momma, ti-ti, Bonnie-bee, nana, Pongy, and Dason." Mark said, playing with Hermione's hair. Krys laughed, and lifted Mark from Hermione's lap.

"Yeah, and Prongsie has been asking for you, too." She said.

"So, we're going to the beach tomorrow?" Allen asked. Hermione nodded, and Krys kicked her under the table.

"Ouch, you whore." Hermione growled.

"Do you want me to be rude, or a liar?" Krys asked.

"Speak your mind, Krys." Allen said, leaning back.

"Um… _I'm_ going to the beach. I don't know about Hermione, and I'm sure that you're not coming tomorrow, Allen. Number one, because I don't like you. And number two, because… I didn't invite your girlfriend, so why would _you_ come?" Both Hermione and Allen looked at her. Shock and… shock was written on both of their faces.

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Rays of sun hitting you on a sexy beach is all you really want for your summer as a woman. Well, of course you want the hot guys. But, _they_ come along with the beach. So, all in all, all you really need is a beach during the summer. That is what they had. Krys, Hermione and Emily, lying on their beach towels.

"Honestly Mate, I will never understand why you went back to your young haircut." Emily said. "You would have looked so hot if you gelled it down." Krys laughed, then gave them both the finger.

"Why is it that all you guys think about is 'hot this' and 'hot that'. Plus… if you want the truth, _hot_ is a state of mind." She said, before she caught the football that was about to find its way of crashing into Hermione's head. After she caught it and stood up, she heard wolf whistles as a group of guys jogged over in their sleeveless tees and cargo shorts. The first guy to arrive started to speak as he ran up to her.

"I am so sorry about that. Please-" he started.

"Nah, dude, it's alright." Krys said, tossing it to him, before she sat down and looked back at Hermione and Emily. "So, yeah, hot is a state of mind." Through her second declaration, Hermione and Emily ignored her. "What's the matter, dammit? Listen to me." Krys teasingly whined. Finally growing sick and tired of no responses, she turned around and only one word came to mind. "Hey." And there stood a platter of about four guys. For what reason, I don't know. Maybe they thought that our three were the hottest girls there. "So, um… whatcha doin?" The guy with the football laughed and squatted down.

"Hey." Those were his brilliant words. Hey.

"Hiya." Krys said, with a finger wiggling wave.

"Can I sit here?" Krys tilted her head to the side, and then looked him up and down.

"You have an okay ass on you, so _I_ personally say yes. But… and this is a huge ass here, you'll have to ask my homey and hemie over there."

"He me?"

"No… no, no, no. _Hemie_. One word together."

"Define, please."

"Homey."

"So then…"

"Hemie sounds cuter." That earned her a smile, before he looked over to Hermione and Emily.

"Hemie… homey, can I take a seat?" Mystery man asked.

"Can you?" Hermione asked, earning a pinch from Emily.

"I apologize. _May_ I take a seat? And may I talk to your friend?"

"See… in this case, that would actually be 'can I?'. And mate, I don't know how deep you are in hope… especially if you wanna talk to _her_." Hermione said teasingly as she pointed to Krys. "Plus, I'm not her pimp. He's vacationing in Vegas." Mystery man turned back to Krys and smiled.

"Your hemie said it's okay." He said.

"Okay, so, what happened?" Krys asked.

"I think that you're incredibly gorgeous, a-"

"Okay- hold on, please. Before you continue, what's your name? Because… I don't- you know, I feel weird not knowing your name." Mystery man smiled, and nodded.

"My name is David, but my friend's call me Handle." He said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a good handler." Krys laughed, then shook her head.

"No. I kinda got that part already. But, you could be a good boxing handler." Then she looked at his hands, and demeanor. "But… you're a ball handler. Basketball." She said, handling and doing tricks with an imaginary basketball.

"You play?"

"I haven't played basketball, popped a wheelie, played soccer, or did any strenuous gymnastics since I had my son." Fricking crickets. After a minute of unrehearsed responses, David's eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows.

"Son?" Krys smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, but the next time that you let your mouth hang open like that, you might try a net. Ooh- I know what would work for you. Do you know the netting that they use for playpens? If you do, that's cool, because the netting is small and strong so that even babies can't rip it using their fingers and freakish strength. Although personally, I know that my son has no problem getting through that netting." And with that, she turned to Emily and Hermione. "Dude… do you know that the reason that I let my hair grow back is because… I love how sexy I look when I do this." Emily and Hermione stared at her, while she ran her hand through her hair and fluffed it lightly. Agreeing that she looked immensely sexy when she did that, Hermione and Emily both applauded. And even as she stood up and walked away to the concession stand, she was in fact, sexy.

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At a concession stand, when someone skips you, and you just happen to be a 'socialite', you **do not** cause a scene. Hmmm…. We're talking about Krys. As this big busted, bitchy blonde had the nerve to stand in the back of the line for about two minutes, before she walked in front of Krys. Hmm… okay, so, being a nice lady, Krys shrugged and let her skip. Two minutes later, the blonde waved her hand, and a few girls in bikinis ran over with guys in their trunks. Still, she didn't say anything. Then- THEN!! One of those motherfuckers stepped on her brand-new Gucci flip-flop.

"Yo, Crush!" Krys said, pushing his 150 lbs. off her foot.

"Hey! Chill out." He said, catching his balance.

"You, you, you, you, you- and the rest of the yacht club, get the fuck in the back of the line where you belong, before I take my foot and shove it so far up your ass that you'll need a laxative to get it out. So, I suggest you move the fuck out of my way, before I move you." Okay, so, laugh with me as we imagine 5'1-5'2 Krys standing up to that 6'1 surfer dude. "Did you not hear me?" He stared her down, acting as if the force from his eyes would melt her core or something. Okay, cute. Again, need I mention that we're talking about bitchy when she needs to be, Krys? The 5'1 chick with the folded arms and evil eye still stared at him as if he was stupid. Finally, getting tired of the non-eventful confrontation, she pushed past him and walked right in front of the first blonde bimbo, before she looked at the people that were rightfully behind her on the line. "You guys aren't coming?" A few people laughed, a few guffawed, and a whole yacht club of girls rolled their eyes, and then mutter the usual 'she's such a bitch' and 'she had an attitude for no reason'. Huh! Like she gave a shit.

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All the while Krys was kicking ass on the line of the concession stand, Hermione was being shocked out of her ass. As she was walking towards the towels, she had to stop. She recognized that body and hair. And the next one over, she could also recognize. Making out on towels were two couples. Two couples that she knew. To be fair, I'll give you three guesses who.

Hermione was uncomfortably sitting unnoticed on her towel, when Krys walked over talking.

"Honey, you wouldn't believe the shit that you get from the local _bitches_ at this beach! This is why I don't come here. Some bitch…" After her first four words, the couples stopped making out and they recognized Krys instantly. But, Krys didn't recognize or look in their direction, until she followed Hermione's eyes. And that's when her mouth dropped open, and she stopped mid sentence. And they looked just as jaded. Ares, with his girlfriend nuzzling his neck, and kissing his shoulder, and Ron with his girlfriend lying on his stomach. Hell no. That could not be their girlfriends. Krys looked at Hermione with a WTF! look on her face. And then, being that girl that Krys is, she plopped down on Hermione's towel, and winked twice. "Bonnie, you wanna make out?" Laughter escaped Hermione's lips, and they heard smothered chuckles from Hermione and Kay. "Please, I'm starting to feel left out. Dude, I promise, no upstairs insidies. Just upstairs outdoorsies."

"No, Krys." Hermione said through her laughter.

"Come on," Krys whined, batting her eyelashes real pretty. "I didn't tell anyone about the last time. Remember, when we were sixteen, and I asked you if you thought I was a good kisser, and you attacked me." They all looked at Hermione, who shook her head.

"I did not. _We_ did not." She emphasized, making Krys look at her with doe eyes.

"Okay, so now that we're done with the lovers quarrel, you'll let me introduce you to my number one boyfriend." Emily said.

"Okay, shoot." Krys said.

"Krys- Hermione, this is Ares. Ares, these are my new friends Krys and Hermione." Emily said.

"Now… which one is Ares? Because I know that you and Kay share everything?" Emily looked at her and stuck her tongue out, before she looked to Ares.

"_This_ is Ares." She said. "He is my lovely boyfriend." Krys nodded.

"I knew an Ares once." She said. "I don't know what happened with that, though."

"And," Kay started. "This is Ro-"

"No, I know you." Hermione said, reaching forward and shaking Ron's hand. "We were heads together in Hogwarts."

"Come on, Hermione." Ron said, before Krys looked at Ares and smiled.

"Um," Emily said, looking around at them. "Do you guys know each other?"

"No!" Ares shouted, immediately deeming himself guilty. Krys laughed and sat back on her beach towel.

"Yes. We dated. For a substantial amount of time." She said. Slowly but surely, Emily's eyes narrowed.

"Oh really?" she said. "And how long was that?"

"One date, in our sixth year of Levebons. I'm best friends with A.J and Jason. And… in order to try and set Jason and A.J. up, we had to go on a stupid double date. We made out briefly afterward, and he once felt me up. And we continued our 16 year old relationship until… I moved to England, which was like a week later. And when I moved to England, he found his self a little weirdo named Ailen, while I dated…" Krys looked at Emily. "Do you remember the bouncer at the club yesterday?" Emily's eyes widened. "But you must admit that he was hot!" She was lying. We all know that she lied.

"He was very lovely, yes." Emily said. Then she laughed. "I knew you had good taste when I saw that guy last night. He was smokin."

"I've made out with your man. How bout that?" They all looked at her for that one. How wrong is it to say some shit like that? Well, even though we all know that it's wrong… Krys knew that what she said would get a good review. Emily looked at her and smiled, before she hugged her.

"I told you, honey. Isn't she cool?" she asked Ares, when she pulled back.

"They all know that I'm cool already." Krys said, fixing her black terry cloth extra-short shorts that covered her solid black with monochromatic blue striped double string bottoms. And even more subconsciously, she started to adjust her matching bikini top. The bikini top that showed pretty much her entire torso, and all her tattoos. And there she was, standing with that very beachy look. The look that had the curly hair away from her face, because it was held back by her sunglasses. That look, where she walked around in a bikini top, with her shorts and cute flip-flops. And then… there was Hermione and her rockstar triangle bikini. The bikini that was partially covered by her black hooded beach dress, while her eyes were covered by her cute red star sunglasses.

"Hey, we should go get something to eat." Emily said, getting helped up by Ares. Scoff Look at them, all lovey-dovey and shit. Him helping her up, and crap. What about him and Krys? No, that doesn't even matter. What about her son? What about Marcus Alexander Rodriguez Potter-Black Delgado, or better yet Marcus Alexander Delgado? Their son.

"Um… where would we go?" Ares asked her, as he held her close.

"Well," Kay said, hopping up and down. "I really have to go." That made them all look at Krys. Okay, so there they all were, looking at Krys expectantly. That is the problem that you face when you live the closest. And when they all _know_ that you live the closest. Fuckinae.

"Hey! I know a great diner." Krys said, collecting all of her stuff.

"I do _not _do public toilets!" Kay yelled. The nerve of this bitch to be picky. At that moment, Krys felt like yelling 'Bitch, go piss in the ocean!!' But, she didn't. Not because it would be rude, but because she liked Kay. Dammit!

"Man!" Krys whined. "I haven't been to my house in like, a year. Not since I bought the condo with Hermione."

"Well, this will be a good thing, then." Hermione said. "Plus, the last time we left, I think I left on a pot of boiling water on the stove." Krys looked at her. She really didn't look like she was joking either. Holy sugar on toast.

"Are you serious? Because, I… you know that I took all of the charms off of the house. So, if you did… it burned down, and you owe me 3.4." Hermione smiled nervously.

"I might not have done that. How about we go see?" she said slowly, before she quickly ran away. Krys looked at her.

"You whore, if you burned down my house, I will _kill_ you." Krys said, before she ran after her. Left behind, Ron looked at Kay.

"The way they are… this could go on forever." Krys stopped a couple of feet away from them, and looked back.

"The last one to the car is a rotten egg!" she shouted, before she ran off.

"Immature." Emily said laughing, before she walked off towards where the others were running.

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So there, in that drop top Beemer of hers, she cried…for about… thirty-eight seconds. And when she stopped, they piled into her car. And she was forced to hold the truth in for a bit longer.

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Get your motor running, head out on the highway!- and that they did. Well, not the highway, but they were cruising, listening to the tunes, and finally… they were getting hit by a truck.


	58. Keep Playing

Okay, so you have a man hitting you with his truck, and finally… he stops

Okay, so you have a man hitting you with his truck, and finally… he stops. And then tries to keep going? No! Hell no! Honking her horn repeatedly, Krys finally had to kill the truck's battery. Stepped out of the truck all light and muscular he did. And he was sexy, he was… but that didn't negate the fact that he was already to be pinned as a dick. What kind of asshole hits a car and tries to run? I'll tell you who. A truck driver that just happens to be an extremely beautiful man.

"Excuse me, sir, you rear ended me." Krys said, as she leaned against her back door. She had to stop herself from batting her eyelashes, and tossing her hair.

"No, I didn't." he repeated over and over again.

"Yeah, you did." She said slowly. "What do you intend to do about it?"

"I don't speak English." He said… in English. "**I don't speak English**." The nerve of him to repeat it in Spanish. The nerve. Oh- he wants to play that game, does he? Alright, fine then.

"**Okay, that's cool, because I speak some Spanish. You hit me, and I want your information, or there's going to be a problem.**" Krys said in Spanish, before she took a notepad out of her 'pocket'. "**I don't appreciate the fact that you tried to drive away, even after I honked my horn. And… I really don't appreciate how you're acting like- I don't know. I don't know. All I know is that if I don't get your insurance, there will be a problem… so, cough that bitch up.**" Standing there, tough girl attitude and all… she realized that he was serious. He didn't believe that he hit her, and he couldn't speak English very well. Shit… was it already 'good deed of the day' time? A look of 'pissed off'-ness was on Krys' face, before she realized that she was mostly pissed because of all that she'd witnessed. And once she realized that, she walked to the back of her Beemer, where she was hit, and inspected the damage. A mass of tears prickled the back of her eyes. Her original sapphire blue paint job? Gone-Scratched off of the bumper. But… there was no dent. Slowly turning to the truck driver. "**No need to exchange information, there isn't much damage done to the car. It's alright, I guess. Bye.**" Not waiting for him to speak, she just walked away. What else could she do? Should she wait there for him to talk to her? No! Get your ass on the move, Krys.

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When she got back into the car, she was cursing and muttering in spanish.

"Krys what happened?" Hermione asked. The blond jumped when she saw a tear trickle down Krys' face. "What- what happened?"

"Hermione," she sobbed, making them all look at her with care. "… he scratched the original sapphire blue paint. And now I have to get the car repainted." And scoffs were heard. Inconsiderate fricking scoffs. "Fuck all of you bitches. I should make your asses walk." Yeah she was teasing, but dammit, she really should have. Giggles escaped Hermione's mouth as her cell phone could be heard vibrating through the car.

"Hey, what's up?" she answered giddily.

"Bon, never say that shit again. You have the most pristine English accent on this side of California… the nerve of your ass to be all 'hey, what's up?'." Krys teasingly mocked.

"Cook, Harry said to shut up."

"Tell Harry that I said to go fuck himself." Krys said, more than loud enough for Harry to hear.

"Harry, Krys said to go- _you know_ yourself."

"Kay, you may very well have to go and piss next to a tree along the streets." Krys said, before she spotted the cop car closing in on them.

"This isn't your day, is it?" Emily asked.

"You should've caught me this morning when Hermione and I made up from our argument." Krys said, before she pulled over.

"Krys, try to be sexy." Hermione said.

"It wouldn't be a problem if she'd have kept the hairstyle." Emily piped in. With a small silencing look from Krys, they both shut up and allowed her to attempt to work the magic. Okay okay… _think_ sexy. Think cute, and playful. Think flightly, flirty, and frisky. And be cool.

"Are you aware that you're speeding?" No hi, no hello, no nothing. None of that shit. Krys looked up at him and shook her head. "Were you aware that you were speeding?" the officer asked. Krys had to hold from rolling her eyes, before she looked to him.

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware." She said in voice two breaths away from '_I've been a bad girl_'. It was just that that got his attention, before he pulled the cliché move of lowering his sunglasses. With a cute tilt of her head, Krys ran her hand through her hair and giggled. "I'm sorry- and I hope that you don't think that this is out of line, but- I _love_ your sunglasses. They just make you look so… _dangerous_." A small chuckle escaped his lips, and he actually grinned before he adjusted his sunglasses. And that translated to 'don't stop, I'm hooked'. And with a cute grin from Krys, the copper man grinned back.

"Can I have your license and registration, please?"

"Yeah." Krys said, slowly leaning over Hermione to get to the glove compartment. Leaning over slowly meaning, giving him a small peep show of the ass and legs, to get her registration and wallet. And then, what came next was just beautiful.

"You know what? I don't need any of that. I just need you to sign here." The copper man said, pulling out his notepad. Hmmm… sign a blank piece of paper with what? "Just your name and number." A laugh escaped Krys mouth as she jotted down 'Hermione. (310) 555-3663.' In the center of a heart. When she handed it back to him, she winked. "No more speeding. We don't need a pretty one like you getting hurt."

"Okay, I promise." Krys said, kissing her hand and holding it up. And, as that very cute cop walked back to his car, Krys drove like an old lady.

A long, agonizing drive later, they were pulling up to the gate of Krys' beautiful mansion.

"Oh my Merlin. This is your house?" Emily asked. "It is brilliant."

"Thank you." Krys said, when she finally got to park. Then there was that awkward silence. Time to get out of the car. Time to face the place where they broke up. With him. With his new girlfriend. With that truth there, staring her in the face. You guys are no longer together. He is now… he is now with a beautiful woman that is worldlier than you, with a flawless family history. Get your ass out of that car, degenerate reject. Oh- and she'd also have to face it in front of those other people. Yeah, but again, get your ass out of that car. And that she did. And she strut her stuff, and ran that cute girl run up to the front door, where she pressed in the security code. And no… it hadn't changed. The house hadn't changed at all. Stepping into that house was stepping back in time. She hadn't been there since Marcus was three months old. So much space. Whenever she had company over at the condo, and it was usually Thai, Angel, and Jaime, they just slept in the guest rooms- or her room, while she slept on the couch. That house was just a reminder… everything that she had… and the complexities of her life. It was all so difficult after she made him leave. She _made_ him leave- he didn't want to. And she had to live with that guilt- and she'll _have_ to. Forever. That's a long ass time, but yes- she'll have to deal and live with that forever.

"Whoa." Kay said, looking around. "And I can hear my echo." Yup- just another reminder of how lonely that house made her feel. No one but that crying baby.

"Yeah. Lonely house." Krys said, looking around, as she walked in. "I have to clean this place. Um… Kay's gotta pee, right. I think that there's a bathroom on this floor."

"You think?" Kay asked.

"Um… Hermione where's the closest bathroom?"

"The one through the hallway from the foyer to the parlor." Ares said, looking up, and making Krys look up.

"Yeah!- oh, yeah. The bathroom is just in the middle of this hallway." Krys said, leading her to the door.

"Em, come with me." Kay said, making Emily roll her eyes and follow along. When those two were out of sight, there was nothing but hands in pockets and whistles through the foyer.

"So… Krys, how are things?" Ron asked.

"What things? Because, the thing I think you're talking about is fine. I left it with Jules." Krys said, nodding. And then there were four sighs. "Ooh- dude, I have the coolest thing in the world to show you."

"Can I talk to you?" Ares blurted.

"Hey, Ares. Who're you asking?" Hermione asked.

"That one." Ares said, pointing at Krys. With that, they avoided each others' eyes.

"I have a name." Krys said quietly, as she walked up the stairs. When they reached the upstairs hallway, Krys stood there across from him with her hands wrung behind her back.

"Um…"

"Yeah?"

"Krys, what's going on?" That made her look up.

"What happened?"

"What are you doing hanging out with Kay and Emily?"

"I met them the day before yesterday. Hermione went to get her hair done. Emily was my hairdresser, Kay was Hermione's."

"Did you know that she was my girlfriend?"

"No. But can I ask you a question now? And if you mention that I just did, I will beat the shit out of you." Ares shrugged. "You don't know me? That's pretty funny, Ares, because I know all about you."

"It's what came out. And you lied too."

"Really? Because, when someone repeats 'please, don't mention it' in their head, like, a thousand times… something tells me to lie and follow along with their story." Krys said. "And… I didn't know that a breakup would erase everything that we had. You know- I just thought that I was talking to boyfriend Ares. I thought that I was dumping him."

"Krys, you just said it. When you broke up with me, you broke up with all of me. You wanted it-"

"Yeah, I chose it. Yes, I chose it. It is the decision that I made." She said. "But, I made it for the right reasons. And I don't regret it, because I know my reasoning for the choice that I made. Okay? Are we good?"

"No, we're not good, Krys. We're not friends, we're not anything."

"Really? Okay. Then, I guess I can just go downstairs and give Emily the grand tour. You know… the place where we did it- the _places_ where we did it. The- oh- she'll love the pictures, too. I know that I do."

"You're blackmailing me?" Ares said.

"Yup. Whoever said that friendship was more, they were a liar. So… you can either be my friend… or… well, Emily will be seeing pics of us make out in my bed. Or… of us well on our way to do it."

"Fine."

"Say that you're my bestest friend." Krys teased.

"No."

"Say it."

"Look, Krys, I had a hard enough time saying that I forgive you. Take it or leave it." Ares said, pushing on angry. That tone of voice struck something inside of Krys. She knew that he was serious. And in all honesty, she didn't want to take his anger from him. Not in a fake and inconsiderate way. She wanted him to stop being angry with her because he understood. Not because he was scammed or forced into it by her. Damn! She was growing up.

"Look, I'm sorry. About this… and that. You don't have to do anything, because, I won't tell. And I'll make sure that the others don't. Ares, I'm sorry. About me and you… and about this awkwardness. But, you have to understand that I never wanted to hurt you, and I never… I never-"

"Ares, Krys, come down!" yelled Hermione. "We need you guys!" With one last lingering look at Krys, Ares ran down the stairs.

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When the two got downstairs, there wasn't anyone in the foyer. Well, where the hell were they? As soon as Ares turned to look at Krys, Krys turned away. They couldn't look at each other. That was the rule about the serious conversation. They couldn't even make eye-contact for at least an inkling of a minute. Taking charge, and showing her female dominance… or, she could've just heard them; Krys led the way to the kitchen. And it was there, that Kay, Emily, Ron and Hermione were.

"Krys, I love your house." Emily gushed, touching the white and black marble top counters.

"Thanks." Krys said, before she ran in and hopped on the counter. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"That all depends." Hermione said. "You can't cook anything from here… because, it's been a year since we've been here."

"I know that, Hermione." Krys said, before she threw paper towel at her friend.

"Krys… Cookie." Hermione slowly said. With one look from Hermione, Krys knew that she was in some serious danger.

"Yes?" a tentative voice as such never came from the forthright raven head. Not tentative so much as questioningly cautious.

"I hope that you don't mind… but, I've just permitted Allen and Lewis to have their guys' night in our condo." When you hear that loud ringing in your ear, is that a stroke? That's a stroke thing, isn't it? And that salty taste in your mouth. Those are both signs of stroke, aren't they? Well, no… it turns out that the ringing was coming from Krys' cell phone, and the taste in her mouth came from the fact that she bit down on her tongue… hard. "Cookie, your phone is ringing." Right! Back to reality.

"Hello, you called me, dammit, so speak." Krys chimed into the phone.

"Um… hello." A tentative voice. Who the hell?

"Hey. Who is this?" Krys asked as nicely as possible.

"This is Lewis." Raised eyebrows she had. Krys' eyebrows raised high.

"Hey." Then she looked at Hermione. Hermione who was almost cowering at the counter.

"Um… well, Allen told me that we were having our guys night at your apartment, and I wanted to know if that was actually the case."

"I guess so. Hermione told him that he could, and I can't say anything, because we pay for the condo 50/50."

"So, will you be there when I get there?"

"Nope." Krys said.

"Oh."

"Um… I don't know. Maybe I will be. I don't actually know what time you'll be there… so… you know?"

"Yeah, I know." He said slowly. "Thanks for the apartment."

"You're welcome."

"Um, Krys, I have to go. But, I hope that I'll see you tonight." Lewis said. His voice was soft and strange. It was a caring voice that- I have no words.

"Yeah. Maybe I'll see you later." And then she hung up. Before she glared at Hermione. "He has my number… and he's called my number. How exactly did he get my number?

"I don't know. There can't be many Krystathaili Rodriguez's in the world. How many can there be?" Hermione asked.

"Hold on. Who has your number?" Kay asked.

"Hermione's boyfriend's best friend." Krys said.

"Okay."

"Why are you so mad? He's polite, and he's a-"

"Yeah, he's a fox, I know." Krys said impatiently. "Gosh, Hermione. How the hell could you give him my number?"

"He asked for it." Hermione said.

"He asked for it? Oh! Oh! He asked for it, Kay! Kay, Hermione gave him my number, because he asked for it! Oy, well if that's the case, then maybe I should've given your number to big Benny."

"No, no, okay. Big Benny was crazy! And he continuously asked for my number, even after I told him that I had a boyfriend. And then he started to ask for your number too. He was a crazy!"

"I'm done with you!" Krys yelled, pointing at Hermione with 'death glare' written all over her face.

"You love me!" Hermione yelled back, before she threw the paper towels at Krys.

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"Girlie, I have something for us to do tonight." Hermione said, as she gave her hair a small fluff. That one move alone, made Krys look at her and raise her eyebrow.

"Seriously? You fluff?" she asked, before she pulled a black skully down over her straightened hair. The skully, the fitted black jeans and black with white newsprint shirt… she looked 'blaze blah'.

"Are you gonna really dress like that for us to go out?"

"I've already gotten dressed like this… so, yeah, obviously."

"Well, doll, I think that you should be a bit flashier." Hermione said.

"Ah… Hermione, I'm a mother. And, truth be told… when it comes to the way I dress, I don't give a shit what you think." Krys said, before she threw on a white newsprint hoodie. "But that shouldn't suggest that I don't love you. And… that shouldn't suggest that I don't value your opinion, when it comes to work."

"Whatever." Hermione said, with a roll of her eyes. As if that affected Krys in the slightest. With a shrug, the black haired beauty walked out the door before she yelled,

"Where're we going, Jackass?"

"I'm not talking to you." Was the response that she got? Oh no, no, no. And here come the feelings again. As she walked back into the room, and as she looked at the face of a slightly dejected Hermione, Krys slightly wilted.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because, you don't care what I think." Jesus H. Christ. What, were they married?!

"No. I didn't say that. I said that when it comes to what I wear, I don't give a shit what you think."

"The same th-"

"No. I care what you think about important things."

"We used to wear the same clothes."

"Two years ago. And that was when we were in Hogwarts together."

"Yeah, but-"

"And you're the one that's always telling me that we've grown up, and that I should let go of Ares, because he's who I used to be. You know, all that blah, blah shit that you were always talking? Why is it now that you care that we're no longer 'alike but completely different'?"

"Because that's why we were so close." Forcing herself to not roll her eyes, Krys stared at Hermione with a straight face. An accomplishment indeed.

"Hermione, I haven't changed. I am still the bitchy, neurotic mess that I was when I was four, five, six, and seventeen. So… if we're no longer close… I blame you." And with that, Krys walked away, stopped, and then spun back. "And… since you can take care of and handle yourself, like you're always telling me, get off your ass and lets go." Yeah… love will prevail.

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When you and your best friend are angry or tired with each other, it is almost like you're fighting sisters. The two of you bicker and fight about _everything_. During their walk from the Leaky Cauldron to their apartment, Krys and Hermione constantly bickered, and even poked and shoved each other. Nothing that either of them did seemed to settle with the other. Krys' cold demeanor was causing it to snow, Hermione's heels were giving Krys a headache, and that's what caused the lightening bolt to almost hit them- you know, what your normal sisters would fight about. When they finally reached the apartment, Hermione pushed Krys out of the way, and almost earned herself a trip… to the ground. Instead, Krys settled for pulling Hermione away from the door, by her hair. Eventually, it broke out into a fireball vs. snowball fight, and… Krys got frostbite, while Hermione's leg was scarred. The worst part… only Hermione could fix Krys' frostbite, and only Krys could fix Hermione's burn scar. So, limped Hermione did. She limped into the apartment building, and she limped up those stairs. Krys however, who is always injured, and only had three frostbitten finger tips, acted as if nothing happened. And she passed Hermione. But… we all know that even when we want to hurt our sister or our best friend… we care about them the most when we're the ones that they're fighting with. So, when Hermione didn't get up to the third floor (a checkpoint) in four minutes, Krys conjured a wind, that pushed Hermione up all the rest of the flights of stairs. Aren't best friends a hoot?

When the two women finally got into their apartment, Krys walked in, ignoring all of the people that were there. And… these weren't people that she should be ignoring. The one thing that should've been going on was her wondering why the hell Harry, Jason, Ron and Ares were hanging out with Lewis, Allen, Mike and Eric. She should also have wondered why Emily, Kay were hanging out with A.J, Ginny, Gem and Nic. WTF? So, set the scene. You're at a nice poker game where your boyfriends are playing, and you're mingling with the other girlfriends. And all of a sudden, one of your newer friends walks in, and walks right by you, as if she doesn't see you. And then, your other newer friend walks in with a huge burn scar on her leg… and she looks like hell just threw her back up. Picture it, picture it… and picture it. And now, you can ask this question with me. What the hell?

When Hermione walked in like the heroine from a horror film, Ares and Harry were the first one's to run to her.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Ares asked. Although she knew this as a default question, and as nice as he was being, she had to look at him. "Who did this to you?" Hermione growled, and looked back at Krys who already had a cutting knife out. When she looked back at Ares and Harry, she pointed to K-. What the hell is crazy Krys doing with a cutting knife?

"Hermione, wait here a minute." Harry said, before he knocked the knife out of Krys hand.

"Prongs, stop playing. I have to cut the fingertips off, if I ever wanna get the feeling back." Krys said, as she bent down to pick up the knife. Slowly, the others started to realize what was going on, and they surrounded Hermione.

"What did you do to her?" Harry asked, when the others were crowding and bombarding Hermione with questions.

"She hit me first."

"You know that you're too old to be getting into fights, right?"

"I'm nineteen."

"You're a nineteen year old _mother_."

"You know… I have to call him." Krys said, pulling out her phone. And then, as if life hadn't been shitty enough, _He_ started to walk over. Which he, you ask. Well, he's the he that got her pregnant. The one that is wi- oh! Oh, you need no more hints? Okay then.

"Hey, Harry." Ares said, giving Harry a pound as he walked over. "Can I talk to Krys, for a minu-"

"He's not my pimp, Ares. You know… I don't do that anymore." Krys said, before she sat down on the couch in front of her. Before she lied down, she heard Harry shrug, and say,

"You heard her, man. I can't tell you anything." A tap on the shoulder. That's how he got her attention. It used to be kisses. Kisses on the neck. Kisses on the cheek. Kisses on the shoulder. Kisses on the lips. Kisses on the hands. Kisses on the birthmark. I guess, when you're no longer together, having sex, and in love, kisses are inappropriate. But yes, he tapped her on the shoulder. Pain in her eyes, she looked at him.

"I'm sorry." Tick, tick, tock. Was that it? Whoa… not good enough.

"And…?" Krys asked. Confusion. For both of them. Looks of pure and utter confusion.

"And, I'm sorry." A look of offense overtook Ares' face, when Krys rolled her eyes. What the hell did she want from him? She broke up with him, and yet… he apologized to her. What the hell did she want?

"That's not enough, Are-"

"It's not enough? Really? I'm being the bigger person, and it's not enough?"

"Bigger person… What are you apologizing for, Ares? You don't believe that you're wrong, so why are you apologizing?" As the two stared at each other, something stirred inside Krys. Why am I such a bitch? Everyone else is so forgiving, maybe I should be too. "You know what? I'm sorry too." She said. Did she mean it? No. Did she want to? Yeah.

"You mean it?"

"What?! I said I was sorry too, goddamnit! Take it or leave it!" Shock.

"Okay. I'm sorr-"

"It's not you. I've been having a bad day."

"Really? What happened to you? Are you okay?" Ares asked.

"Well, today I had to drop M- have you seen your mother yet?"

"No, she doesn't know that I'm here. I'm surprising her tomorrow."

"That's nice." Then, being overcome by emotion, "I want my little boy to be just like you." Then the lip pucker. Not kiss lip pucker, but 'oh shit, I really just said that' lip pucker. "So…" she said, as he said,

"So…"

"You go…" she said. As he said,

"You go…" The look, then laugh.

"No. Please, you go, Ares."

"How have you been?" Whoa… how had she been? Knocked up, lonely, working. And that's a total synopsis, you know.

"I have been good." And while saying it, she decided that it was true. She was good. She was happy. "What about you?"

"I've been good, too."

"Oh really? That's great. How was school?"

"Horrible." Pause. "I loved it." Not so awkward laughs were shared between the two, before the awkward afterlook and chuckle came about. "Um… what about you? How was school?"

"School was amazing. It was definitely an experience, you know?" No, he didn't. 18, pregnant, and still pulling the highest GPA? No, he didn't know.

"And work?"

"Oh, you heard, did you?"

"Yeah, I heard about you having reopened the clinic. And creating the super condom."

"Is that what you auror men are calling it? The super condom?"

"Yes. The super condom. Congratulations. I see you're doing even better for yourself."

"Uh-uh… I don't do it for me." Krys said, shaking her head.

"So, why do you do it?" What was he really asking her? Was it, why she works? Why she heals? Or why she went into healing? Why she didn't go with him to auror training, and instead became a healer? Instead of answering the way she should… she told him the truth.

"I went to healer training, because I couldn't go to auror training. And… I couldn't go to auror training because it would've been more than I could've handled." Well… the almost truth. A minute passed, and he still hadn't said anything. So, yeah, that's really what he was asking. Soon, (obviously) another minute passed, until she finally looked at him and asked him what was really on her mind. "Do you love Emily?" And then more silence, before… plop.

"Hi, Cookie. Are you and my darling boyfriend getting along?" Emily asked, as she sat in Ares' lap.

"Yes. Krys and I are just forgiving each other for all the shit that we've pulled in the past." Ares said, poking Emily in her side.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Emily asked, as she shifted to face him. A kiss in one dimple, then a kiss in another, she held onto his shoulders.

"Well…"

"Ares and I are actually really good friends, you know? Yeah, we hated each other, but… we were really great friends. Do you have anyone like that?" Krys asked Emily.

"Yeah, you." Emily teased, tugging on Krys' hair.

"Ha ha, whore. Anyway… I was just apologizing to him and he was apologizing to me for, um…" laugh. "When we first met each other, I- have you ever had a crush on someone that you thought was out of your league?"

"No one's out of my league." Emily said with a straight face, earning a playful glare from Krys.

"Well… I had the meanest crush on Jason when I was eleven, so… since I was kind of a tomboy, I showed how I felt about him by beating the shit out of him. And… when I turned about… 16, I realized that I liked Ares, you know? So… before we went on the double date with A.J and Jason, I picked this massive fight with him, and I punched him in the face. And after I punched him, he pushed me against the wall… and shouted out to the crowd, 'Krys is mad that I wouldn't give her any' and then chucked under my chin and said 'It's okay, sweetheart, maybe tomorrow.'" Krys lied. Emily's eyes widened with her mouth, and she turned to look at Ares.

"You did not!" she yelled.

"He did." Krys said.

"Oh my Merlin. You know I like them cocky." Emily said, before she kissed Ares' cheek.

"No, but the bad thing is that he knew me so well that he _knew_. Ugh, I hated him for that." Krys said, with her arms folded across her chest.

"So… what happened after that?"

"We went on the date, and we fought all night." Ares said, easing Krys of lying her tongue off. "She actually stabbed me under the table that night."

"And so, we're in this restaurant in Levy Lane, and they're serving us Butterbeer… and I get incredibly tipsy. So… later that night, when Jason and A.J left us, we're walking back to the school, and I picked another fight with him. This time, the fight was about us having been in the conversation too much. So, we're walking along the way and we're arguing, and finally, this motherfucker here-"

"No. No, I didn't. You did." Ares argued.

"I did not." Krys yelled adamantly.

"What are you two talking about?" Emily asked in confusion.

"Krys pulled me against a tree and started kissing me."

"No, I didn't. He pushed me into the tree and kissed me."

"You wanna bet?

"Hell yeah." Krys said. "You kissed me first."

"Oh my God! Guys, this could go on forever. And… obviously it isn't that important, if you can't even remember it." Emily said, looking at both of them, and snapping them out of their blasts from the past.

"I know. Poor you, though, Em. The boy could use a lesson or two when it comes to the kissing." Krys said, before she got up and ran away.

Later that night, in passing, Krys and Ares pushed and shoved one another… and it was almost as if they were living their story from the night that they'd imagined. When it hit 10 pm, Krys finally got around to catching up with the others who were keeping themselves at arms length, out of harm's way. Walking up to the poker table, Krys stared at the players and raised her eyebrows. "Ah… I thought I said that I didn't allow any gambling in my house."

"Doesn't matter, because it's my house too." Hermione piped in.

"Yes… all too true. And soon, it'll-"

"What, Krys? Would you like to play?" Allen asked, interrupting what would've been a legendary argument.

"Um… get drunk and piss my money away through a disgusting habit that they have rehab centers for? Where can I sign up?" Krys asked mordantly. Then she rolled her eyes. "No thanks."

"Oh- I get it. You can't play. And when there's something that Krys doesn't know how to do… she's never going to be good at it, so why should she do it?" he taunted. And it got to her, dammit.

"Fine. So, guys… teach me how."

After a crash course that lasted for about 25 minutes, they gave Krys some cards and she bought her way into the game. And… about ten minutes later, she bet too high, got scared and folded with a straight. And then there was another game, where she bought her way in… and lost, when she folded after betting 200 galleons. And another game. And another…. And then a few more, all having folded, or betting too high, and not having enough to back it up. And finally, by about 1 am, she was in the hole. She was in the hole for 6 grand in galleons. And when the brought in another game, she was the first one to deal. Ten minutes into the game, and the stakes were high. They were both in for 3,000 galleons, and well, that's a lot.

"Well, Krys, I must say that you're getting better at this. But… I have years of experience."

"Stop it, stupid." Krys whined, as she stared hard at her cards. It was about time to place another bet, and Allen threw in all of his chips. "I… shit. I raise you… two galleons." It was all she had left. The stares. "Wait! Wait… I have something else.' She said, before she started rubbing up and down her arm. Finally, she pulled off a diamond and platinum bracelet. A bracelet that looked like it was worth a good 15,000 at least. And she put it on the table. Allen smiled, and looked at his hand.

"Okay, well, prepare to lose your money, Krys." He said, as he laid down his hand. Straight, in hearts. Krys' eyes widened, and she closed her eyes in defeat, before an involuntary tear rolled down her cheek.

"Krys, is that the diamond bracelet that your dad gave you?" Jason asked, looking at the bracelet.

"Yeah… it was one of my 18th birthday presents." Krys said, as Allen started to pick up the chips. "Jason, you play a lot of poker, don't you?"

"It's my game." Jason said.

"Now, in the game of poker… in what crazy fucking universe does a straight in hearts beat a royal flush in diamonds?" Krys turned to look at Allen, as she unveiled her cards. King in diamond, Queen in diamond, Jack in diamond, 10 in diamond, and Ace in diamond. Huh… bluff anyone? Allen's face fell, then he narrowed his eyes. "Get off of my bracelet, loser. And… learn how to play poker." Small gasps were heard from a few, and a few cheered.

"You guys tricked me." Allen accused.

"No, you just happen to suck." Krys said, before she stood up and collected all of the galleons on the table. Then she shrunk it and put it away in her pocket.

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At one am, when Hermione was fast asleep with her head on Allen's lap, everyone was almost asleep. And while they were asleep, Krys was cleaning up. Dusting, spraying Febreeze, dusting. Finally, halfway done, tired, and falling over herself due to lack of sleep, Krys waved her wand and made the entire place spotless, then slowly walked to her bedroom. When she was ready to close the door, someone stuck their foot in and nudged the door open. Fearlessly, Krys backed up and let the person walk in.

"Why do you insist on wearing those hats?" he asked. Who is 'he' you ask? Well, he who is in love with her. He, who hasn't stopped harassing her since they met. He who is her best friend's boyfriend.

"Get out." Krys said slowly.

"If you didn't want me here, you wouldn't have let me in."

"Allen, get out of my room. You're the perfect asshole, and I don't even want you in my house." Suddenly, his face changed and softened a bit.

"Look, Krys, can we just talk?" Seeing the look of 'hell no' on Krys' face, he added, "For a minute? Please?"

"What? What? What do you want to talk about? Why are you doing this to her?"

"Why are you?" 

Whoa. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Krys hadn't done anything against Hermione.

"This has been going on all year, and you still won't give, so I keep trying. And I will continue to try, until you give in." Allen continued.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I've been trying to be with you for a year. And you won't budge. I'm not going to stop, until I have you, Krys." Allen said with determination. It wasn't even in a creepy and sick way. He said it as if he was the good guy.

"Allen, I've been saying no, for a year. Get out of my house, away from me, and away from Hermione."

"Krys, I-"

"If you care about me so much, leave me alone. What we had is gone, and it's in the past. So, leave me alone."


	59. Cat's Out the Bag

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The next morning was almost a hangover day for Hermione. As the sound of the alarm clock blared in her head, Hermione rolled out of the bed.

"Why the hell am I even getting out of bed at this time?" she asked to no one in particular. "Yeah, because you have to pick up Marky." Hermione rolled out of bed, and groaned, before she walked into her closet. In the next hour, between rushing a shower and getting dressed, Hermione was standing in the Delgado doorstep. When she knocked and the door was answered by Mark and Mrs. Delgado, Hermione instantly smiled. The cute wobbly walk of a fourteen month old Mark made Hermione laugh and wrap her arms around her godchild.

"Where's mommy?" he asked, as he hugged her. Hermione laughed and set him down, before kissing Mrs. Delgado's cheek.

"Oh- she'll be here later- soon, actually." she said, ruffling his curly black hair. As she looked at her beautiful and handsome godson, she couldn't help but be envious of how lucky Krys was. There was her gorgeous son with all the looks of his parents, mother and father alike. He had a milky, tan complexion, with big green-hazel and slate blue eyes accentuated by extremely dark lashes. He looked up at Hermione, with his gorgeous eyes and a suspicious pout on his pouty lips, before he reached up for her, asking to be held. His hair dark as night, like his mother's, smelled of perfection as Hermione hugged him close.

"Do you want some coffee?" Mrs. Delgado asked, as they walked into the aromatic kitchen.

"Highly caffeinated, please, Jules." Hermione looked around, and slightly moaned when she inhaled the fresh scent of hazelnut, French vanilla, and mocha blend mixed with cinnamon.

"Is it still the blendy with the cinnamon stick?" Mrs. Delgad- Jules asked, as she set the Batman coffee mug in front of Hermione.

"Can I have some?" Mark asked, as he reached for the Batman. Hermione lightly nudged his hand away.

"Hey, hey, Grabby. Do you just ask, then take?" she asked, looking at him and making him pout.

"No." he said cutely, making Hermione smile.

"Well, you can't have any. It stunts your growth."

"But I want it."

"No." Hermione said, kissing his cheek. As she sipped her coffee, Marky curiously played with her keychain.

"So, how's everything? That girl? How's that gi-… Gemini." Jules said, with a roll of her beautiful eyes. A laugh played at Hermione's lips, before she set her coffee down, wiping away at the hazelnut mustache that made itself a burden above her mouth.

"Gemini is sleeping off her hangover in our apartment." she said.

"Where's mommy?" Mark asked.

"None of your business." Julia said, sticking her tongue out at him. As Mark stuck his tongue out also, a pop was heard, and in a flash, Mrs. Delgado pointed her wand at Mark, surrounding he and Hermione in a force field. But as soon as the intruder walked into the kitchen, Hermione froze, Mark stood clueless, and Mrs. Delgado squealed in happiness. "Ares!"

"Mami." Ares said, enveloping his mom in a bear hug. When he saw Hermione and Mark, his eyes widened, just as Hermione's had when she saw the tall dreamboat in the archway. Hermione wrapped her arms around Mark and stood up, before walking through the force field. "Hey, Hermione." Then he looked at Mark. "Who's this?"

"This is Marcus." Julia said, taking Mark from Hermione. "He's my pride and joy."

"Hey, I thought I was your pride and joy." Ares said.

"No. _He_ visits me everyday. _You_ visit me every two years." Julia said, kissing Mark's cheek. Unfortunately, everything that left her mouth was ignored by Ares, because he was too busy staring at Mark.

"Yeah." He said. "Mom, who is this?" Did he really expect her to answer that? Could she even? If she did… how would she? So she did the smartest thing she could. She said nothing. "Hermione?"

"Um… I-" Saved by the bell. Or what sounded like a bell. Chiming really. The chiming of keys. And less than a minute later, a raven-headed beauty walked in. And it was as if she was walking in a slow motion screen of a movie. She did everything, including the hair flip, so that her glossy black curls bounced. And then there was her wardrobe. A black sundress with monochromatic blue and green designs as a shirt. And on the bottom, she wore light blue flare jeans. On her feet were black uptowns with blue and green checks. And when she saw Ares staring at her son, her face dropped. And they all saw her face drop.

"Mommy!" Mark yelled, with a bright smile on his sweet little face. With one long inhale, Krys smiled, then walked into the living room.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" she asked, looking away from Ares, who was still staring at her. And with oodles of discomfort, she took her son from Julie, and kissed his cheek a million times, before she gave him one last loud kiss on the cheek. "I missed you."

"Me too." Mark said, before he laid an even bigger kiss on her cheek, making Krys giggle.

"How much?" Mark opened his arms wide.

"This much." He said, before he hugged her.

"I think that you two should talk." Hermione said, looking at Julia for support and agreement, after having looked between Krys and Ares.

"I agree. And… I have to give Marcus his new toy, so… I'm gonna take him, and… you know." Julia said, taking Mark, and walking with Hermione to the upstairs. Once they were gone, there was sheer and utter silence.

"You have a son." Ares finally said, making Krys nod.

"Yes. My pride and joy. The sun in my sky. The air that I breathe." She said.

"Um… how ol- um, how o-" After his words didn't come together, Krys nodded.

"Fourteen months old. He turned a year on…" she stopped to laugh. "On April 23rd." Ares laughed awkwardly.

"So… um, I didn't know that you were in a serious relationship." He said.

"Relationship?" That was a damn laugh. She'd only really ever been in one relationship. She and Ares. That's all she ever was. That's all that she'd ever been involved in. Him and her. And even after they were done… she carried a part of him with her. Literally. Nothing would make her escape him, because the most important person in her life other than Ares, was the spawn of Ares. What a damn shame.

"Oh." Awkwardness. As if they didn't have enough of those moments.

"So, you came to visit your mom. That's great."

"Yeah. I actually came to surprise her and take her to lunch." A smile was what he was graced with.

"That's amazing, Ares. It really is. I hope my son grows up to be like you. You know, sweet, caring… a momma's boy." She teased lightly. With a warm and hidden loving smile, Ares reached out to touch her. But, once he realized what he was doing, he gave her shoulder a light punch instead.

"So, why do they think that we should talk? What's going on?"

"She just wants me to talk to you about my son. She thought you'd be uncomfortable knowing about wh-… the fact that I got with a guy the day after you and I broke up… and you know."

"Yeah." Ares said. "I know."

"Ares… it was like rebound moment. Trust me- you and I, however we broke up, were real. Him… just some random guy that was smart enough to say all the right things that I wished I was hearing from you." It was already too late for Krys to make the lie beautiful, pleasing, and worthy of forgiveness. So, instead, she got a "hidden" look of hurt from Ares, before he shifted away from her, and then looked at her knee.

"Um… are we done?"

"No. You're gonna look at me and tell me that you forgive me, just like I forgive you for sleeping with Stephanie the day we broke up." Krys said, making Ares jump and look at her so quickly that he should've had the meanest case of whiplash. And just as quickly as he looked up, he looked down.

"Okay… so- I didn't get her pregnant."

"I didn't get me pregnant either. And you might want to check with that, because she _does_ have a daughter." Krys said. "Look, Ares, what do you want me to say? I have a son- done. You had sex with my cousin- done. You have a girlfriend- done. I have a son- done. Okay, it is all said and done. And at this moment, I cannot do anything to change it- not that I would even want to. Because, I wouldn't give my son up for anything, even if it meant we could get back together, or forgive- whatever. All that other shit."

"So, what do we do now?" Ares asked. Krys could only imagine how he felt. She was lying to him, and she felt bad enough, with the sting from the thought of any of this really being able to happen to them.

"What were we gonna do before?"

"Be friends and forget about any of this." But could they really? Wasn't there too much to forget about? And without thinking, Krys voiced exactly those thoughts. To which, Ares responded, "No, we can't."

"But you can forgive me, like I forgive you." Huh… that statement hung in the air for thirty-five minutes, before Julia and Hermione walked down the stairs with Mark in tow. When he finally stopped crawling down the stairs, Jules swept him up and kissed his cheek.

"Okay, so… is all settled?" she asked, before she set Mark on the couch between Ares and Krys.

"Um… I don't know." Krys said. "Ares doesn't wish to forgive me for getting preg-"

"Oh, really? Is that the son that I raised?" Julia asked, peering at Ares with an accusatory look. With the look being given to him, Ares stared back at his mother just as pissed.

"**He won't forgive me for getting pregnant with Mark by another man, the day after he and I broke up**." Krys quickly yelled in Spanish. That earned a look from Mark, Julia, and Ares. With a sigh from Jules, Krys stood and picked up her son. "Um… I'll see you all later. I have to go get Jaime and the kids. And then… we're gonna chill."

"Bye, Krys. I don't even know what to say to you, right now." Julia said, kissing Mark on the cheek. "I don- I'm not going to say anything, as a matter of fact." Then she looked at Mark and grabbed his hand. "I'll see you soon, honey, alright?" Mark nodded enthusiastically and held onto Jules's hands.

"Actually, no." Krys said.

"What?"

"No." Krys repeated. "I need you to meet me and Marcus for dinner. Tomorrow, I hope."

"Um- no." Ares said. "She can't do that."

"Um… why not?" Krys mockingly asked.

"Excuse me." Jules piped in from the center. "I'll do whatever I want. And… I'll choose." She looked around, and summonsed a date book from the bureau, before she flipped through it. "Alright, I have- can have 6 blocks of free time, from 6-12, if I move this dinner to tonight. Ares… you get dinner from 6-8. Krys, you get a late supper from 8-10. I'll cook for you in your house, and put Marcus to bed… everyone wins."

"Um… not gonna work for me." Krys said. "I have a late night cocktail meeting for advertisement of the condom with the head of Wizards Weekly, from 9-11." Julia laughed.

"No you don't. Neither of you is old enough to drink." She said, making Krys pout.

"It wouldn't sound too sophisticated to say that we were meeting each other for milk and cookies, now would it?" Krys asked, earning a few chuckles from the room.

"Truth, Krys."

"I need authorization for some of the healers that I hired, because I just graduated. And since he didn't… he can authorize them for me. It's a formality, because he's been out of school for a year… and that deems him qualified to authorize. And… he suggested that we meet for drinks to do so, so… you know." Krys said, before she looked at Ares. "Um… momma Jules, it's all good. I- what I wanted to talk to you about wasn't even important. What Ares needs you for is better. It sounds more important."

"No, honey. We can move some things around-"

"No, it's okay. I- I'm going to move it around and make it an early dessert so that I can spend some time with Mark, and… tomorrow will be the two chipmunk day." Krys said, kissing Mark's puffy cheeks. "Plus, you've got to meet his girlfriend. I swear by her."

"You've met her?" Julia asked.

"Oh- it turns out that she and Ron's girlfriend, they were me and Krys' hairdressers." Hermione said, rifling through her purse.

"Your hair?" Mark asked Krys as he touched her curls.

"What about my hair?" she asked him.

"I dunno." And then laughs. When the laughter died down, Krys looked at the clock that stood above the picture of Ares and A.J, and swore. With that, Mark looked at her after gasping. "Mommy."

"Oh- sorry, Marky." Krys said. "I just- we have to go. We have to go to your doctors appointment." Who the hell told her to say doctor?

"No!" Mark cried.

"Marcus Alexander De-, do _not_ cry." Krys said sternly. But, as stern as her voice seemed, the fact that she was rocking him gently canceled out the discipline that she attempted to instill. The sternness in her voice made him cry softly in her shoulder, breaking all of their hearts.

"Why _is_ he so afraid of doctors?" Hermione asked.

"Um… two appointments ago, he had to get blood work done, and… I took him to a regular doctor, not a healer. And so… he's anemic, too, and she couldn't get enough blood. And so… after thirty minutes of continuously stabbing him, I just took him and did it myself." Krys said, rocking him gently. "No- I understand his pain, man. She did fingersticks for about twenty different tests… and she only got half of it done. That stuff is painful when you're anemic. She was a biotch too."

"What time is his appointment?" Ares asked, looking at his watch. Wait- what? White gold Rolex? The first Christmas gift that Krys gave him- well the first gift that she'd given him, as a couple.

"Krys, it's in two hours." Hermione said, looking through her black book. Her- meaning Krys' palm pilot.

"Doesn't matter. I've gotta get going." Krys said, standing up.

"Oh- well, me and Jules have plans for lunch." Hermione said. Krys nodded.

"TTYL then." she said, before she threw Mark's bag over her next shoulder, and began to walk away.

"Um- Krys." Ares said, standing up also. What did he want? Did he want to say 'bitch, I don't forgive you, so don't even think about it'? Because, if so, she'd already heard that one before. Did he want to say 'fuck you, bitch, there's no hope for friendship'? Because if so, it doesn't matter. Krys is strong and… she's gonna be okay. Well, if any of this is true, why did she have to stop herself from jumping around to see what he wanted?

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I'm going that way, if you want some help." Aw… not easy.

"Um… if you want, sure. If not, then, thank you, but no thank you."

"Well then, let's go." Ares said, taking Mark's bag from her shoulder.

"Call me when you get home, Krys, alright?" Jules yelled from the kitchen.

"Yeah, momma J." Krys yelled back. "I love you."

"Love you, momma." Marky yelled also.

"Oh, so you are awake." Krys said, before she set Mark down and held his hand. "Come on, Theo."

"My name is not Theo." Mark said all smart and shit.

"Huh." Krys sounded, before she opened the door for him. "After you, man."

"Nope. My name is Marcus Alexander De-"

"After you, Marcus." Krys teased, holding his hands and walking him out the door.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?" The three spent but a minute walking to leave the magical neighborhood in Torrance, before Marcus turned to Krys and asked what she'd been waiting for him to ask.

"Who's this?" Mark asked, as he nudged his head in the direction of Ares.

"Why don't you ask him?" Mark stopped and turned to Ares, who was looking at him already.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Rude." Krys said. Marcus sighed, then decided to speak again.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Now… as lovely as this sounds, we're talking about a 14 month old. He had the smallest, most adorable voice in the world. And… he couldn't pronounce half of the words that he said, all because of his speech impediment. It was… adorable. The look on Ares' face wouldn't've showed any of that. He stared at Mark as if he were staring at an interrogating father. And he answered the same way, too.

"Ares." He answered. His answer, as cold as it may have seemed, was an open window of opportunity.

"Ares, stop it." Krys said, kicking him on the ass once. "Marcus, Ares is- was an old friend of mine."

"Oh." Mark said, before he held Krys' hand and walked next to her.

"How was the play date with B.B?" Krys asked.

"Okay." Oy… the baby seems troubled. "Are we going to your house, mommy?"

"No, we're going home."

"What?"

"It's our house, and since it's the safest and most comfortable place in the world… it is home."

"So…"

"Yes, we're going to our house." Krys said, before Mark yawned. "Are you sleepy?"

"Mm-hmm." Marky nodded.

"Okay." Krys said, before she picked him up.

"Um…" For a minute, that was all he said. Then he turned to her, and stared at her. "If-… if you get tired and want me to hold him, I will." Whoa. Now, shouldn't the first time that a man holds his son be special? It should be a moment. A moment. That moment where everything that's been missing suddenly appears, and… he becomes a father. They say that a woman becomes a mother when she get's pregnant, while a man becomes a father the first time that he holds his child. If she let him hold him, wouldn't that be robbing him of that moment? She would be taking that from him. And… no matter how much she- no matter how much she wanted him to hold their son, she couldn't rob him of that moment. "And even if you're not tired, and you want me to. I will." #!, now why did he have to say something like that. It's almost as If he's begging her to allow him to hold Mark. Why couldn't he just ask, or… be all 'I'm not gonna hold him, gosh'.

"Do you want to hold him?" Krys asked. 'Please say no. Please say no. Please, please, please.'

"Um- yeah." Ares said, nodding. Sadly, it was the happiest moment of her life. Even sadder, she knew that she was robbing him of that moment, and it was still the happiest moment of her life. But as she handed their son to him, and Mark didn't make a noise, she knew that it was the moment in the making. And, when their son cuddled up to Ares, and Ares looked at him, then snuggled their son… she knew that it _was_ the moment. Ares _was_ a father… and the saddest thing about it was… he didn't even know it.

Why did he have to look so goddamn good holding a 22 pound one year old? And why was that the one thought going through her head? Ooh- other than the amount of time it takes to get out of Torrance's magical neighborhood. When they were 25 done the silence was finally broken.

"He looks like you." Ares said.

"Whatever that means." Krys sadly responded.

"That he looks like you. Your hair, your eyes, your smile."

"Is that a good thing?" Krys asked. That earned a laugh.

"For him; no." Oh. Ouch. "For you; yeah."

"So my child is ugly. Thank you."

"That's not what I said. Why is everything such an issue with yo-"

"I was joking, Ares." Krys said tiredly. And that's what she was. Whatever the hell happened in that 25 made her realize that… she was Meursault, and the only thing that she was still living for was her son. Other than that… there wasn't much of a point. And… she believed that, for another 3 of the way. And once that was up, although the silence was still there, she, for once in her life, had a positive outlook on life. And love.

Another 17 of the way out, Ares looked at Krys again.

"I think that we can try to be friends again." He said.

"Yeah, but I don't. It's too much to deal with, and I understand that. Especially on your part." was her response. Then there was more silence. Silence for another 25 of the way. "Why is this so hard?" she asked him.

"I'm not the one making it hard, Krys."

"I didn't ask you so that you could try and point some blame. I just wanted to clear the air."

"Well… we have a history. And now, our present lives are conflicting with our history." Ares said.

"I do want to be your friend, Ares."

"Okay."

"Okay?" Ares nodded and responded with an,

"Okay, friend."

"Okay, Kingie." Krys said, looking at him. "So, you wanna do something? Lunch or something?"

"Don't you have to take him to a doctors appointment?" Guilty as charged, she was. With a look of guiltiness, Krys shook her head.

"Um… I was looking for an excuse to leave the hotzone and give you a chance to catch up with your mom."

"Well… I'll be sure to tell my mommy tomorrow." Ares teased in that 'you're in trouble' voice.

"Oh please. Your mom is tired of me now."

"I can't see that happening. Ever. My mom loves you."

"Yeah, but, the past two years-… she's been my rock. Everything, she's done everything for me."

"Well… my mom doesn't do anything that she doesn't want to. So…"

"I love this."

"What?"

"I love that… almost two years of not talking to each other, and we can pick it up. No hesitations."

"So, where do you want to go for lunch?"

"I don't know. Popeyes? A deli?"

"I was under the impression that you wanted to go to lunch and sit down… to catch up." Krys looked at him and smiled.

"God, you've changed."

"What do you mean? How?"

"Do you remember our third 'date'?" Ares looked thoughtful for a moment, before he looked at her.

"Do you mean date date? Or our outings?"

"I mean, our third outing."

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Okay- so then you remember that we went to a candy store, and we chilled there for a while. Then we walked through the streets and we just chilled. That was lunch. So here you are now. And you want to go out to lunch and sit in a restaurant and chill. Dude, what ever happened to eating uncomfortably while you stood and had to keep your soda in your pocket?" Krys teased. Ares laughed softly and looked at her while shaking his head in mock shame.

"You'll never change, will you?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Nope. Not even the realm of parenthood has changed me."

"Yeah… about that."

"About what?"

"Your son."

"What about him?"

"The father. Is he around?" Krys laughed, and looked at Mark, then Ares, before she laughed again.

"He doesn't know." She said, making Ares stare at her. After a minute of him having stopped and continuing to stare at her, Krys inhaled deeply. "What?"

"How do you keep that a secret? How- wha- how do you keep that from someone?"

"Is this a rhetorical question, or are you…?"

"Krys, that's a fucked up thing to do."

"Oh- oh, come back into my life and criticize me, please. My bad, you're already doing that." Krys joked. "Come on, Ares. He doesn't want him anyway."

"How do you know? How would you know? That's not a decision to make for someone, Krys. I'd be pissed. Devastated. Enraged." Oh Gosh. If he's telling her this, then… he'd want someone to tell him. "And what's it going to do to your son?"

"Dude, he has Prongs, Jason- he has them all."

"Hold on. Did everybody know about this, but me?"

"Um… yeah. But, in all fairness… I believe that you've kept secrets from me too."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I said, I _believe_."

"Come on, Krys. I don't want to push you into something, but…"

"But, what?" Krys asked. "Look, you said that it isn't a decision to make for someone, and I understand that. It seems wrong, I know. But, what if he has his shit together?" Ares didn't say anything. "I was something that he did in passing, Ares. He never intended to have a life with me, and I don't want to trap him, or make him second guess himself, in case he doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Oh… well, when you put it that way, it makes sense."

"And in this case, if my son ever comes to me asking about his father and if he wanted him or not… I can almost truthfully say 'he wanted you'." Ares looked at her and shook his head.

"Almost truthfully?"

"Well, by then I'll hopefully be married, and he'll think that dude is his dad." Krys said, making Ares laugh.

"Krys, your son is already smart. He's one and he speaks better than most 5 year olds."

"That's just the genes." Ares looked at her.

"Is his dad a wizard?"

"No."

"So what does he do?"

"I don't know. I only saw him twice." Ares raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

"Wow." He said. "Well, you already know what I'm going to ask."

"No…" Ares looked at her. "I'm not going to answer that."

"Why not? I'd answer it for you."

"I wouldn't ask you to." Krys said, before she spotted Mark stirring. "Oh, he's about to wake up."

"So, how've you been managing? I mean, I know you think you're wonder woman, but how have you managed with a kid, school, the condom, and prepping your hospital? Oh- and that lycanthrope grant that you got when…? Last year, right?" Krys looked at him and nodded.

"He's no trouble. At all. I love being with him more than I like doing anything in the world. And… your mom took him, and every weekend, he stayed with me in my apartment. I had help. And… everyone's been great."

"You could've come to me, you know?" Krys looked at him and smiled, before she patted Mark's head. His eyes were open, and he knew who was holding him, yet, he still felt comfortable. More comfortable than he'd been whenever anyone new held him. And even more, he was snuggling against Ares, which made Krys look down and away.

"Yeah, I do know that I could've come to you. But, I didn't want to. I'd just broken up with you, and I wasn't- I didn't want to burden you with something that I'd gotten myself into."

"Are we really friends again, Krys?" What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"_I_ think so. But, if you're having second thoughts then I guess that's up to you."

"No, I was just looking for confirmation." Ares said, before he smiled at her.

"Okay. I say yes."

"I just wanted to know if I could tell you something."

"Well, yeah. You can always tell me anything."

"Except that I liked you."

"I was just about to mention that." Krys said, before she kissed Mark's cheek. "But, what happened? What do you want to tell me?"

"Well, it's really something that I want to ask you."

"Okay. What?"

"Well, I've, um… I was wondering if you could lure Emily somewhere for me."

"Oh, yeah. Where? Why? When?" Ares looked at her and smiled, before shaking his head.

"Well, tomorrow night I'm taking her back to the restaurant where we had our first date. And… it's going to be just a few friends. I was wondering if you could make it. And lure Emily there, of course."

"Depends."

"On?"

"Time. Occasion. Whether I have to bring a date or not. Location. Whether I can bring my son or not. Oh… and I wanna know whether I can walk in there with some jeans and a skully." Ares smiled, then laughed, then smiled, then laughed again.

"Tomorrow is a special day. The reservation is for 8:30. You can choose to bring a date. You do have to dress up. And I don't see a reason why you can't bring your son other than the fact that we're going to be there late, and I don't want him or you to feel uncomfortable. But yeah, I'd like him there."

"Um… I have to look in my palm pilot, because- oh, yeah. Thai can watch them." Ares looked at her and laughed.

"Thai? Thai is twelve."

"Thai's sixteen. And she's _about_ to be seventeen."

"What do you mean? She cannot be sixteen. When we met her, she was fourteen."

"And _now_, she's sixteen." Krys said. "So, I'm dealing with kids all night tomorrow, after I go home. There's Thai, Jaime, Angel, and Mark. And… I want to be there before he goes to bed, so… I'll have to leave at like 8:30, because if I'm not gonna be there, he won't go to sleep before 8:30. SO I should be there to tuck him in. Then again, Thai can get him to sleep almost as well as I can… so… I trust it. And, so… I guess I can come."

"Thanks. I want everyone important to be there." Whatever the hell for?

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"What did you do to Allen?" Those were the first words that Hermione spewed, when she barged in on Krys bathing Mark.

"Excuse me?" Krys asked, looking up.

"What did you do to my boyfriend?"

"I told him to get the hell away from me, because I don't like him." Krys said. "Now, if I'm not allowed honesty in my own home, then… I don't know what I'm allowed. Tell me what I'm allowed, Hermione."

"You're allowed to leave my boyfriend the hell alone and let him be."

"Which is what I do. But I also happen to draw the line when he ends up in my bedroom. So, if you'd like to know what I did to your boyfriend, ask him." Then she wrapped a robot towel around Mark, and lifted him out of the bathtub. Then she kissed his cheek. "Guess what we're doing today." He shrugged his shoulders, although his face showed his excitement.

"What, mommy? What?"

"We're going to see Abuela Razzie."

"And Uncle Dread-Head?"

"Yes."

"And Jaime, and Angel, and Thai?"

"Yeah." Krys said, nodding.

"Oh boy." And that made the room 100 shades lighter. I don't know if you've ever heard a one year old shout out 'oh boy' but, it's one of the cutest things that you'll ever see in your life. Its right up there with the three day old kitten and puppy, baby Meerkats, Simba when he was first born, and when a toddler learns to walk. And when he said oh boy, Hermione looked at Krys and sighed.

"Come on, Cook. What's going on?" she asked.

"Bonnie B… for the longest time, I've been hiding something from you, because I was being selfish. I didn't believe that you would believe me, due to some of our history. But… I've been thinking about it, and in the past, it was over a certain guy- _the_ guy. In this case… it's over a guy. And… in this case, I need to tell you, because this guy is a jackas-"

"Oh, Krys- I don't want to hear it." Hermione interrupted. "Since he and I started, every word that you said about him has been negative."

"Maybe because he's a jackass!" Krys yelled after she covered Mark's ears.

"And it's always Allen this and Allen that. You just don't want me to be happy. You want me to be alone, like you." Krys nodded.

"You know, I never thought of myself as alone. I always thought that I had you." Then she rolled her eyes. "You know… this is exactly why I haven't told you." Krys said, before she waved at Hermione.

"What the hell is that supposed to do?"

"It means bye. Get out." Krys said, before she turned back to Mark.

"I'm not leav-"

"Then I am." Krys said, before she picked up a book bag and tossed some of Mark's clothes inside. As soon as she finished packing, she picked up her son and apparated, leaving Hermione behind.

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As soon as Krys left, the doorbell rang. Hermione looked around and thought for a minute. "The nerve of that damn woman to invite someone then leave." Hermione complained, before she looked through the peephole, and smiled. There he was, roses in hand, standing in front of a locked door. When Hermione opened the door, Allen smiled and hugged her.

"Hello." he said, before he kissed her cheek.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you to dinner."

"Oh, really? Why?"

"Because our one year anniversary is today."

"No its not. It's on Friday."

"No. Friday is the anniversary of our first date. We met each other one year ago today." Allen said, leaning in to kiss her.

"Where are we going?"

"My parents' vineyard." Hermione looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Okay."

"So get ready." Hermione nodded and walked away to her room. Wasn't that just the most heartfelt moment that you've ever heard of?

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Later that night, walking through an empty vineyard on a private estate was a really romantic way to celebrate one of your anniversaries. And in the middle of the vineyard was a candlelight dinner for two. Hermione, in her beautiful satin dress that was gathered at the hem without being stretched, and finished with black mesh roses at the top, under the bust, and the bottom hem. On her feet, she wore velvet open toe heels that had a small line of black roses under her toes. Like the gentleman that he was supposed to be, he held her hand and spun her out, almost initiating a dance. And then, like the gentleman that he was supposed to be, he led her to her seat, kissed her hand, then sat down across from her and snapped his finger. As soon as he did, a cute house elf appeared out of nowhere and poured them both a glass of red wine.

"Thank you." Hermione said to the house elf, before she took a sip. Then she looked at Allen. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Yes. Very." Allen said, before he kissed her hand.

"Why?"

"Because tonight is special." Hermione nodded slowly, then looked around in thought.

"And why is that?" she asked.

"Today is a day to be celebrated. Because tonight is our anniversary."

"An anniversary that you believed was six months from now."

"But… I knew that one year ago today was the first day that we met. And the day that I knew that you were meant for me."

"Well then." Hermione said, having another sip of wine. "This is a day to be celebrated."

"I just said that." Allen teased.

"Whatever." Hermione retorted, before she kissed him.

After dinner, there was a scenic walk through the vineyard, where there was an occasional kiss and hug. And finally, when she felt comfortable enough, she asked him what was on her mind the entire night.

"What happened between you and Krys?" she asked, right before he tried to kiss her again. Allen stepped back and looked at her.

"When?"

"Something's happened between the two of you before?"

"It depends on what you mean."

"I mean, the other morning, I asked you what was wrong, and you said Krys. What happened?"

"Nothing, Hermione." Allen said, before he kissed her cheek. Hermione nodded, and gave a smiling sigh.

"So."

"SO…" Allen said, slinging his arm over her shoulder.

"Where to next?"

"I should be asking you." Hermione looked thoughtful for a minute, before she smiled shyly.

"Your place?" Allen laughed, but stopped seeing the slightly hurt look on Hermione's eye.

"No, love, I wasn't laughing at you." He said, kissing her ear. "No, actually I was. But, I was laughing at the fact that you believed you should ask. Take me away." Hermione laughed and grabbed him by the collar, before the two apparated.

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Krys' house was just like it used to be. The Hot Spot. Well… it never really was the hot spot, but she wanted it to be. She would've liked for it to be more popular, so she did a few things, made a few adjustments, and called a few people. So there they all were, Gem, Eric, Nic, Mike, A.J, Jason, Ginny, Harry, Kay, Ron, Ares, Emily, Krys and Thai. Sadly, yes… Krys' arc buddy was Thai. And in their playroom were the children. But don't worry, dude, there were baby monitors and cameras all through that damn house.

"Krys, I didn't know that you had a kid." Eric said.

"Neither did we!" Gem yelled, making the guys look at Krys.

"How didn't you know?" Mike asked.

"One, she didn't tell us. Two, she was either wearing baggy clothes or baby doll tops and slacks. Three, she acted the same. For a while, we thought she was anorexic, because she never ate. Then we just learned that she didn't like people to watch her." Gem said, making them stare at Krys again.

"Listen, I thought you knew." Krys said.

"Hold on. Hold on. Padfoot, when you were pregnant, you were incredibly tiny." Harry said, looking thoughtful.

"I'm gonna go get the photo album." A.J said, hopping off of her stool.

"Let's talk about something that matters." Krys said.

"Yeah, like how you can party with my girlfriend, yet you have a son." Eric said, making Krys give him the finger.

"You're trying to make me seem like a hoodrat." She said, before she hopped off the table. "Why don't we talk about how you… I don't have anything to say." Then she looked up and a thoughtful look overtook her face. "Hold up, why are you all in my house?"

"You called us." Was the scattered response.

"Oh, so you all throw it in my face." Krys said, before she rolled her eyes.

"Well, we just stopped by before our date." Gem said, pulling Eric by his face as she walked backwards.

"Where are you guys going? The bunny ranch?" Krys teased, referring to the way that Gem was dressed. Bustier, indecent exposure skirt.

"No. To that new club." Gem said. That new club. Yes, there aren't many of those. "See you later, darling."

"Whatev." Krys said, giving her the 'w'. Before the two left, Nic and Mike stood also, announcing their date.

"We're leaving too." Mike said, before he and Nic disapparated. And then as they left, by sheer crazy coincidence, Krys' cell phone started to ring off the hook. Without looking at the LCD, she picked it up. And when she heard who was calling her, she groaned. And when she heard the news… her face froze. And then she hung up.

"Krys, what's wrong?" Thai asked. But Krys didn't get a chance to answer. As soon as she opened her mouth, Hermione 'popped' in, with tears running down her puffy face, and bags in her hands.

"Hermione-" Krys started. Hermione looked right through Krys, and walked straight to Ginny.

"Gin, can I stay with you until I find a place of my own?" she asked, making them all look at either Krys or Hermione.

"Yeah. Of course Hermione." Ginny said, looking between the two, herself.

"Can we go now?" Hermione asked, sniffling.

"Hermione, what happened?" Krys said. Hermione inhaled deeply, then looked at Krys with a fresh sprout of tears pouring down her face.

"I love you, _Krys_." She said.

"I love you too, Bo-"

"No. He said, 'I love you, Krys'. And then he told me what you did!" Hold on… what was that? What did she do? "How could you do that to me?" Hermione cried, making them all stare at Krys. What the hell had the hot ravenhead done?


	60. And It's Scratching Like Hell

"You know what? We're gonna go." Ginny said, taking Hermione's hand, and a bag. Then she turned to Harry. "Tell A.J where we've gone, okay?" Harry nodded, still looking at Krys. He knew the truth. Not the truth, as in what Krys told him about the matter, but the truth as in, he knew Krys. It was her. She would never do that to one of her friends. And if she did, it would never be Hermione. That was a no.

"Yeah." He said, still staring at Krys. She looked at him too, but she looked right through him.

"I'll see you guys later." Ginny said pleasantly, before they disapparated. And when they did, everyone stared at Krys some more. What was going through everyone's mind was the same. What the hell did Krys do that was so bad? Well, other than making Hermione's boyfriend fall in love with her. But, they were used to that. That's what happened. Guys fell in love with Krys. Guys fall in love with Krys. Guys that weren't very likely to fall in love. In fact, it's as if Krys did the world a favor. She made guys that would never have fallen in love otherwise, fall in love with her. And it made them better people in the end.

"Can you guys stop staring at me?" she asked, in that Krys-like way of hers.

"I don't get why you won't just tell her the truth." Harry said, shaking his head.

"Hold on. What's going on?" Ron asked.

"Alright, so, Hermione's boyfriend likes Krys. And I'm guessing that when he was supposed to tell Hermione that he loved her, he accidentally said Krys' name." Jason said. Oh Gosh. Thinking about that is hard enough. Place yourself in Hermione's position, and start to cry. Then place yourself in Krys' position, and get freaked out.

"I got that." Ron said.

"Yeah, well…"

"He told her that I've been coming on to him." Krys said. They all looked at her. Nowhere on her face did it show an opinion.

"Is it true?" Ron asked. Krys looked up at him, with her eyes squinted. Her eyes said it all. Her eyes said 'Do you really think I would do that to her?'

"But why would he do that if he's trying to get with you?" Ares asked, preventing what would've come.

"You're a detective. You tell me." Krys teased.

"He did it because when it started, she cursed him and said that it would never happen, because she and Hermione were friends. He did it because it would break her and Hermione up." Harry said.

"It's my fault, anyway." Krys said.

"Hold on. What's happening? From the beginning." Emily said

"Krys what did you do?" Jason asked.

"I didn't do anything with him. The problem is that I didn't do anything." Krys said. "He's been telling me that he loves me for the past year."

"Why?"

"Okay, so two months after I had Mark, we got the grant to heal the lycanthropic scar tissue, right? And so we're so excited, and Hermione wanted to celebrate, and I didn't want to, because what kind of negligent bitch am I if I'm always dropping my son off somewhere, right? And momma Jules kicked me out of the house, and said to go with Hermione and celebrate. So, Hermione suggested the Gallionaires Family Country Club. We went, and you wouldn't believe that they have tennis. So, Hermione and I played tennis. Well, I went to go get some water, and there he was talking to some people, and one of them recognized me and called me over to talk for a minute. And I was _adorably_ charming, you know me. And I was talking for about ten minutes… and he asked me out. So then, I don't know, I got back to Hermione, and I called your mom, and she went to go get some water. So, I guess he saw Hermione too, and asked her out also. All I know is that he called me and said something about wanting to be just friends, because he had a girlfriend, or there was someone else that he was interested in. He said something like that. So, I said fine, because I wasn't gonna go out with him anyway. Anyway, he picked Hermione up for their date and saw me… so he and I had to talk. Turns out, he picked Hermione, because she was thinner. And that's what he told me. And so I was like, 'cool. Whatever'. So, they're together. Whatever, whatever, whatever, two months later, Hermione had an extra night school class in medical aesthetics, and I'd pissed out the rest of the baby gut, and whatever. He showed up. We were chilling. He kissed me. I pushed him off. He said he was sorry. I said okay." Krys droned on for emphasis. "That was it. Then he had the nerve to apologize and start talking about how I looked so different, and he couldn't help it. Just a bunch of crap. And I told him that if it didn't happen again, then we could just forget about it. And that's how it all started. Then the calls started. And the 'running into me' on the street, and asking me to lunch, and dinner. I mean, I never really liked him for her, but I didn't say anything, because he treats her like a fucking princess. And he was always nice to her, and when I'm with them, he seems really interested in her. But then, I catch him staring at me. And then she'll go to the bathroom, and he'll start telling me how great I look, and how much he's glad that he met me. It only started to get this bad three months ago. Before that it was just little things that annoyed me. Touching my hair, calling me pretty, calling me at midnight to wish me a happy birthday, and all that shit."

"So, why haven't you told her?" Ares asked. That was a real question. Why hadn't she told her? Truth be told, it was either because she liked the attention and being found attractive again, or she was just a bitch. Choose. 9 out of 10 will choose the latter, but it's because she wanted the attention again. Sick as it may seem, it's completely understandable. Then again, do we really know if that's why she did it?

"That's the problem, as I see it." Krys said. "Every time I started to, she would go on about how great he was, and when I actually started to get the words out, she would go on about how I was always picking on him and how much he wanted me to like him, and how much she didn't understand why I was picking on him. And as she did this, it got worse and worse with him. He started to come over more often when he knew she wouldn't be there, and everyone else saw it but her."

"Well then…" Thai said, before she picked up her ringing cell phone. "Hello, this is Thai speaking." Krys rolled her eyes, as Thai laughed. "Sorry. No, because I have something to do tomorrow night." Then she looked at Krys and covered the phone receiver. "Six to eight?" Krys nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. Who's going though? Because if… yeah. Call me tomorrow, alright? Yeah. Bye." WTF? What was going on? Why was Thai speaking as if she was involved in espionage affairs?

"Who the hell was that?" Krys asked, looking at Thai. The one thing running through her mind was 'hmmm, that little girl thinks she's cute, huh?' And all the while she thought that, Thai knew, and laughed.

"Michael." She said.

"And who is Michael?" Emily asked.

"Michael was Head boy this- last year." Thai said. Hmmm… weigh it out. Head Boy who also happened to be Quidditch Captain vs. Angel. You can have some time to think.

"Last year's Head Boy?" Krys asked. "Shouldn't you be going out with someone who's your age?"

"Um… he's two years older than me. And in a month, he'll be one year older than me. Plus, Krys, he is…" Thai said, showing Krys his picture in her phone.

"Wow. Can I meet him?" Krys teased, making Thai roll her eyes.

"He's mine. And he's so sweet, and he's funny. You'd like him." Thai said.

"Hold up. I thought you liked Angel."

"Yeah. Past tense."

"No… this was last week that you were cursing about him."

"Well, he and Jenny are still going strong."

"And how is it that your bestest friend goes out with him now?"

"Well, as you know, I don't do the pow-wow over guys. So, he asked me out. I said yeah. I told her. Later that night, I caught them doing it in the prefect baths. There you go." Thai said.

"So, now you're making him suffer by going out with Head boys."

"Yes." Thai said.

"So, hold on. Hold on. You like a guy that asked you out and started to go out with your best friend. And now, you're going out with an incredibly hot guy that's about to have a job, when your potential boyfriend still has his mummy and daddy buying him underwear?" Kay asked.

"You know, I think that we're leaving the real issue behind in the dust." Thai said, looking at Krys. "What are we going to do about you and Hermione?"

"Yeah. What's going to happen with that?" A.J asked.

"We're not going to do anything about Hermione and me. I don't care if she never talks to me again." Krys said, walking away from the island and rummaging through the cabinets. We all know the move. You know, when you act like you're doing something, when in reality, you're doing absolutely nothing.

"What do you mean you don't care?"

"I mean, she told me that I was just jealous. That I wanted her to be alone, like me." Krys said, pulling out a blue tin.

"But you're not alon-"

"_I_ know that." Krys said. "I have a life. And it's okay if it isn't glamorous, but _I_ find it fulfilling. I never thought of myself as being alone. I though I had her. But, I was wrong. Truth be told, she and I are done. I don't know anyone named Hermione Granger. She's dead to me." Then she walked through the archway.

"Wow… she's…" Ares started, then stopped. What the hell could he do? He had nothing to do with this, and since they weren't together, there was nothing for him to do or say.

"Pissed." Harry finished for him. "In her newest pissed mode. The calm one."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

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"So…" Hermione started, before she demurely blew her nose. "He said that for the past year, she's been flirting with him, and although nothing big has happened, they developed a relationship behind my back. It's been going on since we met. And he's in love with her." Ginny looked at her sympathetically, and hugged her friend.

"Hermione, are you sure that this guy is trustworthy?" she asked. "I mean, Krys-" 

"Don't say her name." Hermione cried. "Ginny, I was about to make love to him, and he said her name. He said 'I love you, Krys.' I love you, _Krys_? I mean, I never thought that something like this could happen to me."

"What?"

"That I could be so terribly miserable, and it has nothing to do with your brother." Hermione sobbed. While Ginny rolled her eyes, Hermione continued to cry softly. It was as if she'd lost everything that she'd ever been taught. Friends come before guys. It was like the OGC- Official Girlfriend's Code was sucked from her memory.

"She's your best friend, and-"

"No. _You're_ my best friend." 

"No. She's your best friend. A.J is my best friend. And _we're all_ best friends." Ginny said, before she stood up. "You know, Hermione. Krys has always been there for all of us. And as bitchy as she is- and yes, she can be a right bitch, she would _never_ do that to you. I've known her for three years, while you've known her for four, and been with her for a straight two years. Of all people, you'd think that _you_ knew that."

"Then why is it that she's always been trying to break us up? Or that she's always going out with us? Or why she calls him all hours of the night? Or why if any of this is happening, and it's been happening, she hasn't told me?" Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"I don't know." She said. "But, shouldn't you ask her? There has to be some sort of explanation." Hermione sniffled, and shook her head. She shook it as if she was ridding herself of all relation to the problem.

"I don't want to know." She said. "All I know is that she and I are done. She's dead to me."

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The next morning, when Hermione woke up, the day was lovely. It was the perfect day. The sun was beautifully bright, the birds were beautifully annoying, and the grass was enviously green. That morning, Hermione got ready early, she finished reading the book that she'd been trying to finish for two years, she worked out, and she had the chance to wash and do her hair. She had time to do everything that she wanted that morning. And that morning, she didn't rush out of the house to get to the portal for work. She walked through slowly. As soon as she walked into St. Eris's hospital, she was greeted by "Good morning, Madam Granger" scattered across the hall. Hermione smiled, and looked in her mailbox, pulling out a clipboard with a schedule. And without a moment to rest, Hermione had a patient.

As she walked into her office with a smile on her face, she jumped when she saw who she had an appointment with. What the hell was he doing there? Who he? Okay, he broke her heart by saying her best friend's name when they were about to do it, he dro- no more? Oh. Okay.

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The next morning, when Krys got back from work, she was happy, and surprisingly well rested. She wasn't sleepy at all. When she got home at 6:02, she collapsed on her bed, and woke up completely revitalized, replenished, and rejuvenated at 8:15. At 8:15 she got up and had a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and washed her face, before she went into Marcus and Jaime's room. And there he was. Marky, in his much wanted big boy bed, curled up, sucking his thumb, humming in his sleep, and hugging Snuffles. And then there was Jaime, in his big boy bed, curled up, sucking his thumb, snoring sweetly, and hugging Lightening McQueen. And, soon, like the mommy that she was, Krys found herself picking up both Jaime and Mark, and carrying them to her bed, before she went in to check on Angel. Angel who slept like an angel. She slept with a smile on her face, and with a purring song that she breathed. It was adorable. Slowly, Krys lifted her, then walked to Thai's room, where the shower was going, and Thai's singing was heard from a distance. Krys laughed, and then laid Angel on Thai's bed. Now, as sweet as this all is, we know where it's going. They all got bathed and dressed by Thai, while Krys was downstairs cooking breakfast. Yes, man. She can now cook. French toast, turkey bacon, pancakes, and toast. She made small portions of each, knowing that they all had incredibly small appetites. And when they all walked down the stairs behind Thai, Krys laughed. Jaime and Mark were crawling down the stairs with help from Angel and Thai, because they were so small. And when they all got into the kitchen, Krys laughed and swooped Jaime into a highchair, while Thai did the same for Marcus.

"Morning all." Krys said, blowing kisses to each one of them.

"Hi, mommy." Marky said, smiling brightly after pulling his thumb out of his mouth.

"Hello, darling #3." Krys said, kissing his cheek, before she kissed Jaime's then Angel's, then Thai's. "Okay, well… I was thinking that today, we can go to the zoo." The kiddies cheered, and smiled, and clapped. "But, then I thought; no. We all have allergies, and I really don't feel like handing you little snotrags tissue all day. Then I thought that we could go to an amusement park or something. And then I also thought no. But, then, I thought that we should go to the park or something. And I said no again, and just decided that we'd see where we went, and where it went." Then she inhaled deeply. "Angel, what do you want to eat? There's turkey bacon, French toast, toast, and pancakes. What do you want?" Angel looked at her and shrugged.

"I don't know." She said. "I guess a pancake and some turkey."

"Otay." Krys said, nodding cutely. It was when she looked at the three youths looking up at her that she realized the measure of her happiness and luck. And it was only when there was a chiming ring that echoed through the entire house, that she realized that she was staring into space. Krys pranced out of the kitchen and opened the door. Dramatic pause. There are horrible things that can happen when you're answering the door in the morning. But none more horrible than answering the door in your not-so-cute pajamas, crazy messy side bun, and no inkling of makeup. Well… when you're Krys, the worst thing is answering the door in your not-so-cute pajamas and your crazy messy bun- it isn't as if she ever had an inkling of makeup. And it gets worse as you realize who is on your doorstep. When Krys answered the door that morning, she opened her eyes wide to see Ares. Ares, with his cargo khakis, white tee, Yankee fitted, white uptowns, and white hoodie in hand. Oy, when Puerto Rican boys turn to men- something to witness. B2TP- back to the point.

"Morning." Ares said, giving her the once over, three or four times, before he decided to give her a quick hug. Okay, now we all know the process of hugging. Open arms, enveloping the other person- all that shit. Well, hopefully we all know that a hug is awkward when one person is patting the other on the back. _Krys_ is _supposed_ to do that. She's cold- she's a frigid bitch that can't really hug. Ares is the warm one. So, when he's patting a female's back as he hugs her… _that's_ a problem. So, they had their awkward three second hug, before they both pulled back.

"Hey." Krys replied. Then there was silence. Time wasted with sheer and utter silence. I mean, what could really be said? 'Hey, I think that you're awesome and so sexiliciously hot. You wanna leave your girlfriend to raise our son with me?' And what the hell could he say? 'Sure, I think you're amazing. Why wouldn't I want to drop everything good in my life to jump through more hoops for you?' There was _nothing_ to say in this situation between the exes. _But_, that's only if you're a normal couple of exes. We are talking about Krys and Ares. Those crazy kids. Krys clucked her tongue, then looked at Ares. "You're sizzling, sexy. Where're you going?" she asked him, making him look at her and laugh.

"Came here for the awkwardness. I wanted you to see how good and hood you had it." Ares teased, moving her to the side and walking in.

"Oh, yes. Come on in, Ares." Krys said sarcastically.

"You really weren't going to invite me in, were you?" Krys looked at him and smiled.

"Of course I wasn't." she said, before she looked him up and down. "So, what's going on?"

"I wanted to ask you something." Oh, Christ H. Jesus H. Christ. Suddenly, she started to panic. What could he possibly want to know? What? What?! What?! What?! What the hell did he want to ask her about?! And while a jumble of feelings rushed through her, she opened her eyes and looked at him as if she were the head cheerleader. She didn't have a damn care in the world.

"Okay. What is it?" Ares sat down on the loveseat next to the stairs and held his head in his hands. It happened so suddenly that Krys was actually taken aback. Watching him look so disoriented struck fear in Krys' heart. This was Ares. Calm, cool, and collected, Ares. Shy, yes, but always calm. And when he lost his temper, or his cool, it was never a good sign. His posture and the air that he gave off caused Krys to go back in time, and run to his side. As soon as she touched him, she gently held his face, and made him look at her. "What's wrong?" she asked strongly, before she took off his hat. "Are you okay?" Ares nodded, then shook his head, and then he nodded again. "Alright, just get it out." As soon as she said that, Ares mumbled something that she couldn't make out. "What?"

"Is he mine?"


	61. Maximum Volume

"Huh?" Krys asked, not really having heard him before. Okay, she heard him, but she prayed to God that she didn't hear him right. This could not be happening. Except for Marcus's partially green-hazel eyes, his nose, and his cheeks, he was nothing like Ares. Why would he think that he was his, just because Marcus called Ares' mom grandma? How could he assume such a thing? Well… he could be suspicious, because it's true… but I'm no expert, so what would I know?

"Is he mine?" Ares whispered even louder, making Krys' heart plummet head first into the shallow pit that was said to be her stomach. And as soon as her heart plummeted, she made that vomit/retching/burping/acid indigestion noise, before she practically collapsed next to him in the loveseat. And as her breathing got heavier, Ares stared at her more and more intensely.

"Well, that was blunt of you." Krys said, attempting to be light and sarcastic.

"Krys, I'm serious."

"I don- why? Why would you ask me that?" Krys asked.

"Because-."

"I don't know!" she lied. "I- I don't know."

"That's just fucking wonderful."

"Hey! How much does this _really_ matter, anyway?" Ares looked at her like she was crazy. How much does it matter? That's his child. His seed- his child!

"What do you mean 'how much does this matter?'? Are you fu-"

"What's it going to change? Are you going to quit your job because of this? Are you going to-"

"It matters because I wasn't there!"

"Just, please calm down." Krys said, before she sat back down. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't mean anything."

"It means a lot. It means that I now regret my choice."

"What choi-"

"I didn't mean anything by it. I just meant my choice of not telling you that it's a possibility. But, I didn't want you to plan your whole life around this." Krys said.

"By this, you mean my son?"

"No, by this, I mean _my_ son."

"You know wha-"

"No. No I don't." Krys said, before she looked at him and tried to smile. "But, I'll take care of it. I will find him, and get a DNA test done, and if it's not him… _then_ it's you. But-"

"Why wouldn't you just get me to do a DN-?"

"Because then, you'd be keeping something from Emily. Right now, he's _my_ son. _Only _my son. _My_ sperm, _my_ egg. _I_ carried him, _I_ take care of him. _I'm_ mommy, daddy, Santa, the tooth fairy, and until we realized that he's allergic to them, I was the motherfucking Easter bunny, too." Then she sat down on the floor and held her head in her hands. "I _love_ how you think that this is easy."

"I don't think that it's easy."

"Because, you know, when I take him to the park, he sees little boys with their goddamn fathers… and he gets this look." Krys said, whispering the last part. "The same look that the little chubby kid gets when he sees someone get a cupcake, when he's just as deserving. And I _know_ that since he's giving me the look now, it's only another year until he asks that question. And I have no idea what I'm going to say to him when the time comes." After a moment of staring at one another from across the room, Ares sat up and opened his arms slightly.

"Come on." He said.

"No." Krys said, shaking her head.

"Yes. Come here." Ares said, making Krys get up and hug him.

"You having any second thoughts about me being at this dinner tonight?" she asked.

"No."

"Good. You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good. You still want me to lure her there?"

"Yeah."

"Good. No worries? You'll let me take care of everything?"

"Yeah."

"Good. We still friends?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Still best friends?"

"Yeah."

"Good. You still love me?" Whoa. Heavy question. She felt Ares slowly nodding, before she pulled back to look at him. As he looked at her, Krys smiled, and Ares continued to nod.

"Yeah. I still love you." He said softly. Krys smiled and hugged him tighter.

"Good. Me too." She said, before she pulled away. "Don't… are you worried?" That was a real question. Was he worried?

"Um… I- no- not anymore." Ares said, breathing slowly. Krys nodded.

"Don't worry about it, okay." she said, before she stared at him openly. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Track down an imaginary guy, to tell him that she had someone else's child? What could she possibly do? Who the hell would she get to play that part? Well… that's what friends are for, right? "I really doubt that it's you."

"Shouldn't you know?" Ares asked. Hmmm… what did he mean by that? He didn't say it in a facetious way, which had to mean that it was an actual question.

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you supposed to be omniscient?"

"Yeah, well… there are some things that I won't allow myself to know." And then there was more awkwardness. More and more awkwardness. "Okay, listen. I don't want this to change anything. I mean- I don't mean that. I just mean… this shouldn't be so awkward. I'm okay with this. Are you okay with this?" Krys asked him seriously. And in that minute that he didn't answer, she fretted. But, that was before Ares gave that shaky little nod.

"Yeah. I'm okay with this."

"Is Emily going to be okay with this?"

"She- she should be. But, maybe we should tell her the truth first." Ares said.

"We?"

"She likes you." Ares said. "And you're her friend. No matter how new you may be."

"But… we lied to her." Krys said. "Please, please, please don't tell her. Not until we know something." Ares looked at her for a minute, before he nodded.

"Okay." He said. "But, if she dumps me… it's your fault."

"I will take full responsibility." Krys said, before she took his hand. "Now, I have something to ask you."

"What?" Ares asked, allowing her to drag him. Krys stopped in the hallway, then turned to him.

"Ares Delgado, I love you." She said in a nasal voice with a Brooklyn accent. Ares smiled and nodded. "And I would absolutely love it if you blew off whoever you were hanging out with today, to go somewhere with me and my darlings."

"And who are your darlings?"

"Krystathaili Elaine, Angelica Razzellia, James Alexander, and Marcus Alexander."

"They have the same middle name?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because. So, will you come?"

"Me and you?"

"Yeah. Me and you."

"Okay. Where're we going?"

"The botanical gardens." Krys said.

"With allergies like yours?" Ares asked.

"Well… the botanical gardens have the best lilies. And they have this orchid fountain… so… you know." Krys said, with her hands wrung behind her back. "If you don't want to come, you don't have to."

"No, I want to. I'm just wondering how you're gonna live around so many flowers."

"Well… your shirt is gonna be a big handkerchief today." Krys said, before she took his hand again. "You wanna see him?"

"Yes, please." Ares said, before they walked through the archway to the kitchen. When they got in there, Ares' eyes widened. There he was. And for the first time since he found out that he could be a father, he saw him. He was beautiful. There he was, eating a single pancake with tiny his hands, chewing loudly, and now, waving at Ares, with a big smile on his sweet little face. And that caused Ares to laugh, and walk over to him. And as he walked over to him, it was almost like the walkway to fatherhood. As he sat down next to Marcus, Ares looked at the children around him, then stopped to smile at that one. That could be his son. _His_ son. From what he knew of the child, he was amazing. That could be his amazing child. His amazingly amazing child. With the amazingly amazing Krys.

"Well, if you'll all give me some time to get ready, then you and I- we can all get going." Krys said, before she spun around and walked out of the kitchen. And then she walked away. It was almost as if she was walking away from the _problem_ itself.

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"Allen, what exactly are you doing in my office?" Hermione asked tiredly as she hung her coat up.

"Hermione-"

"No." Hermione ran her hand through her hair, then sat behind her desk. "Now, I'm going to ask you to leave once more, before I call security." Her voice was tired, and so was her heart. What the hell was he there for? If she was going to heal, then she needed time. Time with something good. A feeling that could replenish her, and make it so that she was whole again. At the moment, she wasn't whole.

"Hermione, I'm sorry." Allen said, before he sat back down on her couch. "I'm so sorry." Hermione looked around and laid her head on her desk. She laid her head on the desk and didn't pick it up. She just sniffled slightly, before she wiped her eyes.

"Why her?" she asked.

"I beg your pardon." Allen said, before he got up and sat closer to her desk.

"Why her?" Hermione yelled, with her head still down.

"Hermione, she… I don't know. She's… I-"

"That was my best friend." Hermione said, picking her head up. "You continued on a relationship with me for an entire year, whilst you were trying to pursue my best friend." She said it as if even she couldn't believe it. As if each word that she uttered was one new discovery.

"I love her." Allen said. "I didn't think that it was so wrong, because I loved her. I'm so-"

"Okay, well, Allen, in the worlds that I choose to reside in, I've learned a few things, okay? I've learned that you don't use people. You especially don't use people that have been good and loyal to you for a substantial amount of time. There's big, and there's little. There's right, and there's wrong. And there's black, and there's white, and no amount of sympathy or contrition on your part is going to make me see gray." Hermione yelled, before she looked him straight in the eye. "So… I suggest you get the hell out of my office, before I have you-"

"She didn't do anything." Allen said slowly, making Hermione look at him. "Look, Hermione, I'm sorry. I really am. But, I am truly in love with her. And… because of that, I'm going to tell you the truth."

"See, I don't think you understand the meaning of that word."

"Hermione, I called her this morning. And… I think that she misses y-"

"Allen, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't pester me by nosing your way into my business. I'd

also appreciate it if you didn't explain the sick ways of your relationship to me. She, like you, is out of my life. For good."

"It's not her. It was me. Hermione, she doesn't call me. She doesn't even talk to me when you're not around. She hasn't done anything. I did this, because I thought that I'd have a better chance if the two of you were no longer friends. But now, she won't even talk to me."

"Allen, get the hell out of my office." Hermione said in a final whisper, before she picked up her phone and pushed the red button. Red button marked 'security'. And instantly, two big men barged into Hermione's office, with their wands at the ready. "Please escort Mr. Worlmire out of this office. But, he may be able to seek out refuge in Madam Rodriguez's. I don't know, maybe Krystathaili would like to know that her boyfriend is in the building. I'll call her for you." Hermione picked up her phone, before she pressed one button. After a minute of holding the receiver to her ear, she hung up. "She changed her shifts. Allen, you're out of luck. William, please escort him out then." As the two big security guards started to drag Allen out of the office, Allen thrashed around yelling out 'Unhand me!' And as they escorted him out, Hermione held down the intercom button. "Justine, can you get me some coffee, and a bottle of seltzer water, please."

"No problem, Madam Granger." Said the 17 year old secretary of Hermione. 

"And when you get a chance, can you call the orphanage to tell Stacy to make sure that she lets _all_ of the older kids design their own summer rooms. And for the ones that are leaving for the summer, make sure that they leave the numbers of the hosts and sign themselves out. And if they don't have a stamp on their letter and they think that they're leaving, send them to me, please."

"Um… that was a coffee and… what else?" Justine asked, before she walked into Hermione's office, with the phone in her hand.

"Here." Hermione said, holding a notepad out. "I took the liberty of writing it down for you." Justine nodded and started to walk out again. "And Justine."

"Yes, Madam Granger."

"Never let anyone in my office again." Hermione said, shaking her head. Justine just nodded slowly, then turned to walk away.

"And Justine." Justine turned back around and looked at Hermione. "You can call me Hermione."

"Thank you, Hermione." Justine said, walking out of the office, before she spun right around back into the office. "I thought all major decisions such as this are to be cleared through Krys."

"No, I have authorization." Hermione said, before she picked up her phone. "Hey, Harry- ooh, am I waking you up?"

"Yes." Harry said groggily on speakerphone.

"Okay, I need you to tell your cousin that I'm stamping on the kids that want to leave for the summer." Hermione said. "Are you going to tell her that?"

"No." Harry said, before Hermione got complete and utter dial tone. With one last groan, Hermione laid her head on her desk, before the buzz from her intercom caused her to jump.

"Yes?" Hermione called into the intercom.

"Hermione, there's someone who says that they really need to talk to you."

"No, Justine. Send them away." Hermione groaned. "I'm not taking any appointments until 11."

"Hermi-"

"No, Justine." Hermione said once more, before she threw her phone off of her desk. And as soon as she did that, her door opened. "Justine, I said not to let anyone in."

"Does that include me?" Hermione looked up and smiled. Walking in the door was Julia.

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Walked they did. The botanical garden was formatted like a park. You could immerse yourself in the flowers, and even touch the flowers, because it was formatted as a park. Granted, it was expensive as hell. Even more so for children, children were a risk, and they could cause harm to the flowers. So, there they were, walking over the bridge, hand in hand. Well, Ares and Krys were hand in hand, with Mark in between them. Maybe hand in hand was only in Krys' mind. It was eerily as if the past two years apart were erased and replaced with familial moments, and they were a family now. So, when Ares picked Marcus and Jaime up, Krys slowed down and started to walk with Thai and Angel.

"Is it happening again?" Thai asked, as she, Krys and Angel held hands.

"Yeah. I could get pregnant just by looking at him, he turns me on so much." Krys whispered to herself, making Thai look at her.

"Ill. I mean, I can understand it, but ill." She said, before they did the 123 swing with Angel. And when they got to their destination, the actual botanical gardens park was filled with beautiful slides designed as flowers, along with swings and jungle gyms that were vines. And sand, surprisingly. So, while Angel, Jaime, and Marcus played on the swings with Thai, Krys and Ares had a chance to sit down and talk. Well… sit and look at one another. Krys was surprisingly overdressed for the occasion. That isn't to suggest that she looked stupid or anything, but she looked very cute, in an overdressed way. White halter sundress that flowed nicely all the way down to her calves, with a white bucked hat, and white cork espadrilles. Okay, I'm kidding. You caught on. Krys wore black jeans and a pink halter top, with a black bucket hat that had a pink flower on it. And on her feet… the most beautiful pair of black and pink Airmax. Not to mention her black racer's jeans jacket. SO, there they sat, saying nothing for the first four or five minutes.

"I'm guessing that this is what you come here for." Ares said, as he looked at her.

"Yeah. The flowers suck." Krys said, popping two 300 mgs of Zyrtek in her mouth.

"Should I be worried?"

"No. It's just some allergy medicine, so that I don't blow up. You know, so my face doesn't get puffy, and so that my sinuses don't drain."

"Ah. I'm not allergic to anything. I'm a lucky one."

"Is _that_ why your eyes are tearing?" Krys asked teasingly. And Ares' eyes were in fact tearing, and red, while he sniffled and started to rub his ears. "Yes you are allergic to some things. You're allergic to carob, you're allergic to peaches, you're allergic to nectarines, you're allergic to penicillin, you're allergic to shellfish… and… you are allergic to parsley." Then she looked at him and smiled. "And you have seasonal allergies that are really bad. You just don't react to flowers and trees as bad as I do."

"How do you know this?"

"I'm supposed to. I had a list of things that I was supposed to know, before we did it." Ares looked at her. "No, I'm serious."

"You and me? Or you and anyone."

"Me and anyone."

"What's on the list?"

"The first is their last and middle name. The second is where they grew up. The third is where they were born. The fourth is what they want to do with their life. The fifth is how they feel about me. The sixth is their parents' first names. The seventh is their favorite food. The eight is what they hate. The ninth is if they know of being allergic to anything. The tenth is what they're allergic to. And the eleventh is why they're with me. In that exact order. And see… when I find out the last one, if it's good… then I do it. If it's bad… sometimes, I still do it." Krys said, making Ares look at her and laugh. "I was kidding."

"I know. Not about the list, but… the last part." Ares said. "So, what's his father allergic to?"

"Cherries, cats and dogs. And… milk."

"What's Marcus allergic to?"

"My sweet pea is allergic to penicillin, shellfish, cherries, nectarines, nuts, and carob." Krys said, before she looked at him. Ares had four fingers up, before he looked at her. "But I'm allergic to some of that too. So…"

"Which of those are you allergic to?"

"Cherries and nuts." Krys said thoughtfully. "But… allergies like carob and shellfish- they're common." Ares looked at her and laughed.

"So… how have things been?" he asked slowly.

"Good. I'm busy. Really busy. And now that I have the night shift… I'm really going nuts."

"When did you start work?"

"With pay, I started yesterday." Krys said, making Ares look at her. "What? Do you know how much shit happens at night? That's when all of the aurors come in. They come in with broken heads, and expect me to fix it like it's nothing. And worse, the aurors that have crazy harsh magic spells put on them, and have like nine of them on them… they act like I can fix that in a minute. If he's dripping blood from his pores and his bones are shattered and his body doesn't have a form anymore, all the while there's another auror that's been splinched, and part of his skull is cut off, I'm the only one that can fix either, so who do I make priority?"

"Is that what happened last night?"

"Yeah, along with a shit load of other different things. One little kid came with a werewolf bite that had been festering for a month. And his mom wanted me to check it out finally. So, I checked it out. And it was so infected, that if I wasn't a witch, his arm would literally have had to come off. And it had started to pus so horribly, so that it was on the verge of being green. And… then, there was the fact that he started to get really hairy. So… she's asking me if there's anything that I can do for him… and I have to look at her, and hold the fact that I wanna laugh so badly. He's practically formed. He's about to be a damn werewolf, and the nerve of her to ask me that. Well… there is something that I can do, in fact. But it's so painful that it would've been a lot easier to just let him live it out and give him the Wolfsbane potion. So, the procedure is called _the drain_. I had to take out all of his blood, and dig out all of the flesh where the wolf's teeth got into it. He's recovering now."

"How painful is that?"

"Incredibly painful. See… all of his bodily fluids were drained, and replaced. And I had to scrape a substantial amount of arm flesh. So… you know."

"And you said that you wouldn't be able to handle auror training?"

"I can handle healer training, because… I don't know. Healer training is worse. I hold someone else's life in my hand every day… and so, when I have someone die on my table, I feel so guilty."

"You've had someone die on your table?"

"No. Not yet. I've had friends that have. Hermione has, Gem has, and so has Nic."

"Doesn't Gem have a hospital?"

"Yeah."

"So… how does that work? You know, since you and she are both hospital inheritors."

"Oh. She and I don't bother each other about it. And… she was a bit pissed when I got the auror contract, but she got over it."

"You put her out of business."

"No! What happened is that I talked to Michael Stevens. Your mom got me in to talk to Stevens, and I asked her to get Gem in too. So, we had two separate presentations, I told him my ideas, and Gem told him about how her hospital worked… and he chose me."

"So… if I start working for the N.A ministry… then you're going to be my doctor?"

"Um… not exactly. I have about 246 aurors that want me as their healer, because I heal 3 out of 7 continental ministries. I heal a substantial amount of the European branches, all of N.A, all of S.A, and the Australian. If I saw that it was you, then I would be your healer. Yeah, I would. I would be your healer, because, there's a lot of shit that you should consider when you're picking a healer for yourself or your kid. And if you don't have a healer that you can trust, then you might as well lie down and die." Ares looked at her and raised his eyebrows. I mean, she had to be exaggerating. It couldn't be that serious, or that bad. "No, I'm serious. Here's something that you should keep in mind. No one but a healer knows what's good for your body. Because, your files are strictly confidential, only your healer can see it. In that chart is an entire layout of your body. Everything is in there. And we know what you can take, what you can withstand, and what you might be able to survive through. So, you'll get healers that will choose what they want to do to you. Okay… I wouldn't do that. I'd give you the options and make you choose for yourself. I'd recommend, I'd give my opinion… and that's it. But you also have healers that won't even try for you. There're healers that'll get dealt a child that has a mild illness that their record says they may be able to take. So… if it's 'they die, or you try and they might live' why wouldn't you try? You know what I mean?"

"Yeah. So… you're telling me that I should interview my healers?"

"You have the right to."

"Yeah, I know. As a graduate of auro-"

"No. Everyone has the right to. They just tell aurors about the option, because they're afraid that they'll find out and raise hell." Krys said, before she ran her hand through her hair. "So, what about you? Are you working?" Ares smiled.

"Not everyone has a hospital or a multimillion dollar empire to work in once they leave school." Ares teased.

"Multi_bi_llion." Krys corrected, making him laugh. "So, are you?"

"Nah." Ares said, shaking his head.

"Ah… so-"

'I did a bounty hunt gig a few weeks ago.' Ares thought, making Krys look at him and smile.

"I knew that would get your attention." Ares teased.

"Did you? Really?"

"Yeah. We can talk about that later." Ares said, standing up.

"Where're you going?" Krys asked in a squeaky voice, making Ares smile.

"Gotta take care of the kids." Ares said, smiling at her, before he poked her in the stomach.

"Hey." Krys whined as she hopped up and poked him in his side. Ares laughed and put his arm around her shoulder, before they walked over to the kids, who were just sitting on the swings, hanging out. They were all under five years old, and they could just hang out with one another. That's fricking cool. And when you have a one year old and a two year old interacting with these older kids, telling stories and getting laughs, you know that you've done right in the early stages of motherhood.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Ares asked her, before he looked at the kids and repeated the question. In that moment… Ares was a family man.

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Hermione looked up and smiled. J.J. D was a woman that she could deal with. She could seriously allow her into the office and be happy about it.

"Hi." Jules said, sitting at the desk.

"Hey." Was Hermione tired response. Jules looked at her and smiled warmly. That warm smile was a nice way to start off the day. Mrs. Delgado always had that loving smile that was way motherly, and obviously way loveable. "So, what's going on?"

"I need some advice." Jules said, before she ran her hand through her hair.

"Oh- okay. What about?"

"How am I supposed to tell Ares about Brian?" Hermione's eyes widened and she shook her head, holding in laughter that was too risky to be let loose.

"No. I refuse to get involved in this." She said once she calmed down. "This is between you, Brian, and your son."

"Come on, Hermione."

"Why don't you ask the precious Krys?"

"Oh Christ. You've finally found out about the Allen Worlmire situation? Darling, this was a long time coming."

"Jules, what do you mean 'it was a long time coming'?"

"I mean that everyone could see it but you. It's been going on for the past year, Hermione." Jules said.

"Yes, but she never told me."

"Um… but does that mean that she didn't try?" Jules said in that 'watch how I'll prove you wrong' voice.

"Yes- it does. Obviously if I didn't know, then she didn't tell me." Jules just looked at her with a look that matched what she knew. "Yeah, but then that would mean that she-… that would mean that I didn't let her speak."

"You didn't." Hermione closed her mouth for a moment, before she looked ahead at Julia again.

"What was your problem again?" she asked, before she took out a notepad.

"I need to know how to tell Ares about Brian."

"Brian, your very hot, very young boyfriend?"

"No, Brian, my very legal boyfriend that just happens to be twenty five."

"You're dating a man that could've been in school with your son." Hermione teased, before her eyes widened. "Sorry, a man that _was_ in school with your son."

"You're not helping." Julia yelled. "And so Ares has this dinner that he wants me to go to tonight, and Brian wants to meet him… and… so, you know."

"Brian just happens to be your date tonight?"

"Yes." What was a woman to do? Maybe she was in the wrong for dating a man that was younger than the goddaughter that she thought of as her own. But, he did happen to be hot. Extremely hot, extremely sweet, smart, successful, and just all around good. "And he wants to meet the kids, you know, the kids that he could've met when he was in school."

"Well… twenty five is mature." Hermione said. "It's not like he's Ares' age."

"Yeah. He's only five years older. That's better. It really is."

"See, exactly." Hermione said, missing the sarcasm that Julia's voice was drenched in. "Well, if he happens to find it out by himself… then, you don't know what'll happen." Julia sighed.

"I have to go find Krys." She said.

"What do you mean?! I just gave you perfectly good adv-"

"I need to find Krys to give her something." Jules interrupted, before she shook her head. "You're such a crazy."

"I am not." Hermione said. "But, I also am not going to this dinner tonight."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to go because, I don't have a date. And, because I do not want to be in the same room as her."

"I don't know what to say. But, come to the party." Julia said, before she kissed Hermione's cheek.

"I don't have a date."

"You can go with Brian." Jules offered, making Hermione laugh.

"He's much too hot for me, thank you." Hermione said, before her intercom buzzed again. "Yes, Justine?"

"Um… someone else is here for you." Justine said in an almost singsong voice. "And he's hot."

"How hot?" Hermione asked teasingly.

"Looks like you'll be okay." Jules said, before she walked away, holding up the 'call me' signal. Hermione rolled her eyes playfully, before she nodded.

"Does this person have a name?" Hermione asked.

"Um… hold on." Justine said, beeped off. Then a moment later, the intercom buzzed once again. "Ron." Hermione's eyes widened and she shook her head continuously. As if that was supposed to let Justine know that she shouldn't let him in. After shaking her head in a panic for about five minutes, Hermione's office door opened and in he walked. Justine was so fucking fired.

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So, when you're sitting down in this lovely restaurant aka. 'deli with tables' with three of your favorite kids, your favorite illegal teen, and your favorite man in the world… and you're still not happy, step forward. And, if while you're with these people, all you feel is utter misery, step forward once more. And, if the reason that you're completely miserable is because you're trying to find a good way to tell the man that you love, who so happens to love another woman, and is incidentally the father of your child, that he isn't the father of your child, then step forward. Because you are the winner of the game, Krys. Yes, you won. You've won the opportunity to screw up your life more, and be even more socially unhappy than you already are. You can't be with another man, because you don't want another man. And the man that you've wanted all your life wants someone else. And all the while this is happening; you have a good job, shitloads of money held in banks; stocks, bonds, and property, and a beautiful son that's worth ten times your fortune in your eyes. Go fucking figure.

"Krys, I have to go." Thai said, standing up and kissing her cheek.

"Really?" Krys asked, getting up also. "Excuse me." Then she dragged Thai away from the table. "Thai, Thai, Thai, you can't leave me here."

"What happened?" Thai asked, looking at her as if she were the craziest bitch on the planet. "I mean, you guys are getting along just famously, darling."

"Exactly. I can't be around any man under the age of twenty five that likes, Angel, Jaime, you, and Marcus, or will feed Marcus and Jaime. Why? Because that alone might get me pregnant again." Thai held her laughter as her phone rang.

"Listen, Krys… why don't you just start a nice little argume-"

"That's worse. I hate arguing with him. Again, it might get me pregnant. That's how it happened the first time." Thai raised her eyebrows and stepped back once.

"Maybe you should live in isolation. God, you're like a cat in heat." She teased, making Krys roll her eyes. "Look, I have to go. But, Krys, he has a girlfriend. I doubt that it'll go farther than you two making out on your bedroom floor."

"What?!" Thai backed away and laughed.

"I was kidding." She said apologetically. "Look, you told me on the way here that Ares thinks that it could be another man, right? Well, I think that you should tell him." Krys' eyes widened. Sadly, she'd never thought of that as an option. If he'd come back without a girlfriend, of course she would've. But, he came back happy. And in the end, that's all that she ever wanted for him, regardless of who it was with.

"Thai, I don't think I can. I mean, he has someone. And she's amazing, and he thinks so too."

"But didn't you say that she cheats on him?"

"Once, she said. Only once. Well, a lot of times, with the same man, so she doesn't think it counts. I'm not even sure if she stopped."

"I'm not an expert or anything, but… if you have the balls to continuously cheat, you're not really into the relationship." Thai said, making Krys inhaled deeply. "Look, Krys, do you. But, do not blame anyone else for your unhappiness, don't take it out on anyone else, and don't live vicariously through me." Krys smiled and hugged Thai, before kicking her on the behind and kissing her cheek.

"You have money?" she asked.

"Yes. And… credit card." Thai said, before she walked away.

"Get there safely."

"I'll call you."

"Have fun."

"Same here." Thai teased, before she turned around and walked out of the store.

When Krys got back to the table, Ares was laughing with the children. Whoa, man that can laugh with the toddies. Wonderful.

"I um… I think it's time to go." Krys said.

"You know that we just got here, right, Krys?" Ares teased, pulling her back down to the table.

"Yeah." Krys said, nodding nervously. "But, I thought that we'd you know… go back to my place." Okay, now as suggestive as it sounded, she didn't mean it that way. So, when Ares looked at her with his eyebrows raised and a teasing smile on his face, Krys' eyes widened. "Not like that, you sick man."

"Hey, you said it." Ares said.

"I meant, so that I-" Saved by the fricking bell. Krys' phone started to ring, and she jumped at the opportunity to leave the table to answer it. Yes! "Hello?"

"Hi, Kryssie, honey." Greeted the warm and loving voice of Julia.

"Hiya, momma." Krys replied. "What's going on?"

"Um… okay, you and A.J have met Brian, right?"

"Yes."

"And you both liked him."

"Very much. I remember him, actually. He was head boy, and he was always nice to me."

"Yeah. Do you think Ares will like him?" Whoa. Truth or dare. Tell her the truth that she wants to hear, or dare to tell her the truth.

"I think that if he doesn't, he's just looking at one part of the picture. And that you should stop second guessing yourself, because if you thought that you were doing the wrong thing, then you wouldn't be doing it." Krys said wisely.

"This is why I love you."

"I know. I love you too."

"Okay. Next question… when are you going to make up with Hermione?"

"I can't do that." Krys said. "Look, momma, she doesn't want to talk to me… and so, what can I really do? I didn't do anything wrong."

"Krys… I love you. But, you're going down a really rocky road that may not end up anywhere in the realm of where you want to be. You cannot keep throwing people out of your life, because you're too stubborn to admit that you've done some wrong."

"But, she's in the wrong too." Krys argued.

"Maybe she's suffering a harder blow than you are. And maybe you should cut her some slack."

"I don't wanna." Krys whined, making Jules laugh.

"Okay. Whatever. I love you. Bye." Then she hung up. And Krys was left to ponder that, along with everything else. Thank you, Momma J.

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Twirling around in a dress that felt like a spa all on its own, would usually be any girl's idea of feeling like a princess. Unfortunately, Hermione couldn't get in the spirit. Especially without having a date. Even in her black and gold Nomi Malone in 'Showgirls' Versace dress, she didn't feel happy. Even as she adjusted her hair into a cute bob, she felt unhappy. And she felt her unhappiest as she stepped out of the car with her amazing gold Manolo stiletto heels. Her earlier conversation with Ron had been stressful, no matter how fun. And when she walked into the restaurant by her lonesome, she was greeted by Ares, who looked around and regrettably, asked her if she'd seen Krys. She was not having a good time.

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Spinning around in an ugly green dress that made her look like a mermaid wasn't Krys' idea of fun. Emily was supposed to show up in half an hour and Krys still had no idea what dress she was going to wear. She had an ice blue dress picked for Emily, but she had no idea how to look remotely good herself. Angel held up a card with a 4, while Jaime held a 3, Thai held up a 5, and Mark held a 10. His excuse every time was that his mommy looked good in anything. Sweet child. After the fifth dress, Krys started to stray from the dressy and go more towards the just cute dresses. And finally, when she strayed from the gowns, she found one that was worthy. One beautifully gorgeous black silk charmeuse halter dress that stopped right above her knees. It had a wine colored bow that tied to the back, and it made her look amazing. On her feet, you ask. Wine colored Jimmy Choo open toed stilettos. Perfect tens across the board. And the hair, you ask. Her hair was just pulled back into this amazing bun that compacted all of her hair into this 'straight' strict, goddess-like bun.

"You look beautiful, mommy." Marcus said, as the doorbell rang.

"Uh-huh, Krys. You do." Jaime agreed. Krys looked at them and smiled, whilst on the verge of laughing.

"Thank you." she said, kissing Mark, then Jaime's cheeks loudly. Angel held up the 10 and nodded, making Krys laugh. "You're such a little weirdo." Then she kissed Angel's cheek, before walking down to get the door. When she came back up, she was with a flushed Emily, who looked like she ran all the way there from England. And when she saw the kids, she almost went into a frenzy, having jumped back.

"Oh my." She said, making Krys laugh.

"Look, you don't have to talk to the kids." She said. "Just don't make it seem like they're inconveniencing you, because they have lives too."

"I bet I can tell you which one is yours."

"I should hope so." Krys said, picking up Jaime and kissing his cheek repeatedly.

"Just the one I was going to pick." Emily said, making Krys laugh.

"They're all mine." Krys said, before she put Jaime down. Then she grabbed up Mark. "This is just the one that I had."

"He's gorgeous." Emily whispered.

"Get away from my son." Krys said, kissing Mark's cheek and moving him away. "Plus, this one has a year left before she's a full blown heartbreaker." That was when she lifted up Angel, who was talking to Jaime and Mark.

"So, can I talk to you?" Emily asked, waving at the children uncomfortably. Krys nodded, and walked out with her. "I don't want to go anywhere tonight. I just want to stay in and talk about guys, and talk about sex, and talk about my problems." Krys looked around.

"I have reservations at an amazing restaurant. We can talk out there." She said.

"No. I don't feel good enough. I'm angry." Emily said, lounging in one of the chairs.

"What happened?" Krys asked.

"Everyone has abandoned me tonight. Ares and I had plans. He canceled. Kay and I made plans. She canceled. Ares has been acting funny all week. Even more so recently, I don't know why. I'm losing business, because a new luxury spa opened up not to strips away."

"Ares loves you, if he canceled plans, then he has a good reason. Kay loves you, but you played her as second fiddle, so if she and Ron made plans, you should understand that. Especially because if Ares called you up before Ron called her up, you would've jumped at the opportunity. Maybe Ares is acting strangely, because he wants his family and friends to like you. And I can help you with the business." Krys said. Emily visually perked up. "Number one, all you need is Ares, Jason, Eric, Harry, Ron, Brian, and… I guess Mike. You need guys in your spa, flirting and telling women that they look sexy with the hairstyles that you choose. That's all you need. And if you've ever had teenage girls in there, I know some guys that had potential in Levebons that I will call up for you. All you need are guys in your spa. That's all you need."

"You're right. The one day that Ares came in, he had this woman try and pay for eight different hairstyles."

"See, there you go." Krys said. "Even I can help, by getting celebrity witches in there." Emily visually perked up.

"Oh my, could you?" She asked excitedly.

"I will try, if you put on the dress that I've picked for you, and get your ass prettied. And we go out." Krys said. Emily nodded happily, before she jumped up.

"Okay. Okay. Okay, I promise." She said, as she skipped to Krys' room. "Where's the dress?"

"On the bed. Shower's out here. New underwear is in the top left drawer. And… there are some new bras in there too. Hurry your ass up." Krys said, walking in after her.

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Paced, paced he did. Him and his best friends. They paced for him.

"Look, Krys is going to get her here." Harry said, looking at his watch. 8:05- damn. Ares sat down, then jumped up.

"Shit. Why hasn't she called yet?" he asked, stuffing his hands in his pocket, then pulling them out.

"Are you sure that you want to do this tonight?" Jason asked, looking around the place. "This is a big deal, and it's not the smartest move to do this around Krys." Ares looked at him with his eyebrows raised. Why wouldn't it be a good idea to do this around Krys?

"Why wouldn't it be a good idea to do this around Krys?" Ares asked, sitting down.

"Well… aren't you still not over her?"

"Of course I am." Ares said. "I mean, she's adorably sexy- don't get me wrong. But, I love Emily. And yeah, I love Krys too, yeah. But- not like that anymore. Not really."

"So, you went from no, to not really?" Ron said. "Good move. Way to go."

"Listen, Krys would rather have sex with guys the day after we broke up."

"Like you had sex with her cousin the _day_ that you broke up?" Harry asked.

"I was drunk."

"Or Stephanie the day after."

"I was drunk."

"Or Liliana."

"Drunk. And she dumped me. I had the right to fuck any woman that I wanted." Ares said, before he messed with his tie.

"Will you stop being so damn nervous? Do you know what I had to do to get this room?" Harry asked, making Ares look at him.

"Well, Kay couldn't get the restaurant that I needed, so I needed you, man." Ares said, making Harry roll his eyes. All of a sudden, a man in a suit walked out and beckoned Harry.

"The room is ready." He said. Harry nodded and thanked him, before he led Ares and the others to the room. As soon as they walked in, all they could say was damn. The back room of this place was like a palace. But, while it was like a palace, it was also homey. It looked just like a royal's dining room would look if they were affectionate people. So, it had the best furniture, along with cabinets that held the china, but it had pictures. Pictures of one person in particular. Or should I say, one chick? Krys. Pictures of Krys everywhere. Pictures of Harry and Krys. A shit load of pictures of Ares and Krys. And just- Hermione and Krys. Ron and Krys. Jason and Krys. A.J and Krys- everyone and _Krys_. And as if by some form of kismet, right across from Ares was a big picture of Ares and Krys kissing at Christmas. Who the hell took it, and how the hell it got there, he didn't know. But, there it was. Oh, how young they were. And when he looked at the picture, he remembered everything about that day. It was right after he'd gotten dressed. And Krys was outside of the bathroom, waiting for him. And as soon as he walked out, she pulled him down and kissed him, apologizing for the useless argument that they'd gotten into before. So there it was, a big digital camera frame that had a series of that moment. So, it showed when he held her at the waist, and when he picked her up. Jesus.

"Huh…" Harry said, looking around. "There are a lot of incriminating pictures here." The guys looked around and nodded, before three out of four of them started to crack up.

"This shit is not funny." Ares said, looking around.

"Nah, but it really is." Jason said. Imagine this. Ares told his girlfriend that he and Krys didn't know each other. But, then Krys told her that they'd dated briefly before Krys moved away. You as Ares plan something special for your girlfriend at a restaurant where there are endless pictures of Krys. And along with those endless pictures come pictures of you and Krys showing just how much of a couple you really were. Ares stared at the wall, then he rolled his eyes.

"Can you help me get this down?" he asked, as he walked towards the frame. And once he tried to take it down, he couldn't. I wish it was in a literal way, like he couldn't get it down because there was an alarm, or because it was too heavy. That would've been funny, slightly amusing, and good for a damn laugh. But, he couldn't get it down, because he didn't want it to come down. He didn't want to act as if the history wasn't there. He _so_ was the female back in he and Krys' relationship.

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When Emily walked out of the bathroom in that ice blue dress, Krys was jealous. Why is it that the women that Ares always ended up with had these ginormous breasts that were just 'poof' out there. And there, in that low cut, ice blue dress that clung to everything- Emily's ginormous breasts were all 'poof' out there. Not to say that there's something wrong with women that have ginormous breasts- no, there's nothing wrong with that, and there's no discrimination here. All that's being said is that those big breasted bitches have a way of getting any guy that they want and being all manipulative along the way. And that's not to suggest that it's all of them- or ya'll. Just, all the ones that Krys has met. So yeah, there Emily was with her ice blue eyes and her ice blue dress, and this halo of blondeness around her blonde curls and this shimmer of glow on her body face. From the jealous perspective, all Krys could do was smile and secretly regret what she herself had done. From the friendship perspective, Krys just smiled. So, yeah, there's beautiful Emily in her gorgeous dress. And then, there was frumpy Krys with her dark hair and dark dress… and there she was, Gothic McGoth Goth. I mean, she wasn't gothic, but she might as well have been. The lightest thing on her was her lipgloss that was just a clear pink shimmer.

"Come back to my room, girlie." Krys said, before she walked out. And yay for her, she was there late enough to tuck Marcus, Jaime and Angel in. Yay!! So, that's what she did. She tucked them all in to her big, gigantic bed. And kissed angel #1's cheek, #2's cheek, and #3's cheek. Then she looked at Thai. "Do not invite your little boyfriend over here."

"Angel's coming over though." Thai said, looking through her phone.

"Tell Angelo that I said he's banned from the condoms." Krys said, before she kissed #1 devil's cheek. "Why're they so sleepy? It's like 8 o'clock."

"Maybe because they're children, and Rudy from the Huxtables had a bedtime that's earlier than theirs." Thai said. Think. That is right.

"Yeah, well if I'm not back by 11, then call me and I'll be back by 11:30. Okay?"

"Yes." Thai said, helping Krys into her cute wine colored trench jacket. "Get it going."

"Whatev." Krys said, picking up a white coat and walking out of the room.

When Krys and Emily made their first stop, Emily was still having second thoughts.

"Krys, do you think that I should break up with Ares before he breaks up with me?" Emily asked, making Krys do a double take. What the hell could she say? Of course she wanted them to break up. Sure, Emily was nice. But she wasn't the type of girl that Ares needed. Ares needed someone who had a level head, and someone who was… he needed Krys. Not to say that he wouldn't be okay without her, but he should be with her. When Krys finally answered, they were in the car and on their way to the restaurant. "I think that you should weigh how much you really love him, versus how much you'd rather be the dumper than the dumpee."

"Yeah, but what if he breaks up with me?"

"Emily, image isn't everything, okay? In some cases, being broken up with is better than breaking up with someone. Why? If you ever decide to try it again, then you're the one to blame for the relationship having failed previously." Krys said. "Stop thinking about image, and think about how much you love him."

"But, what if I don't really love him?"

"How could you not?" Krys asked genuinely. And slowly, Emily looked at her.

"Well… he's immature."

"No, he's not. He just knows how to laugh. You prissy upper class women have this problem- collectively. You guys want guys to laugh at the stupidest things that aren't really funny. Like, he laughs at all types of things. He laughs when we watch Newsradio, and when we watch Katt Williams. And he laughs when we watch Soul Plane. And when Harry has this great haircut and screws it up. And when Jason gets tongue tied talking to A.J, but can sweettalk the panties off of 1 20 year old virgin. And he just has this allover sense of humor that I think is wonderful."

"I meant that he thinks it's alright to play tag still. I want a boyfriend, Krys. Not a playdate." Krys looked at her and laughed.

"Emily, have you seen him? He's funny, sweet, playful, and caring." She said. "You have this image of an uptight man that beats on you."

"No. I just want a man that comes home from work and gives me a weekly allowa-"

"You want a wife beater Ricky Ricardo." Krys said, before she sped up. "I don't understand how this is all coming up now. You know what? If you want to break up with him, don't drag the relationship out. If you don't like this many things about him, then break up with him. Because it's better than making him sit around and fall more in love. It's actually cruel when you do that."

"Just- I'm reevaluating my relationship with him." Emily said. "I- I love him. Yes, I do. I love him very much."

"Then there you go." Krys said, before she rolled her eyes at the road. And then, because she couldn't listen to anymore nonsense about the matter, she turned up the stereo… really loud. And there she blasted 'Get Naked' by Britney Spears and Danja. And that's what she was in. Serious danja.

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You know that a party is a failure when everyone is there except for the special guest. So there they all were, in tuxes and dressy gowns- and where were Emily and Krys? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be found. So, there Ares sat and waited. And sat and waited. And sat and waited, until 9:59 pm, when Krys walked through the door, pulling Emily. Not exactly that grand, picture perfect entrance that he expected, but- who the hell was he to complain at the moment? He was just damn glad that she was there. And when she got in there, Krys instantly walked away into isolation, while Emily stared around with wide eyes. So, imagine the lovely party. You have Krys and Hermione furthest away from each other, Ares standing in the middle of the room, Emily looking around like a crazy person, and everyone else is immersed in what they're doing and who they're with. It was almost a complete disaster, and little did Krys know that the worst had yet to come.

Once Ares greeted Emily, kissed her, all that disgusting shit, he attempted to make a beeline for Krys, but ended up making detours every twelve steps. When he finally got to Krys, she looked up at him, almost exactly as she did their first night together. It was as if she had no doubt in her mind that he would be there.

"Mission accomplished, agent Delgado." She teased.

"Was she really difficult?" Krys looked at him. She could lie to him. Should she? No. She'd lied about enough. "No, you can tell me the truth." Ares said.

"I don't like her anymore, she was so difficult." Ares laughed, then touched her head in a playful way.

"I like this. Very nice. All of this." He said, gesturing to her dress and shoes.

"Like I need your approval." Krys teased, plopping back down in her chair. Then she stood up and started to tinker with his bow tie. Bow tie? Black tie event? Holy shit. And the more she tinkered with his tie, the more disheveled it got, and the more she tried to fix it. Finally, he took it off and redid the entire think. "See," she said softly, as she looked up at him. "Perfect." And awkward looks for the awkward moment. Krys jumped back from him as if she'd been almost been caught creeping forward in a game of 'red light, green light'. "I want some drinks. Do you want some drinks?" Glasses had already sprouted from the seat cushion along with a bottle of fine burgundy. "Do you want some?"

"You drink wine?" Ares asked, holding her shaking hand. Krys looked at him sheepishly and shook her head.

"No, I don't." she said. "I've just been watching Frasier, and when the sophistication didn't come with age, I got a bit worried." Ares laughed, and shook his head as Krys held a glass out to him.

"I can't drink." He said. Krys looked at him with her head tilted to the side, after taking a sip, before her wine spewed from her lips. Then she covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Jesus Christ, Ares!" she screamed, making 3 out of 4 people look at her. Ares sat down and relaxed. It was as if he relaxed at the note that she was worried. Krys mimicked his actions. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm working on a year." Ares said, making Krys stare at her wine glass and bottle in shame. Then she threw them both over her shoulder.

"Well, you're working on a year, and I'm working on twenty. Okay?" she asked, hand out. Ares laughed and shook her hand. "What made you start?"

"Krys, this isn't really the place that I want to have this conversation." Ares said as he stood.

"Oh, sorry. I just- was it me?" And that's what she feared more than anything. She could slowly be ruining his life, just by loving him. Did her love hurt that badly? Could she drive people to alcoholism? Did she drive Ares to be an alcoholic? If she did, then she didn't want to continue loving him in the poisonous way that she had in the past.

When the newcomers settled into the table, they, like everyone else, started to mingle, laugh, and converse. So, twenty minutes into the lovely dining experience, when the waiters were arriving, and drinks were about to be served, Ares made the lovely tinging noise with his water glass. And when he did, everyone gave him their attention. And when Ares pushed his chair out, turned to Emily, and got down on one knee, _Krys_ took out her iPod, put in her headphones, turned her iPod up to a reasonable volume, then laid back in her chair with her eyes closed. This was something that she'd rather not see or hear.


	62. Dangerous Engagement

Well, as eventful as it is to watch the love of your life propose to another woman, Krys was having an equally eventful time listening to Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl

Well, as eventful as it is to watch the love of your life propose to another woman, Krys was having an equally eventful time listening to Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl. So great of a time, in fact, that she "accidentally" started to sing 'Lemme hear you say this shit is bananas b-a-n a-n-a-s! This shit is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s!' Well, she only stopped when she realized that she was screaming loudly, and… lets just say that it wasn't her shining hour. Even worse, Emily had yet to answer, so there was a prolonged moment of silence, where everyone held their breath. And finally, getting tired of the goddamn silence and the 'oh, let me ponder this decision' mode, Krys finally inhaled deeply, then shouted, "Would you answer already?!" When everyone looked at her, she looked back in that tough girl 'what?' way. "He has a ring, he's on his knee, his proposal was… nice, I guess, and so is the ring. Would you already?" And it was with that that Emily turned to Ares, with a bright smile on her face.

"Of course. Yes. Yes, I will." She said, with a glistening tear running down her face. And when he jumped up and clapped his hands together, before he wrapped them around her waist and kissed her, Krys inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. And then as if by some form of symbolism, the pictures on the walls just started to collapse one by one. But the couple didn't notice. They were _happy_. Everyone else saw, and everyone else knew. And they looked at her with something more and less than sympathy. And she hated that.

"How are you?" someone murmured in her ear, making her jump out of her seat.

"Gosh." Krys breathed, when she looked at Jason.

"Are you okay?" Krys looked at him and nodded, before she heard,

"Champagne! Your best bottle of champagne." By second nature, Krys looked around and shook her head. "I need the bubbly." Emily said, with a cha-cha in her step. Krys shook her head again.

"No." she said. "No alcohol whatsoever."

"Krys, I'm engaged. We have to celebrate." Emily said.

"Okay, so then we can have some ice cream." Krys said, nodding. "Just- I don't do alcohol, and I don't want the responsibility of getting every drunken person home today. Get yourself a root beer float." And that was that. The Queen had spoken.

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Well, there was awkwardness throughout the entire dinner. An engagement first, and… a long overdue introduction next. As Julia moved forth towards the guys, with Brian on her arm, Hermione, Krys and A.J held their breaths. Over the time, Julia had become a really close mother like figure to the guys. And while their opinions mattered… she wasn't terrified of what anyone but Ares had to say. The closer she got to Ares and the guys, the more Krys and the others held their breaths.

"Hi, honey." Julia said, kissing Ares, then Jason's cheeks. Then she looked at Harry and Ron, and kissed their cheeks too. "You could've told me what I was dressing up for, you know." Ares laughed, then looked at Brian.

"Who's this?" he asked looking from Brian, and back to his mom.

"Huh?" Jules asked, uncomfortably removing her hand from Brian's.

"Who is this?" Ares repeated, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, until it slowly dawned on his face. He looked scandalized. From an objective viewer, it looked like he was getting cheated on or something.

"Brian, this is my son Ares. Ares, this is Brian." Jules said quickly. Not quickly in the sense that she was ashamed, but quick as in- she was… she was scared. This was the most important guy in her life meeting the newest man that was slowly becoming very important.

"Hi." Brian said, nervously sticking his hand out. It was cute. He was nervous. And that made her like him more. She liked that he was nervous to meet her son. But, while she liked it, she didn't want him to be. She thought they would get along famously. "Congratulations." Ares nodded abruptly, then looked back at his mother. Oh- no such luck. Ares stared at his mother, no warmth in him whatsoever.

"Who is this?" he asked once again. Okay- this was enough.

"Um… Brian, why don't you go talk to Apolla, Hermione, and Krys for a second?" Jules said, as Hermione and A.J were less than a foot away, and ready to escort Brian to the other side of the room. As soon as they were out of earshot, Julia looked at her son. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Ares deadpanned.

"No, really. What's wrong with you?" Ares rolled his eyes, then turned his head, before she turned it back in her direction for him. "Remembering correctly, in the twenty years that I've taught you and taken care of you, I never raised you to be a perfect asshole without any manners." Ares looked at her, then shook his head before walking away. Oh no. Walking away from mommy, who he's afraid of? Not possible. "Ares." Not a raised voice. A perfectly calm voice… which made it all the scarier. Ares knew the deal. As soon as she said his name, he swore under his breath, then stopped. "Look at me, now." And he turned around. "Apologize to him."

"I refuse." Ares said, shaking his head.

"Oh really?"

"I don't see you jumping through hoops to say hello to my fiancée."

"I don't have to." Julia said, shaking her head. "She's the fiancée. I'm the mother. I am _your_ mother. She jumps through hoops to talk to me. It's a certain level of respect."

"Yeah, well I'm your son." Ares said. "And I don't want to talk to him, so I don't have to do anything."

"Get away from me." Jules said, before _she_ started to walk away.

"Because of him?"

"No, because at the moment, I am so disgusted with you that I don't want to see your face."

"Because of him. Because you want a boyfriend and I'm not hopping over fu- tables to talk to him?"

"No. Because you expect a certain level of respect as a man, and regardless of the fact that I bathed you, clothed you, and fed you for a substantial part of your life- I give you that respect without you having to ask. I talk to you with the respect that you demand- with no demand on your part. I, as a woman- no, I, as _your_ _mother_, should _not_ have to _ask_ you to accept this. I shouldn't have to ask you to apologize. You should just do it."

"Yo-"

"I am polite enough to acknowledge your fiancée when I see her. And again, it has nothing to do with him. It's all about your respect for me. And Merlin help you if it's a different reason, and you have this issue with your mother having a boyfriend for the first time after- I don't know, your dad left me when you were two… you're twenty- eighteen years. So, just like I've accepted that there's a new woman in _your_ life, you have to accept that there's a new man in mine."

"So, you're c-"

"Be quiet." Julia said, her voice just stronger than an atomic bomb, but as quiet as a whisper. "Do not make it seem like I'm choosing him over you. You'd have to be dense to believe that. You are my son- my first born. No man in this world could say or do anything to make me choose anyone over you. This has to do with respect, and your lack of respect for me is evident. I have enough respect for you to greet your fiancée, regardless of if I like her or not- which I do. You don't have enough respect for me to greet him? You couldn't give a simple handshake and a hello? I have never been so disgusted with you in my life. I can't even look at you." Julia said, before she walked away.

Whoa. That was heavy. And, to make it worse… it was like she walked away from Ares, and directly into the arms of Brian. Brian, who happened to be extremely hot, if I do say so myself. He was a shade darker than the color of Werther's Originals, with a body and face that would not stop. Dark hair cut low to his head, eyes that were gorgeous brown, beautiful nose, jaw, lips- he was it. Especially since he dressed for the occasion. Traditional tuxedo, with a gorgeously beautiful Julia Delgado in his arms. Julia Delgado who, for the shape she was in for her age, dressed age appropriate. I mean, she couldn't've looked better in her two piece spaghetti strap georgette with pearl and sequined bodice, and a matching jacket. Again, she was gorgeous. And again, she was in his arms, with her face in his chest, and his chin on her head. And from where everyone was standing… they looked like they were in love.

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Well, after a party, people go home. Or is that just me? Well- hot dog! none of our group did that. Emily jumped and squeaked all night, telling people that she was getting married, before she and the ladies borrowed Krys' car to see the town. The guys, well- they went home and waited for their ladies like 1950s wives. Well, don't get me wrong. There _were_ exceptions. Brian and Jules went home, _together_. I mean, man- Mrs. Delgado was probably 45- but Jesus H. she looked about 25. And not only did she look 25, but she was hot. I mean, smokin' hot!! Why shouldn't she date a younger man? I say more power to her. And Krys decided to walk out of the restaurant alone. Truth be told, she threw her keys to Hermione, and practically ran out of the restaurant. Poor her. And when she ran out, she had no idea that all of the guys were waiting outside for her, in case she tried to make a break for it. So, there she was- the only girl in the group, beside Ron, Ares, Harry and Jason.

"Where're you going?" Harry asked, as they all walked together. "Why didn't you go with the girls?"

"I- in case you don't remember, I have three drops of sunshine waiting for me at home." Krys deadpanned, before she stripped her jacket. "Why is it so hot?"

"Um… you're the only one who's hot." Jason said, putting her jacket back on her. "The rest of us are perfectly cool."

"Oy." Krys said, fanning herself.

"Where are you walking?" Ares asked, slinging his arm over her shoulder. As much as she didn't want to, Krys shrugged his arm off, and looked at her watch.

"I have to walk to um… my fath- my vacation house." Krys said, looking at her watch again. So, picture one woman in the middle of four men. One woman in a beautiful and sexy dress, in the middle of four men wearing tuxedoes. And they're just walking down some random street in Italy. "What about you guys? Where're you guys going?"

"With you." Ron said, making Krys look at him. And when she did, he had to stop. She gave him a look that he had to back away from. I mean, she gave him that 'whoa Bessie' look that made his insides churn.

"I don't want you guys going with me." Krys said, with a few tears running down her face.

"Krys, are you crying?" Ares asked, making Krys look at him.

"No, I'm not. I'm hot and I'm sweating."

"From your eyes?" Ares asked, reaching to swipe the tear away. But, instead of jumping back, Krys slapped his hand.

"_Yes_, from my eyes! Jesus Christ, eyes have to stay behind goddamn eyelids all day- you'd think that they could sweat without people bothering people about it!" Krys yelled, before she put her hand to her head.

"Okay." Ares said, as he and all of the other guys took one step back in unison. Then they stood there for a minute, before Krys looked around. "Are you okay?" Krys looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah." She said, taking her hair out and feeling her head again. "I just have a headache. I'm always alright." Then she gulped down the gigantic lump in her throat. "I have to go, you know, be a responsible adult and take care of my child now, you know." Then she smiled. "My little rays of sunshine. And Thai."

"How's she doing, by the way?" Jason asked, looking at her.

"She's amazing. She's a good kid. But, since she's so good, you have no choice but to grant her freedom. And I hate that I have to grant her so much freedom. I love that I can, but I hate that I have to." Krys said, before she ran her hand through her hair. Then she had to swallow the lump in her throat, again. "They're all great. You know that."

"Um, Padsy, do you want me to come with you?" Harry asked. Krys shook her head.

"No, I'm good. I just have this massive headache." She said, rubbing her forehead. "And- it won't go away. I thought it was maybe because my hair was too tight, but- no. So, no, I'm good."

"So, you're sure?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. I just- I wanna go to sleep. And ease Thai of babysitting duties." Krys said, before she started to walk again. And when she started to walk again, the guys again, started to walk with her. "Didn't we just have this conversation?"

"Yeah, but why would we make you walk by yourself?" Ares asked. And again, Krys stopped, with her hand on her head. And with one more serious look from her, while her eyes sweat out the pain, Krys said one of her many serious things for the night.

"Because I'm asking you to." She said, holding her head, and holding down that gargantuan lump in her throat. "So, just, please, leave me alone? I mean, I will call you as soon as I get home, I'll- I will send you a picture of me in front of my wall so you know that I'm really there- I'll let you come over to check up on me, and harass me nonstop for the next week, but, please leave me to walk alone."

"Bu-" Harry started, before Krys put her hand up and silenced him. And then, with one last attempt, she spun theatrically to show that she was 'okay', then started to walk away. And when they couldn't hear the clicking of her heels on the pavement, they followed after her. And when they were two blocks away from where she left them to 'walk alone' torrential downpour started, and there she was. And she walked through her rainstorm like Tiger Woods played mini golf- like a fucking pro. No stumbles. Not once did she stop to cry. Not once did she break down. She walked through it. It was then that Harry knew why her favorite Reba song was 'I'm a Survivor', why Ron knew why she loved Beatrix Kiddo so much, why Jason knew the reason that she had always said 'I'm always alright', and why Ares knew that she was the truth, no matter how many times she lied. She was born three months too early, the doctor gave her thirty days, but she must've had her momma's will, and God's amazing grace. She, like 'The Bride' survives everything that she is put through. She, as sad and down as she gets, is always completely functional. And there is an abundance of truth in everything that she says. She was going to be fine.

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When Hermione got home that night, her answering machine should have been screaming 'system overload' because she had 52 messages. And when she looked at her answering machine, she smiled. Because, on the table where her answering machine was, was a big note that said 'it's all yours.' Checking to see if she'd taken it a step further, Hermione walked to Krys' room, and found it completely empty, except for the expensive furniture set that Krys paid to have put in. And, there was a note on the wall. It read, 'in case you want a roommate.' And that's when she knew it was final… the Cookie and Bon-Bon era had ended.

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Three weeks passed by with nothing interesting happening. And everyone knows that when nothing interesting is happening, there's always someone that tries to make it interesting. Kay was that someone. So, when everyone received letters that invited them to the Gallionaire's club for brunch, they all showed up at said time. Well, all except Krys. But, we knew that was going to happen. She's always late. With the exception of Hermione seeing her at work, and Ares catching a glimpse of her leave as she dropped Mark off at his mom's house, no one had seen Krys since that night in Little Miracles, when Ares proposed to Emily.

Fucking Boring should have been the title to their day together at the Gallionaire's Club.

"Hermione, what are you having?" Emily asked, as she sipped her lemonade. Thankfully Emily had no idea that she'd just woken Hermione up.

"I don't know." she said, looking right through her menu, as she started to doze off again.

"Did Krys call anyone to say that she'd be coming?" Jason asked, making them all look at him, especially Hermione. "Look, I know you guys aren't talking, but… get over it."

"Jason." A.J scolded, smacking his arm. 

"Ow."

"Look, I didn't tell her not to come. We see each other at work all the time." Hermione said.

"Doesn't she work the night shift?" Ares asked.

"Um… I actually don't see her leave much nowadays." Hermione said.

"I think it's because she has this critical case." Gem said. They were all given her attention. "Well, from what Lyssie told me, about two weeks ago, Lyssie had too much on her load, so Krys delivered a baby for her. Well, the baby was born like four months too early- and was said to die in like, a day. I mean, she's tiny, her skin is still transparent, and her mom is really messed up, and in therapy because she thinks that it's her fault. Anyway, because the mom is so messed up, she won't feed the girl. And the baby is- she's so fragile that she can't be fed any other way. So, Krys had to put her on a feeding tube. I mean, the baby can't cry yet- her lungs are too small, so she's not breathing on her own. The mom's insurance won't cover any of this, so Krys is making payments herself. I don't want to sound wrong or without hope, but that baby girl is going to die. She is 3 pounds, and she's _tiny_."

"So, who's been taking care of her son?" Kay asked.

"You've never seen Krys' office?" Harry asked with a laugh in his voice. "Mark has a bed and toys. And Krys has a foldaway bed out of her closet, and a bathroom full with shower."

"But, what- does she think that she can save the baby?" Emily asked. "Isn't that a waste of money? I mean-"

"From what I've personally seen, you can't save a baby that's less than seven months." Gem said. "I mean, Krys is good, but she's not that good."

"But people said that the condom couldn't be done." Nic said. "And- they said the same when she did the scar tissue. Well, she and Hermione."

"Well, then it is Hermione and Krys. And now it's Krys by herself." Gem said. And that finally struck a fucking cord.

"Gem, I didn't abandon her. She let me down, okay? It wasn't me that broke this up. It was her." Hermione said, before she sat back down.

"Well, this was a rather eventful mornoon, but I have to go to work." A.J said, standing up and blowing kisses around the table. And that was the most eventful part. When you got to leave.

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When Hermione got to work, she immediately took to pacing in front of Krys' office.

"Can I help you, Madam Granger?" asked a 5'5 chick that couldn't be more than sixteen.

"Um… no. I just- is she in there?" Hermione asked.

"No. Madam Rodriguez is in meetings all day."

"Oh. Okay. Well- what's your name?"

"Marly. Marly Salcant. I'm Krys' intern assistant." She said, sticking her hand out for Hermione to shake.

"Oh- hi. I'm Hermione- you can call me Hermione." Hermione said, shaking her hand. "Um- do you know where Marcus is?"

"He's in the office."

"Can I see him?"

"Um… I don't know if that's a good idea. Krys said not to let anyone in her office. She said with no exceptions. I'm sorry. Maybe you can call her once she has her break from the meeting."

"Marly, Krys can't have a meeting without me, since we're partners. So, can you buzz in and let her know that I need to speak with her?" Hermione asked, making Marly blush red.

"Well, I don't- I don't actually know where she is. She told me that she had a meeting." She said. Then, the door whipped open, to reveal Thai.

"Come in, Hermione." She said, before she walked back into the office. Hermione nodded, then waved bye to Marly. When Hermione got into the office, there they were. Jaime, Mark and Angel sleeping.

"Where is she?" Hermione asked, looking around the office.

"She's been here for three days straight." Thai said. "And what she's doing is too noble, so we can't complain."

"What is she doing?"

"There's this baby that Krys has been-"

"I know. Gem told us. But, if she hasn't saved her as of yet, then why won't she just give up?"

"You've never heard the story of Krys?" Thai asked, with a small smile on her face. Hermione looked at her. Story of Krys? There were a million of those, weren't there?

"No. Why?" Hermione said.

"No reason. I can't tell you if she doesn't want you to know. So… I can't tell you." Thai said. "I mean, Hermione- she's in a bad way right now. So, lay off her. This isn't the moment where you should smash up her office."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Well- since Krys deemed you partner, you're the only one who can overturn the decision. 3 out of the 7 board members personally told her that they wouldn't vote in her favor. So, the meeting that she called for 3 pm will let her know what's really going on. Because, she hired these people that can sue her for undermining them, even when they're dealing in her hospital. And… they want to throw the little baby and her mom on their asses, because the mom has no means whatsoever, and they think that the baby isn't worth it." Thai said, making Hermione groan.

"I thought that Krys was paying the bill."

"Soya found out, and she's too proud. She's seventeen, and she's been disowned, she has postpartum depression in these spurts, and she doesn't know if she wants the baby yet. But, because she's of age, and Puerto Rico has a subdivision of crazy laws separate from the N.A's, she can't get any free medical care. And even if she does, it isn't enough for what the baby needs. So, she can turn the baby over to the island, and get it care, or she can keep it, and they'll be thrown out onto the streets. And the moment that the baby is let off the feeding tube, and the breathing machine, she'll die."

"But, they can't do that. This is _Krys'_ hospital. This is all hers."

"She hired boards, and in their contracts it's a vote. Final vote is final vote. The only up she has is that she personally knows Lyssa, who's the head Ob/Gyn, and Regina, who's the head of pediatrics, both who just so happen to be on this board. See, this isn't because she's trying to do something good and help someone. It's because she's only 19. The odds are in their favor." Hermione closed her eyes and sighed.

"I'll take you guys home tonight." She said, before she walked out of the office.

As Hermione sat at her desk, waiting for the clock to strike 2:54, she dropped her pencil continuously. And when 2:55 hit, Hermione jumped up, carrying a copy of the baby's file, and the venture contract that Krys had gotten to reopen the hospital, and walked to the board room on the top floor. When she arrived, Krys was already sitting in the head chair, with a million papers in front of her. She looked like she hadn't slept in 8 years, and also, like she hadn't groomed in 9. A minute later, 4 men and 3 women walked into the room and sat down. After much hoohaw about nothing, the head of the board started to speak.

"Madam Rodriguez, my decision should not suggest that I do not have complete faith in you as a healer." Mr. Rothman said in a condescending tone. "It only means that I do not believe that you are thinking logically in this situation. You are not a business mind. You're the talent."

"So, you don't think that I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing, Mr. Rothman." Krys said.

"I highly doubt that. Did you know that it is against magical island law to house a person without making them pay?"

"Actually I did. But, I'm not so sure that you know what you're talking about, Mr. Rothman. It's against the law to house a person that has the ability to pay, without making them pay. Just like it's also against the law to turn away a person in need of medical care. And if she can't pay and we turn her away, we're denying someone the medical care that they need. You're breaking the law." Krys said. "This isn't an experiment to make me a better known Healer, and I'm not doing this to look like a martyr. I'm doing this, because if my healer had taken me off the feeding and breathing tubes a day earlier, I wouldn't be here to butter your bread and pay all of your paychecks. Meaning you wouldn't be here to act high and mighty, on your high horse to assert your power and authority." Then she stood up. "Vote- I don't even want to hear it anymore. Vote. Now." So, she meant business, as we all know.

"House." One woman said.

"Discharge."

"Discharge."

"Discharge."

"House." Lyssa said.

"House." Regina repeated, looking at Krys and smiling.

"House." Krys said.

"House." Agreed Hermione.

"I guess your board has spoken." Krys said to Mr. Rothman, before she left the boardroom with a smirk on her face. And that was the last time that even Hermione had been in the same room with Krys.


	63. Wedding Dress Blues

When you have a friend that's a soon-to-be bride, she tries to make every aspect of planning her wedding an event

When you have a friend that's a soon-to-be bride, she tries to make every aspect of planning her wedding an event. Emily and Kay actually sent out invitations to pick out the bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, and get fitted for tuxedoes. So… this was to be eventful, huh? Almost all of them arrived on time at the most prestigious bridal shop in magical Italy.

"So, Emily, what's going on?" Hermione asked. Emily smiled and stood up.

"Okay, so everyone that's here… every woman that's here is a woman that I want in the wedding party." She said. Then her face dropped, and she looked around. "Where is she? Where's Krys?" And that question made them all look around. "I want her to be here."

"I'll- um, I'll call her." Ares said, before almost everyone shook their heads.

"No. No. _No._" Harry said. "I'll go get her." And with that, Harry popped away. He hadn't seen her in over a month. He hadn't heard from her in over a month. She put up blocks on her house, she didn't answer any of his phone calls, she didn't answer anyone's phone calls. He first looked for her at her house, which was no easy feat. First, he had to apparate to the front of her house, then he had to get the hidden key, then push in the security code. And when he finally got in, it was completely empty. Krys had closed the lines of communication with him, he no longer felt her presence, and it was almost as if she vanished off the face of the earth. When Harry did finally find her, it was because of his auror detection skills. Harry had to get to England, locate Potter Manor, find a way to open the door after it spewed spell questions at him, and when he finally got in, Krys was standing in front of the door with her arms folded across her chest.

"What?" she asked.

"Where the hell have you been?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Here."

"How'd you even get in?"

"With less difficulty than you, obviously."

"Well, why are you here?"

"I thought it was the one place you wouldn't look." Oh, he really wouldn't have. He looked around and nodded.

"I need you to come with me."

"Where to, now?" Krys asked, as she walked up the stairs.

"Emily's dress picking thing." Harry said, hurrying to keep up with her. He knew the response when Krys scoffed.

"She wanted to break up with him, like, three seconds before he proposed. I don't do wedding parties. Especially ones where the people getting married are bound to be unhappy." She said, before she sat down on the couch where Marcus was sitting and talking to Sirius.

"But, she wants you to be one of her bridesmaids." Shit! How can you honestly tell someone to fuck off when they tell you something like that? Number one, she hadn't seen any of those people in over a month. Number two, she didn't feel like it. "Please. She's looking for you. They're all waiting for you."

"What does that mean?" Krys asked, looking around. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Come on, Krys. That's mean." Lily said.

"No. It really isn't mean. This woman has told me that she cheats on him, and that she wanted to break up with him."

"Who's getting married?" E.J asked. Krys looked around awkwardly, then patted her stomach.

"Your stomach?" Sirius and James asked simultaneously. Krys continued to pat and rub her stomach, before she pointed at Mark.

"Oh! Shit, really?" E.J asked. Krys nodded.

"Yup. Got down on one knee and everything." She said.

"What did he say?"

"She wouldn't know. She had in headphones. And, after he proposed and they kissed, she made all of the pictures on the wall shatter. After having been shouting that it was bananas." Harry said, making them all look at Krys. "It's almost the least you can do for screwing up her engagement."

"I did not screw up her engagement. I helped her get engaged. She was going to write him a letter dumping him."

"Krys, can you just come on?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, mommy." Mark said, nodding.

"And if I go, who's going to take care of you?" Krys asked Mark.

"We will." Lily said, making Krys and Harry look at her.

"You know that you're on a wall, right?" Krys asked.

"We took care of _you_, preggo." E.J said, making Krys roll her eyes.

"I'm not going." Krys said.

"Yes, you are. Bye." And it was final word.

So, getting dragged out of the comfort of your parents and child isn't fun. It especially isn't fun if you're getting dragged to the bridal shop where your ex-boyfriend is buying a wedding dress for your friend. The friend that he _is_ going to marry. And it's even less fun when you go there in some gigantic, black, board shorts, a black t-shirt that said 'fuck you? No. Fuck him? Maybe' and a black skully pulled really low, so that you could barely see her eyes. Could she have changed? Sure. Did she want to? Yes. Did she want to enough to do so? No. So, when Harry walked in with the famous Krys, he was considered the hero. And that's probably why they all walked past him, and bombarded her with hugs. Well, all the women, except Hermione. But, that was understandable. And then, the nerve of them to not even start talking about what she was there for. They started to talk about whatever the hell happened to them in those two months. So, there were very few silent people there at that. And then came that silent part.

"What about you?" Emily asked.

"What happened with you?" followed up Kay.

"Where have you been?"

"How have you been?"

"Nothing." Krys said. "I haven't been doing anything. I've been at home. And I've been good. Marcus can write his name."

"We heard about the little girl." Emily said, making Krys look around. "Is she okay?" Krys shook her head.

"Um… no. She's not." She said, wringing her hands in front of her.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, without being able to help herself.

"Yeah, what happened?" A.J asked.

"Um… Soya, that's the mother, doesn't want her. But she doesn't want to turn her over to the orphanage." Krys said.

"So, what does she want?"

"She wants to take- um…" Krys started to look around and scratch her head. "She's- she's on this ultimatum bit, at the moment. She either wants to take her off the tubes. Or…"

"What, Krys?" Ron asked. Krys pulled her skully lower down on her head.

"Well, she named her Krystellis, and she doesn't want her to go to an orphanage. She doesn't want her in the orphanage, because she wants her with me." She said.

"She wants you to take her daughter." Harry said, making Krys nod. "Or she's going to kill her." Krys nodded.

"Maybe we should look at the dresses now." Emily suggested. And when a suggestion like that comes along, especially after that conversation, it's one that you take. So, yes. It was time to party.

It took that bitch three hours to pick out four bridesmaid dresses that she wanted Krys to model, two that she wanted Hermione to model, and seven maid of honor dresses that she wanted Kay to model. And then… oh my, oh no, not the worst part, she picked out 8 wedding dresses that she wanted, so Krys had to do four, and Hermione had to do four. So, there was that. And those three had to do more than any other bridesmaids, because they didn't have to model anything. They just had to watch. Altogether, Emily had seven bridesmaids and a maid of honor. And she had to pick out 5 groomsmen for Ares, so there were a bunch of unknowns there.

The first dresses that were modeled, were by Hermione. Out of the bridesmaid dresses, she wore a puffy yellow one that made her look like the spitting image of a canary, because of its feathers and tails. Hermione looked at Emily, with her eyebrows in her head, as Emily applauded and cried about how much she loved it. The next one up was a burgundy gown that made her look like a princess. It had a trail, and it was a halter, with an embroidered and bejeweled bodice. Emily's nose turned up. "I don't really think that I want anything that color in my wedding. I mean, it's the color of the wine, and so… do you know what I mean?" she asked Krys, who still hadn't tried on her dresses. Next up was Krys. The first gown that she tried on was green. Within the first half of a minute, there was a problem. "Krys, you're not standing straight. So, you're making the dress drag. And please, take off that damn hat." Krys rolled her eyes, and then she shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Krys, what's that under the dress?" Krys looked around.

"My body?" she asked facetiously, making Emily roll her eyes and shake her head.

"No. I mean that frump of a thing under the dress."

"That would still be my body." Krys said, nodding.

"Krys, take off the damn shorts." Emily said, running her hand through her hair.

"Fine." Krys said, pulling the skirt up, and unbuttoning her shorts.

"Not here!" Emily shouted, making Krys roll her eyes.

"You don't know what you want." Krys replied, before she kicked off the shorts anyway, to reveal her girl boxers. And when she kicked off her shorts, Ares caught them. It was almost as if she was a stripper and he got the lucky g-string, just something for you to think about. And then there were a few wolf whistles from the unknown groomsmen, making the known crew look at them.

"Now the hat." Emily said, with her hand out. Krys pulled it off of her head, balled it up, and then tossed it perfectly into Emily's hand.

"Happy?" Krys asked, with her arms folded across her chest.

"No. You're not standing right." Emily whined, with a stomp of her foot.

"Then, how the fuck am I supposed to stand?" Krys mocked. Emily stood up next to her and twirled, ran her hand through her hair, held her hands on her hips and looked up, down, to the side and then she looked at everyone individually, blew kisses at them, then she smiled. At the end she bowed, and hopped off of the platform. "Oh? That's simple." Krys did everything in a mocking manner, then blew everyone kisses, then winked at a few of the guys. And going a bit further, she mouthed 'call me' to a few, before she threw her head back. Then she did the whole Marilyn Monroe good side, before she blew more kisses and waved to each person individually. Then her whole attitude went flip, and she folded her arms across her chest and looked at Emily with a vicious growl. "Happy?"

"Very much. Thank you." Emily said, before she sat on Ares' lap. "Can you put on your next dress now? I don't like this one." In all truth, the dress made Krys look amazing. It just clung in the right places, and it hugged the right areas, it flared where it should, it folded where it should, and the straps against her skin spelled out what green should be. Krys rolled her eyes, gave Emily the finger, then walked back into the dressing room. When she came back, she was wearing a cream two piece dress that had a glittering strapless bodice with a princess skirt. "Krys, can you please stand straight? Please." Oh God. The nerve of her to make Krys soften a bit, as she stood up straight and twirled around, before she flipped her hair and smiled.

"Is this good?" she asked, still forcing the smile. Emily smiled and nodded.

"Very. But, I don't like this one. It's too plain." She said.

"What about your husband?" Everyone looked at Krys. What the hell did she just say? "I mean, isn't a wedding that whole union shit? So, shouldn't he have say in this bullsh- sugar, too?"

"He could care less what you're wearing, Krys." Emily said. "He'll test cakes and entrees with me."

"Ooh- cool."

"You wanna come?"

"No. Not at all." Krys said, shaking her head. "Anyway. Too plain. Okay. I'm guessing… next dress?"

"Yes, please." Emily said with a smile. Krys walked to the back again, and when she walked out, she was wearing a big, puffy, orange dress that had polka dots, ruffles, feathers, and a matching umbrella. Krys smiled, as Emily clapped happily.

"This is the ugliest fucking dress I've ever seen in my life." She said, before she twirled. "But it's your wedding."

"Yes, it is. And I happen to think that this dress is adorable." Emily said, as she walked up to the platform and started to fix Krys' hair.

"Please don't touch me while I have this umbrella in my hand." Krys said, before Emily started to fluff and pull.

"This is a definite maybe." Emily said.

"Well, Em, maybe we should take a vote as the bridesmaids." A quiet voice from the corner said. Emily stood up and looked around.

"Nadine, you don't like it?" she asked.

"I agree with her." Nadine said, pointing at Krys.

"Well then I guess I no longer need you as a bridesmaid."

"Emily, shut up." Krys said.

"No, you shut up."

"_No_. _You_ shut up. She's right. You don't have to wear it. It itches, and the fucking pins holding the crinoline bows on me are fucking stabbing and scarring me for life. And, once again, this is your wedding. And you're looking for the most beautiful wedding possible. So… it doesn't look good to have a shit load of beautiful things, with seven tacky ass bridesmaids. So, if you don't need her, you don't need me." Krys said, hopping off the platform.

"Next dress." Emily said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. "Nadine, come on. Sit, please, you're making me nervous." Then she looked at Krys who was standing there. "Next dress now."

"You're such a bitch." Krys teased, before she gave Emily the finger. When Krys came back with the next dress on, it was like, 'whoa!' It was amazing. And no one in their right mind would have said anything otherwise. And anyone that ever denied that Krys was hot could also have had their tongue handed to them, because she looked 'oy!' The dress was a thin strapped burgundy gown. And again, this one clung and hugged the curves that it was to hug and cling to, it was backless, and started up again, right before her behind, with a fanned skirt, and a 3 foot trail. The bodice fabric had hand stitched designs that gave some parts of the fabric a heavier, rougher texture. So, when Krys walked in with that dress on, her curls falling over her shoulders, and stood on the platform, there was silence. Then she spun around, did a cute dip, blew kisses, waved, flipped her hair, and mouthed 'call me' with the fake phone to her ear, to one of the groomsmen. "Was that good?"

"I don't think that I like that dress." Emily said, looking around. And it was as if it were a scene from spy kids. As soon as she said that, every head turned to her, even the heads of those that didn't know them.

"Em, are you kidding?" Kay asked. "The dress looks amazing."

"Yeah, but that's just her body type. What about the women with actual breasts? No offence, Krys."

"Yes, because that takes away the sting." Krys said, with a fake smile.

"And the women with smaller waists, smaller hips, and smaller bums."

"Hey, I'm over here." Krys said.

"Just because it looks good on her doesn't mean that it'll look good on everyone."

"Yeah, but she looks _incredible_ in it." Kay said. "And she's the smallest one. She has the smallest waist. She weighs the least. I think that she should wear it."

"I'm not just going to choose a dress because Krys looks good in it." Kay didn't have to retort, because Krys was already ready to reply.

"Look, I don't really care what dress I wear, I can just complain, because I'm me. But, what's the point of me modeling the dress, if it doesn't matter if I look good in it? There is no point. So, just choose a dress, because I have to go think about some shit, and take care of my son." Krys said.

"I think that there should be a vote." Kay said.

"Only if Mercedes tries it on first." Emily said. Oh shit. Mercedes rarely looked good in anything. The only reason that she was one of the bridesmaids was because she was Emily's cousin, and the family insisted. No, we're not saying that Mercedes was ugly, because she was actually quite pretty, and no, she wasn't fat, she was quite slim. But she was very tall and had no shape. She was awkward. She had a rectangular figure, so there were no hips, there were just lines. A body of lines. So Mercedes got up and Emily called an attendant to get a gown in Mercedes' size. A size two. When Mercedes walked out in the dress, it wasn't like 'whoa!' but it was still… '…nice…'. Krys held her hand out, and beckoned Mercedes. Mercedes got onto the platform with Krys, and Krys took her hand, then they started to do the waltz. And when they stopped, Krys looked at Emily. "Vote." When all raised their hands, Emily gave the 'whatever' wave off hand signal, and walked off.

As if that whole fiasco hadn't been enough, there was next the fiasco of the wedding dresses. Hermione was up first. Plain white gown, halter bodice, backless, no train. It wasn't the best dress in the world. But it wasn't too shabby.

"Um… what do you guys think?" Emily asked, looking around.

"Now you care what we think?" Krys asked, not even looking up. Emily rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Yes. Now and _only_ now." She said.

"It's darling." Krys said dryly, still not even looking up from her Game Boy Micro.

"Will you at least look at it?" Emily asked. "Hermione, where's the veil?" Kay hopped onto the platform and started to help Hermione put on the hairpiece veil. "Twirl a bit, please?" After Hermione twirled, she stopped in this 'kay then?' stance. To which, Emily applauded her and said that she looked amazing in the dress. "What do you think, Ares?"

"Huh?" Ares looked up from wherever he was looking before and looked at his fiancé. "What happened, baby?" he asked. Just the way that Emily breathed showed that she was annoyed.

"What do you think of the dress?" she asked him, one step away from stomping and folding her arms across her chest.

"Come on." Krys said. "We didn't come up with our dress picking rubric. Ares is marrying Emily. Now, Ares, what I think we're looking for in a dress is quality in fabric, class, degree of sexiness, simplicity, and how easy it is to take off. If a dress takes more than twelve seconds coming off, you don't want it. Emily, get on the platform and see how long it takes you to get her out of the dress, then you'll know if it's the one or not." Krys looked at Emily, then back at Ares. "So, what do you think of the dress, man? Sexy or not? Hot or not? Workin' it or not?"

"Padsy, shut up." Harry said, chuckling.

"Hermione, can you try on the next dress?" Emily asked, biting her nail. Next dress up was complex and ugly. There was no way in the world that Emily picked that dress for herself. It looked like a fucking white potato sack, with long sleeves and a turtle neck. "What do you guys think?" No one said anything. "Krys, Kay, what do you guys think?"

"Um… it's unique." Kay said, biting her lower lip. We all know who was up next, as Krys looked up and widened her eyes.

"What do you think, Krys?" Emily asked, looking to her new friend for advice.

"I think that you cutting holes in a painted white potato sack would be just as affective." Krys said. "The dress should be shot continuously, with no mercy. No mercy whatsoever. How much is it, first off?"

"7."

"Seven what?"

"Thousand." Krys smiled.

"Well, this is how they get you. They put a lovely name on the ugliest thing in the world, and they make a few pretty people wear it- then they make their shit load. Just to see what they can get away with, I bet."

"Fine. Next dress."

"Look, if you want it, get it. But, I'm just saying that that dress wouldn't look good on anyone." Krys said, before she started to laugh and squirm.

"What's so funny?" Emily asked, with more of a smile on her face.

"My vibrating phone." Krys said, squirming, before she finally pulled her blackberry out of her pocket. She was a show all on her own, and it was when she realized that every eye in the private room was on her, that she realized that she probably would never be able to have a really good girlfriend. But as clear and quick as that thought had come, it went away just as quickly, when she heard that deep voice in her ear.

"I've been trying to ask you out for a year. Ever since I first saw you do your victory dance after tennis." He said. "I think you're great. And I would love your company one evening. And it doesn't matter what we do. We can do anything that you want. We can go to a book store or even watch dogs pee on fire hydrants. I would just love it if you would go out with me." She couldn't speak, and she found herself looking at Ares as she spoke into her phone.

"Um…" she said when she was finally able to. "When?"

"It doesn't matter. Pick a time."

"I don't really have a lot of time on my hands. I work a lot, and I have a son. So, I like to spend my free time with him. But, I haven't been able to do that lately, because I'm in a wedding party. And I end up feeling guilty and trying to spend every waking moment with him. But, um… if you're okay with eating dinner in my office tonight, with my son there, then I'm willing to buy the takeout." Krys said.

"Are you asking me out?" He asked in a teasing voice.

"Yes, I am." Krys said, nodding, still not able to take her eyes off of Ares.

"I'd love to."

"Okay. Well, I have to go, but you can call me later. You know where I am."

"Okay. See you later."

"Yeah."

"Can't wait."

"Bye, Lewis." Krys said, before she playfully rolled her eyes and hung up. And once again, she knew that they were all looking at her. But, instead of putting on more of a show, she looked at Hermione. "Honestly, beautin' as you are, Bon, it won't work for anyone."

"What the hell is beautin?" Emily asked, looking at Krys.

"Have you never heard of the term 'gellin'?"

"No."

"Well, beautin' is my word for being beautiful and sexy." Krys said, before she tried to get comfortable on her chair again. "Can we get to the next dress?"

"Oh! Right. Hermione, next dress please?" The next dress was even more of a disappointment. It was this small, disgusting, obscene contraption that Hermione tried her best to look classy in. It was too low cut; it showed too much leg, and it made heads turn way too much. And, she looked gorgeously sexy in it, yes. But it wasn't the type of dress that anyone should wear if they aren't clubbing or planning to have sex in. But it made Ron stare at Hermione as if he'd never seen her before. And he gave her the once over, fifteen, thirty times. Hermione was so uncomfortable, that no one had to tell her to go try on the next dress, and she just ran off of the platform to do so. When she came back, she was wearing a beautiful dress. I mean, it was really a gorgeous dress. And she looked gorgeous in it. It was a white gown that had an empire waist, sweetheart neckline, and a beaded and embroidered waist. And that veil. A veil that covered her face and had heavy stitching that matched that of the waist.

"Beautin." Krys said, looking up once, then continuing with her text message.

"This is in my definite maybe file." Emily said, nodding. "What do you think, Ares?"

"I like it." He said.

"Yeah." Ron agreed, nodding, even when Kay looked at him. "It's a nice dress."

"Um- yeah, it is." Jason agreed.

"Uh-huh. I think it's the most wedding worthy dress we've seen all day. Thumbs up." Harry said.

"I told you it was beautin." Krys said, as Emily stared at her. "What happened?"

"It's your turn." Emily said.

"For what?" Krys asked, looking up.

"You have eight more dresses to try on."

"I- what? What do you mean? What dresses?"

"4 brides' dresses and 4 maid of honor dresses." Emily said, making Krys and Kay look at her.

"Why am I trying on maid of honor dresses?" Krys asked. "Why am I eve-"

"Just try on the damn dresses, Krys." Emily said. "Mine first."

"Whatever." Krys said, taking off her hat, and walking away to the dressing rooms. When she came out in a wedding dress, it was sure something else. She wore a halter neckline with a mermaid silhouette. The fabric was lace, and it was an antique/gold color. The gown had beading and a soft tulle gather on the skirt, with a semi cathedral train. Over the sweetheart like neckline bodice was a beaded mesh over throw that ended with the soft tulle at the skirt. Cutting out the mumbo jumbo, she looked gorgeous. Her hair was falling all over her shoulders and down her back, and when she saw Emily looking expectant, she gave a spin and a cute dip. "Happy?"

"Rather pleased." Emily said, blowing a kiss at her. "I don't know."

"I think it's lovely." Said some dude in the corner, with a catlike grin on his lips. Krys raised her eyebrows and looked away. 

"Dude, I'm gonna take this off and put on the next one." Krys said.

"No. I don't know if I like it yet. Do another spin." Emily said. Krys rolled her eyes and turned around once more.

"I…" Hermione started. "I think that it's nice. Beautin." Krys looked at her, then looked away back at Emily.

"What do you think loser? Why don't you ask your husband?" Krys asked. Then she looked at Ares. "You, what do you think of the dress?" Then she did a full spin and twirl. His only responding words were,

"When'd you get the tattoos?" Krys laughed.

"I thought that it was wrong to have Rick James's name on my ass, and not at least have my son. You know?" she said, before she looked back at Emily, who was looking between the two.

"How long have you two known each other?" Emily asked.

"Since we were eleven. But if stories are true, he, Jason, and I met when we were one." Krys said, making Ares look at her. "Um… can I get out of this dress?"

"I like it." Emily said. "But, I like the one Hermione wore." Then she sighed. "Krys, put on the next one, please." Krys rolled her eyes and walked off of the platform sullenly. When she walked back in, she wore another beautiful gown. But this one was very plain. It was made of 100 Italian silk. It was a halter, with an empire waist and a court train. The straps were charmeuse that contrasted the Chantilly lace.

"This dress feels like butter." Krys said. "And not in a bad way."

"Comfortable dresses aren't worth it. Pain is beauty." Emily said, shaking her head.

"You don't want it?"

"No." Krys rolled her eyes and hopped off the platform again. When she walked back in this time, there was no doubt about it. The dress was- let's just say that it had the power to induce feelings orgasmic in men. She walked onto the platform in a pearl colored gown of Heavy Silk Charmeuse. It had a mermaid silhouette, and a halter neckline. But, the fabric that went in and out of the cut of the breasts was held up by beautiful pearls that went along the edges of the entire bodice. Pearls as straps, pearls accentuating her 'cleavage', pearls doing a crisscross down her back, being the only coverage to the back of her torso. And on her head, a tiara with dropping pearls.

"How's this?" Krys asked, spinning around.

"This is incredible." Emily said. "It just makes you look so good that I want to hurt you." Krys nodded, not exactly sure if Emily was joking, then looked around for commenting.

"That bad?" Krys asked. "I thought it was good. Shit." Then she started to walk off.

"No, Krys. I'm just starting to think that you should wear this to your wedding." Emily said, staring at her.

"Wedding to whom?" Krys asked.

"Well, Lewis, of course." Emily said, making Krys look around.

"I'm done with this conversation. I'm going to take this dress off."

"I'm serious. You should think about this dress. It makes it seem like you have breasts."

"You're going to bust your ass at your wedding if it's the last thing I do." Krys said, before she walked back into the dressing room.

"You don't think that she'd really make me fall, do you?" Emily asked, looking around. Almost everyone that really knew Krys was scratching their head or avoiding her eyes. But, the one person who Emily couldn't move past staring at was Ares. He was just staring at the platform. We know why, but hopefully she didn't. It can't be said.

When the day was over, Emily still hadn't chosen a wedding dress for herself. They also hadn't chosen a maid of honor dress for Kay. So, those long hours had been for naught. But, when they were all leaving the store, Krys found herself left behind with Ares. And there were those awkward looks.

"How are you?" Ares asked her, opening his arms for what looked like a hug. Krys nodded, but backed away from him.

"I'm good." She said, backing away some more.

"Um… what- is- how's Marcus?"

"He's good. He's really good, actually. He's with my mom and dad." Ares looked at her.

"That's cool. Um… how's… Krys, did you find out?" he asked. That was the question. Krys looked at him and backed away.

"I told you that there was nothing to worry about." She said, before she started to turn away. But, when Ares held her arm, Krys stopped and looked at him. "What, Ares? What do you want?"

"I wanna talk to you." Ares said, pulling her back into the private room.

"What, Ares, what?"

"Krys, I've been taking care of him on weekends. And, I wanna be there for him. Father or not."

"This isn't Maury, Ares. You don't have to say shit like that."

"I'm not saying it to be on your good side, Krys. I'm saying it, because I already feel like he's my son. Since that first day." Ares said. "Come on, Krys, I thought we were friends again."

"I did too." Krys said, putting her skully lower on her head. "But, I don't think it's really possible."

"What do you mean, Krys? I thought that everyth-"

"No. Look, Ares, of course you can be in my son's life. He likes you, and he doesn't like anyone. So, I'm okay with you being there. But… me and you… we can't be. We can't be anything. And I'm not trying to be a bitch. I'm really not. But, ever since you told me that you couldn't drink, I realized that my presence in your life is poisonous. And I don't wanna be that person in anyone's life. And… never did I say that me not being able to stand you means that I don't love you. And that's because that's the farthest thing from it. I just don't think that you and I can have anything to do with each other, without it resulting in some form of heartache." Krys, who had a bit of a tear in her eye, looked at him helplessly. "I don't know what to say but that."

"Krys, you're my best friend." Ares started.

"I can't be around you anymore. I'm sorry." Krys said, before she started to walk away.

"What about him?"

"Just text me and I'll drop him off at your mom's, whenever you want him. He really likes you." Krys said, before she left.

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When Ares and Krys finally walked out, it was evident that they were trying to avoid each other. Krys' hands were shaking, and she looked on the verge of tears, while Ares looked to her every two seconds and shook his head.

"Where were you?" Emily asked, as she ran over and jumped into Ares' arms.

"I had to use the bathroom." Ares said, holding her close. Krys, in her moment, walked over to Hermione.

"I need to talk to you." She said, walking ahead. Hermione followed after her, and they talked while walking around in circles. Never once did they look at each other, and not once did they stop.

"What do you need?" Hermione asked, staring at the floor, and following after Krys.

"Are we done with this?" Krys asked, in the same stance as Hermione, with her hands in her pockets. "It's been long enough, hasn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about this nonsense about Allen." Krys said. "I never did anything with him, Hermione. And I would never. The one thing about this that I'd say I'm guilty about is keeping it from you for so long. But, I didn't know that it was going that far."

"Krys, I know." Hermione said. "He told me."

"Then why isn't this behind us. I don't understand it, Hermione. If you know that I would never do that, and you know that I haven't, why aren't we past this?" And finally, as if by some beautiful poetry act in Def Poetry Jam, they both looked up at the same time.

"Because, it's a big bad blow to my ego, Krys. As if it wasn't bad enough that all the signs were there, as a woman I had to hear him profess his love for _you_. Now, everyone knows, and it's embarrassing. That's why we're not behind it, Krys. It's embarrassing. I am embarrassed. I loved him, and he's in love with you. I wanted my first time to be with him, and he was going to let me, and even worse _you_ were going to let me."

"No, don't blame that on me, Hermione. I _tried_ to tell you."

"Not hard enough. Not once did you insist that I listen."

"Not once could I get past you choosing your boyfriend over me. You didn't believe me. I told you, and you wouldn't listen. I tried to talk to you, and you didn't listen. You chose him, Hermione. And you have no right to complain." Krys said.

"Look, Krys, I can't get past this in a month. It's taking time."

"I don't have time."

"Krys, it won't take overnight. I can't drop this so easily."

"What exactly would you like me to say about this? Do you want me to say that it's okay and that I'm okay with it? I'm not. If you can't meet me halfway on forgiving you for not ever believing me, how can I meet you halfway on what you want?"

"Whatever's going on with us is your own fault."

"You know, Hermione, I have enough shit going on in my life, without having a best friend that can't get her shit together. You know what- I forgive you. And it's okay if we don't talk ever again. I forgive you. But, I'm also done with you. I'm done with everything. I can't take it anymore, and I'm done with it." And then Krys walked away.

"You know what, Krys? I can't take it anymore either! You forgive me?! What the hell do you need me to forgive? I've never betrayed you. I've never hurt yo-"

"You've hurt me more than you'll ever know." Krys said, as she continued to walk away.

"How?!" Hermione yelled. "I wanna know how I've ever hurt you!" And then there it was, Krys walked back briskly.

"You wanna know what hurts me, Hermione?" Krys asked.

"Yeah, I wanna know what I've done."

"My best friend doesn't believe a word I say when I try to tell her that her boyfriend calls me constantly, has his hand on my leg when we're at dinner together, shows up in my room when he spends the night, and stops by when he knows you're not there. You wouldn't even believe me if he hadn't told you. How can you think that I would do that to you? And even worse, if I was lying about what I said, you honestly thought I would do it to hurt you like that, don't you? And the worst, after everything that we've been through, you don't know me enough- you don't trust me enough to believe me over a man that you've known for a year? That pisses me off. And that's why I'm done trying. Even through that, I was still willing to put it aside and forget all about it." And it isn't as if it was a real private conversation. It wasn't private at all. They all heard what went on. And… no one knew what to say. This was the true ending to the Bon-Bon and Cookie era. This was closure.


	64. Lean Cuisines and All Alone

Lean Cuisine in her lonely apartment, by herself

Lean Cuisine in her lonely apartment, by herself. No witty banter at the meal. No one there. When you eat alone, there's nothing. And I mean it when I say it. There is nothing. Most people, to fill the silence, turn on the TV in the background and talk to it, while they eat, just to say that there was lunch conversation. Hermione, however, chose to play her messages while she ate. It was a great way to fill the silence, and it was completely personalized. On her twenty third chew of the last of her "stir fried" vegetables, Hermione's ears tuned in on a message.

"Hey, Hermione. It's Ron." It said. Then there was a pause. "It's obvious that you're not home, but that makes this a lot easier. I'm sorry about what I said that day in your office. I didn't mean any of that. You're a great friend. Um… I'm a bit uncomfortable talking to your machine. Would you very much hate it if we had lunch tomorrow? You can write me about that. I'm using Krys' phone." With another chew of her peas, Hermione threw a fork at her answering machine, shutting it off… or possibly breaking it.

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"Mommy, why is gwama in a pitchure?" Marcus asked, tugging on Krys' curls. Talk about a heavy question. How do you tell your son that the reason that your parents are in portraits is that they're dead? Well… apparently, Krys knew a way.

"Passed away is a way to say death, okay? So… death is the end of a life. Me and you… we're living. We breathe, we eat, we feel. We're alive. And people that have passed on or are dead… they can't breathe anymore, they can't feel anymore, and they don't eat anymore. But in the magic world, a way to keep and remember someone is by keeping them in a picture. Okay, well… when I was about your age… my mommy passed away. And then, when I was a little older, my daddy passed away too. I keep them in pictures so that I can know them. And so that you can know them. And so that they can know you." She said, before she looked at him. "Do you understand?" Mark shook his head.

"No." he said, hugging her.

"Well… you shouldn't. And… it isn't something that you should worry about for a while. We'll talk about it when you're older. When you're a big boy."

"Like Jaime?"

"No. Like… Diego."

"He's old."

"If he's old, then what am I?"

"Mommy." Mark said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And what am I?" There she stared at him. How did he get to be so smart?

"You're sweet pea." Krys said, kissing his cheek repeatedly, before her intercom buzzed. "Hey, Marly."

"Hey, Krys. Hi, Marky."

"Hi Marly." Mark screamed.

"So, what's up?" Krys asked.

"Well, someone's here to see you." Then a pause. "And he's… yow." Marly whispered.

"Well does he have a name?" Krys asked jokingly. Another pause.

"Mr. Delgado." Marly said. "Oh- he was sent here. He's in your appointment book." Pause. WTF? How did he get into the appointment book? And then. In the midst of thinking about the question, Krys almost kicked herself. She'd scheduled him in during her free time a month earlier. Curse her friendly nature!

"Um… I can't take him now." Krys looked around for something that she could do. What could she do to occupy her time, making it so that Ares couldn't come in? What? Oh- take care of her son. "I have some- I have something to do."

"Krys, you don't have any other appointments. He's in your book. This was your free time block, so obviously you penciled him in, because I didn't put him in."

"Marly, I… can you please turn him over to someone else?" Krys asked. "I have something to do."

"Hold on." Marly said, before Krys heard chatter and laughter in the background. She is so fucking fired! "Krys, he's requesting you. And he seems really hurt hearing that you don't want t-"

"Marly, just send him in." Krys said out of frustration. And no more than a minute later, Ares was walking into the office all smug and sexy. The nerve of him. OMG, omg, omg, omg, omg. He walked in with a fucking strut, wearing an open, white, button down that showed his kinda fitted white t-shirt, stone wash jeans, and white uptowns. And he just looked so good, and so damn clean. And the worst part? She could smell him from her seat. Not because his scent was overpowering. But, she could smell him, because it was just that hint of goodness that you looked for. Have you ever been hungry, and you smelled pizza that was in the house next to yours? That's what this was like. "What do you want?" As soon as she said that, Mark looked up and saw him. And as soon as Mark saw Ares, his eyes widened, and a sweet smile overtook his cute little face. Then he waved enthusiastically, and started to reach for Ares. Ares, who was looking at Mark, shaking his head with a smile, answered her question, as he reached for… his son. Can we call him that? Not yet? No? Okay.

"I came here for my healer interview." He said. Krys rolled her eyes, and started to rock Marcus, who was still reaching for Ares. Her actions shocked Ares, who was also getting irritable reaching for Mark. Angry that she felt the need to keep her son from his father, Krys regrettably pulled Marcus back some more.

"What do you want to know, then? What?" Krys asked, as she held her son closer to her. The best way that I can explain it is when you see a kid claim something that looks neutral, by shouting 'mine' and pulling it to their side? Well, if you've seen that, then you know what I'm talking about. And he could see it. She was so damn obvious that they both could. And by both, I mean her son and the father of her son.

"Why aren't you talking to me?" Ares asked. And in this question, you heard genuine concern. Damn.

"Not a question that has to do with how I heal." Krys said stubbornly, still holding back the Marcus that was reaching for Ares.

"No, seriously. Why are you mad? Krys, what's wrong?" Still reaching for Ares and fighting against Krys, Marcus started to cry. And I don't mean 'tear tear' I mean, wailing like a fricking- I don't know what. But, he started to cry and reach for Ares even more. And while Krys tried to rock him, he still wanted Ares. And that's not as painful as your son wanting another _woman_ more than he wants you, but it _is_ painful. And so, without emotion, Krys just held Mark out.

"Take him." She said, before she went back to the subject at hand. And then, there it was. She saw it. And she was pissed at herself for allowing it to happen. Marcus and Ares' eyes connected, and they both looked at each other as if they knew that they were missing one other. Honestly, Krys hadn't even seen Marcus look at Harry or Jason that way. And they were there from the beginning. But, her sweet pea just stared at him for a minute, before he hugged him. And Ares took that moment- you know? Like, when you see a guy give himself time to enjoy whatever he has. With that little smile or impish grin? And he did that. And while he did it, it wasn't as if he was just doing it. He did it, because it was something that he enjoyed being able to enjoy. Then he looked back up at Krys, and a grimace washed over his face. He knew that his moment of enjoyment would be cut to shreds. "It's only been a few hours since we left the bridal shop. Four to be exact. Give me settling time."

"I haven't seen you in a month. I've _given_ you settling time. I'm tired of having these massive problems with you, Krys. If you don't want to be my friend, Krys, just say so."

"I said it today." Krys said, looking up at him. "And don't twist my words. I said that I _couldn't_ be your friend. I cannot stomach it." Wow. Now, in all my years- I've never heard someone tell another that being their friend made them sick to their stomach.

"What does that mean?" What did it mean? ... That she was selfish. She'd asked him to be her friend a million times. And while he was IN LOVE with her- each and every time that she asked, he'd always obliged. And she knew it. And she hated herself. This is why she laid her head on her desk and didn't look up for a minute- or seven.

"It means that I'm dumb." Krys said when she finally looked up. "I'm just stressing over Krystellis and Soya. And… I'm just- I'm tired. And, I'm about this close-" She ground her index finger and thumb into each other. "-to killing your fiancé. I'm sorry if that sounds crazy."

"No worries. What're best friends for, if not to allow their best friends to walk all over them?" Ares teased, making Krys smile softly at him.

"You really are _the_ best friend, Ares." She said, nodding slowly. Regretfully.

"I know." Ares said slowly. Regretfully. And again, the look. But this time, it wasn't awkward. It was nice. It was the look that you gave someone that you have a crush on, just when you've finished giving them the hints on how you feel. It was that nice nervous look that you give your boyfriend or girlfriend just when you're about to have sex for the first time. It was uncertain, unsure, and undeniably filled with love. And it was because of that that Krys nervously started to push one of her Trident boats from side to side.

"Do you want a snack?" she asked.

"That depends. What do you have?"

"Juicy juice, teddy grams, mashed potatoes, water, Chewy granola bars, nutra-grain bars, and… a freshly baked chocolate chocolate chunk cake from Ms. Banes." Krys said, nodding in that 'oh yeah' way.

"Um… thanks, but I can't stay." Ares said, lying down on her couch.

"So, why are you lying down?" Krys asked, wishing she could snap a shot of Ares with Marcus lying on his chest.

"Because I'm tired."

"Then go to sleep."

"I'm moving in with Emily, Krys. I've been staying with her." Oh, she wasn't aware. _What the hell_ was he telling her that for? He knew. He just didn't know that he knew. Know what, you ask? Well, that he had just stabbed her, and that he was just twisting that knife ever so brutally!

"I don't get how that's relevant." Krys said, cool as a fricking cucumber.

"I haven't been getting a lot of sleep. I'm staying with Emily, and every time I'm near her, she wants to talk about the wedding or…you know." Ares said, making Marcus look at Krys. Why the hell does that child know so much?! No, I'm serious. How is he able to take the information that he knows and apply it to that situation? He hears the word wedding, and he instantly remembers the earlier conversation of marriage.

"Well, then. Come on." Krys said standing up, and kicking one of her wooden walls. And as soon as she kicked it, out fell a bed. A big, comfy bed, with gorgeous Egyptian cotton sheets, and a gorgeous comforter set. "Go to sleep."

"How much time do you spend in the office?"

"I spend more than half of my time here." Krys said. "That's why I have pajamas here too." Ares looked at what she was wearing, and laughed. Krys was clad in boxers and a long t-shirt, her pajamas.

"So, you're not supposed to be here now?"

"It's my day off, today. But, I have Krystellis here… and so, it's easier for me to take care of her if I'm here."

"What are you goin-?" And again, the buzzing of the intercom.

"Hey, Marly." Krys said. "What happened?"

"Your partner needs to talk to you. Are you here?" Marly said in a stage whisper.

"Um… send her in." Krys said, sitting at her desk. When the tinted glass door opened, Hermione stepped through casually. "Hi. What happened? What's going on?"

"Crisis at the orphanage." Hermione said. "I would've sent a written memo, but Justine is _busy_ today."

"What kind of crisis?"

"The ministry found a family for Adrianne. And… she's taking it… hard." Hermione supplied, with her hands twisted behind her back. Double damn.

"Where is she?"

"Piper, nine other witches, and Asia are being used to keep her. But, since no one can calm her down, they want you to talk to her." Hermione said.

"Okay." Krys said, before she picked up the phone and pressed an orange button, then 5. "Hi, Lester, how are you?" Krys waited a minute and nodded. "I'm great, too. And so is Marcus." A laugh again. "Yeah, well, you know how I feel about you. Um… I called for a reason, Lester. Not just to talk to your ass." Then she laughed again. "Can you have Adrianne Vega sent over here? No?" Krys laughed, then smiled. "Thank you, Lester." Then she hung up, and looked at Hermione. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Hermione said, before she waved to Ares and kissed Mark's cheek. Then she left the room, leaving Ares to look at Krys.

"Trouble in Aguas Buenas?" he asked, making Krys roll her eyes.

"Yes." She said, yawning, before she got up and draped the blanket over a sleeping Mark.

"What's wrong?"

"Adrianne is a seven year old fire witch. Her mom and dad died a year ago in a house fire that she lived through, because her body can live through and charge from flames. And, truth is that she probably started the fire. Her parents are muggles, and they didn't know she was a witch- they didn't know any of that. So, she's asleep one night, and she's in the bed, and it just set fire. So, she wakes up- and she can't control it, so there was nothing that she could do in stopping the fire. She just added to it, because of the stress. And so… everything that she touched in that house literally melted. And she watched her parents and her big brother and sister die- and… she just stood through it. So now, she doesn't speak to anyone but me, a few girls in her dorm, Hermione, Gin, and A.J. So, when I tell you, she has to walk around with a notepad with her, all day, everyday- she has to walk around with one all day every day. So… the ministry finds the families… and she doesn't want to-" Buzzing of the intercom again. "Hey, Marly."

"Hey, Krys. You have a visitor."

"Okay." Krys said. "Send her in." A second later, in walked a thin little girl with beautiful dark brown hair that hid her face. She walked in as awkward as possible, but when she looked up to see Krys, her face lit up. Yes, she was a dimple girl. Two deep dimples in her cheeks, big brown eyes, and a cute mole above her lip. And while her hair was dark, whenever light hit it, you could see fire in it. "Yeah, Pinkie. You get to spend the whole day with me."

"Hi, Krys." Adrianne said, as she walked over to the desk. When she arrived, there was a bit of a staring contest between the two. And as Krys looked at her, she could see fire brewing in her eyes. Not in a bad way. But in a way that showed that it was always there, and it would always be there. And while they stared at one another, there was a bond made. A connection of some sort.

"Okay… so look what I have." Krys said, pulling a gigantic lollipop from behind Adrianne's ear, and breaking the connection. The arrival of the lollipop caused Adrianne to erupt into massive giggles. With a laugh, Krys stood up and walked away from her desk a bit. "Okay, so, that dude over there is my best friend Ares."

"Hi." Ares said, with a wave and a smile. Adrianne turned to Ares, and pulled out her notepad. In big letters, she wrote out 'Hello'. Krys looked at her, and beckoned her over.

"We're gonna even the score." She said. That sentence made Adrianne's face break out into this enormous smile.

"How long can I stay today?" she asked.

"How long do you want to stay?"

"Hmm… a million years?" Adrianne suggested. Krys laughed and shook her head.

"Give me a reasonable time. I'm not spending my last million years with you." She said teasingly.

"Two hundred?" Krys laughed and pointed to the floor. "Two weeks?" Krys looked thoughtful, and then inhaled.

"I'll see what I can do." She said, before she pulled a pack of Uno cards out of her closet.

"Twenty eight cards." Adrianne said, as she and Krys walked over to sit on the newly beanbag decorated floor.

"Okay, well if I do twenty-eight cards, then we're not playing four consecutive games."

"What does consecutive mean?"

"Well, it means one after the other."

"No." Adrianne whined. "I wanna play Uno all day."

"Well, I can't help you with that, Pinkie." Krys said, poking her in the stomach, as Adrianne dealt the cards. Sitting with this kid was a joy. When she spoke, she was witty, with a creative mind, and amazing character judgment. She moved at her own pace, and if you wanted to know how good of a person you were, you would just meet Adrianne. Seriously. She spoke to Krys and Hermione within minutes of their meet. When the ministry dropped her off, those were the two she warmed up to. And then when she met A.J and Ginny, she was a natural chatterbox. Actually, she was a natural chatterbox whenever she was around the family. She was one of the kids that knew everyone. It actually panned out in a weird way, their knowledge of her being a semi-mute. Krys and Hermione had no idea that she didn't speak, because, again, she spoke to them instantly. It wasn't until Krys was given her file that she knew that Adrianne didn't speak to everyone. As the two played Uno in this showdown like battle, Krys looked up at Adrianne, from her cards. "You think you're gonna beat me this time, do you?"

"I think I will." Adrianne said, before the intercom buzzed again.

"Okay, hold on." Krys said, hopping up and answering.

"Krys, your partner is here to see you again." Marly said in a singsong voice. "And she's come bearing gifts."

"Then let her in." Krys sing-songed back. Again, the tinted glass door opened, and in walked Angel, Jaime, Thai, and Hermione. Krys looked at them and smiled, before Angel and Jaime skipped over and hugged her. "My angels." Then she let go. "Hungry? Sleepy?"

"Nappy." Angel said, with a nod, after she waved at Adrianne. See- I told you they all knew each other. Krys laughed and walked over to the bed next to the occupied one, and kicked the wall again. Another gigantic bed covered in 'Winnie the Pooh' covers fell out. Krys skipped over and lifted Angel. Then she looked at Jaime.

"What about you? Sleepy? Hungry?"

"Sleepy." Jaime said nodding. Krys laughed and took his hand. She settled them in, tucked them in, then looked around.

"What about you?" she asked Thai.

"I have a date. I came to get you to baby sit the kids." Thai said, making Krys laugh.

"I get four little terrors?" Krys teased, looking at Adrianne.

"Yes." Thai said. "I'm going to dinner with Michael."

"Um…what're you wearing?"

"Green dress and emerald stilettos."

"What color jacket?"

"Black."

"Hair style?"

"Classic curls. You know, the beautiful big curls that make you look like you have the shoulder length hair."

"Lips?"

"Clear, shimmer pink."

"Jewelry?"

"Emerald drop necklace. The one you gave me. Emerald studs. The ones my mom gave me. Matching emerald drop bracelet and anklet. The one's you gave me."

"Bag?"

"I was thinking the black and emerald clutch. My phone, my wallet, underwear, mirror, stun gun, gum, and condoms. That should all fit, right?" Thai asked teasingly, making Krys look at her.

"You're joking, right?" she asked.

"Very much so." Thai said, with a smile. "I always leave the stun gun at home." Krys rolled her eyes.

"Where is everything for the date?"

"Your house."

"You have money?"

"Yes. And my pride and joy, _Visa_."

"Who're you going with?"

"Michael is my date. And… Angel is going with Jennifer. And… it's at a hotel."

"Do you guys have a room?"

"Yeah."

"Do your parents know?"

"That's complicated." Thai said. Oy, what a damn understatement. What kind of shit was that? 'It's complicated.' Honestly, how difficult a decision is it to go against a girl's parents? Not that damn difficult is how.

"So, they don't know."

"My mom knows. My dad knows I'm going to dinner, but not spending the night in a hotel with a guy."

"Who said that you were?" Thai looked at her.

"Krys-"

"Get your ass back here by…" Krys looked at her watch. "Dinner; hour, dessert; 15 min, chat; 15 min, dance; 5 min, stroll; 10 min, kiss; 4 seconds… get dressed… hour. So, you have to get back here by 10:30. 11:02 at the latest."

"But, Kry-"

"Thai, you're losing precious time." Krys said, looking at her watch. "Okay, make sure that before you go to dinner, you guys drop by here again."

"Alright." Thai said, before she walked out of the office. And once she left, Ares, Hermione, and Adrianne were looking at Krys.

"Stern." Ares said, rubbing Marcus' back.

"See you later, Adrianne." Hermione said, holding her hand out for the high five. Then she looked at Krys. "See you later."

"See you later." Krys said, with a small wave. Then she looked at Adrianne. "You ready, Pinkie?" 

"I'm ready, Blue." Adrianne said, holding her cards up. With a skip, Krys sat down across from Adrianne, and started to play her hand. After ten minutes of the heated showdown, it was a draw. In the end Adrianne threw down a draw 4, and so did Krys, so that left a question of whether Adrianne won, because she left the game for good, or if she should lose, because she would have to draw 8, making it so that she was still in the game. Like I said, it was a real problem. Then, shockingly, but not so shockingly, Adrianne turned to Ares and held up the cards. "Do you want to play?" Krys beamed at Ares and Adrianne, then stood up and sat on her desk.

"Um… no, thank you." Ares said. "I don't think I can mess with the Uno shark that beat Krys." And that sentence made Adrianne extremely pleased. And once you please her with words, she's yours.

"See, Krys. Even _he_ knows that I beat you." Adrianne said, before she dealt the cards again.

"What does he know?" Krys asked as she pulled some Juicy Juice out of her fridge.

"I know that you're a sore loser." Ares said, tiredly. "Are you sure I'm not a burden?" Krys looked around, then smiled when she saw that he was worried.

"I never said that you weren't bothering me." She said. He wasn't bothering her. There was no bother there. There he was, lying down, with their little boy sleeping on his chest- how the hell could he be a bother? "I don't recall ever saying that you were welcome to stay here." Ares' eyebrows furrowed.

"I think that's the fun of being here." He said, before he actually closed his eyes.

"Yeah, aren't you supposed to be sleeping? Isn't that why you're here?"

"Yes. And no." Ares said, his eyes still closed. What the hell did that mean? And before she could ask him, she heard that peaceful indication of real sleep. She heard that beautiful breathing on his part.

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Half asleep, and again, eating her Lean Cuisine, and drinking her diet Pepsi she was. And then, "Buzz!!" Calmly swallowing her last bite, Hermione reached over to the intercom and spoke clearly.

"Yes, Justine?" she asked.

"Hermione, Mr. Weasley is here to see you again." Justine said in this 'ooh!' voice. With a smile and an involuntary fluff of her hair, Hermione buzzed her intercom once again.

"Okay. You can let him in, Justine." She said, before she started to throw her tray and can out before the arrival of Ron. And then… there he came in. And what can really be said? He walked in all muscular and new, features that she didn't notice upon his original arrival back into her life. But, now she was strangely aware of the fact that he had a scar across his eyebrow, and a cut at his lip. And she was aware of how his sweater stretched across his shoulders, and how nice he looked with the frayed sleeves that matched the cuffs of his jeans. 'And- why the hell was he dressing so _grunge_ now?' was a thought that popped into her head out of nowhere. 'I mean, you leave a perfectly good Englishman with two Yankees and you get a rocker?' Then as suddenly as that thought came in, she looked up at him, and he smiled… and then it was all forgotten. "Hi."

"Hey." Ron said, looking around her office. "Can I sit down?" Hermione nodded, and gestured to the seat across from her desk.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I wanted to apologize." Ron said bashfully, with his hands working nervously.

"Apologize for what? You didn't say anything wrong. I had fun." Hermione said, on the verge of laughter.

"I don't mean the first time we really talked since I got back; I mean the last time we talked." Ron said, instilling the memory. She remembers, Ron. Believe you me. And that's exactly what she said.

"I remember Ron. Believe you me." See, I told you. "But, I chose to act as if it didn't happen. Maybe you should've followed my lead." With the tips of his ears going red, Ron nodded.

"Yeah." he agreed. "Maybe."

"So, that's it?" Hermione asked, looking around. Wow. Was she rushing him out? Did she have something to do? Hell no she didn't. And what have we taught her? You just ate your Lean Cuisine alone, again!! You have someone to talk to. Embrace it.

"Um… no." Ron said. "I actually came here for professional reasons, too." Hermione nodded, then put her finger up- you know the move. It's the professional move that you see all uptight professional women do, then they lean down to their phone and flip their hair. It occurs most often around an old love. Any who, Hermione pressed her intercom and cleared her throat.

"Justine, can you bring me a bottle of water, two aspirin, and my palm?" She asked, before she looked at Ron. "Do you want something?"

"Treacle tart and some butterbeer."

"Also, treacle tart and butterbeer?" Hermione asked.

"Um… sure." Justine said. Hermione looked at Ron and nodded.

"Okay. What happened?" she asked.

"Alright so, I'm considering a job at the ministry-"

"Please don't say it like that." Hermione said, giggling slightly. Ron looked at her with a smile on his face.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like you have a choice but to get a job in the ministry. You're an auror." Hermione said, before she waved her hand. "I'm sorry. Go on. Continue, please." Ron playfully huffed, then continued as asked.

"Okay, so I'm going into the European ministry, and I was thinking about the benefits. I was wondering what it included, and I decided to ask you." He said. Hermione looked at him and nodded, before she buzzed her intercom again.

"And Justine, can you send me the auror health pack from my files? And the dental and life insurance, if you can find it?" she asked.

"Okay." Justine said, as she walked through the door with a tray. Once she placed the tray on Hermione's desk, she looked at Ron, then Hermione, before winking at her boss. Ron saw this, looked at Hermione with a smug grin, then looked at Justine. "Okay, what was that?"

"I need the auror health benefits pack. It's in my locked file cabinet." Hermione said, her lips thin as a stick figure. "And when you're done with that, you can go home, before you have me arrested for going against child labor laws." Justine smiled and pranced out of the office, before closing the door behind her. She was so fucking fired. "I'm sorry about her. She was hired by Krys, who kept the good assistant for herself."

"Speaking of Krys... How's that going?" Ron asked. How was it going? What the hell was there to go? It was going as well as it should have.

"What's to go? We work together, and we have an amazing professional relationship, which I'm grateful for. She's an amazing partner. She's an even better healer. And that's it." Hermione said. "There's nothing much to say but that."

"What about your personal relationship? You know; that five year friendship." Hermione tucked her hair behind her ears, before she looked at her phone.

"It's not easy to have a professional relationship with her, without thinking about how bad our private relationship is. But, we're able to do it for the sake of our jobs. I mean, we had the argument today, and we're able to pick up and work. I love that. And… our professional relationship stops with Marcus. And, I'm very grateful that she's kept me as his godmother, even while she and I are on opposite sides of the stage."

"Well, is it about the guy? Is it that you want him back?" Hermione laughed. In that instant, judging on how badly Hermione was trying not to stare at that lovely cut on his eyebrow, she could say no. No, she didn't want Allen back. She wasn't even sure that she wanted him when it was happening. It was her ego, and she could admit it.

"It has nothing to do with him." She admitted. "Look, I'm sure you all heard me say what I said to her today. It isn't about him. It was a blow to my ego."

"I don't understand why." Ron said, shaking his head. "I mean, you're…" He gestured to her, and then nodded as if to say 'you know?' "You're very…"

"Okay, I get what you're saying." Hermione said, in the heat of debate. "But this takes time. I don't just wake up like this."

"I don't think anyone wakes up and looks perfect."

"Yes! She does."

"Yeah, but that's a different case."

"How is it different?" Now she was pissed. How was it different?! How- how was it different? "And in this case, it's worse. I work for this. She doesn't give a damn how she looks, and those are her results."

"Well, people find that attractive." Ron said, with a laugh. Hermione did not laugh with him. Well, not at first. Then slowly, that scowl turned into a smile, which turned into a fit of giggles.

"Yeah, I can see how someone who doesn't get uptight over hair can appear attractive." She said, still laughing.

"I'm serious. If she acted the way Kay acts when you touch her hair, she wouldn't be so well thought of."

"Yeah, but she'd still be gorgeous."

"So would you." Ron said. With a shy smile, Hermione ran her hand through her own hair, and clipped it up in a spiky, tendril falling bun, before she and Ron had that 'love connection' stare. And then, reality set- reality crashed in. Kay, her friend. Her new friend, who gave her the hair that she's so proud of. Breaking the gaze, Hermione called in on her intercom once again.

"Justine, if you can't find them in your file cabinet, you should look in my appointment binder." No answer. "Justine?" Hermione looked around, before she buzzed in again. "Justine?"

"Maybe she forgot and went home." Ron said, laughter still in his voice.

"Okay." Hermione said, standing up and pulling her clip out of her hair. "I think I have another copy in here somewhere." With a look to the left file cabinet, and a look to the right file cabinet, Hermione went straight for the wooden cabinets in her walls. "Oy- they're locked." Then she remembered… this was her office. She had a key. And it was around her neck. That was like, half the struggle. When Hermione opened the cabinet, there were like a million files in there. But, being organized does pay. It was under 'a' for auror, subcategory 'b' for benefits. "I found it. I have it." She found it, and she had it.

"Okay, so what do I get in the health auror benefits?" Ron asked. With a look through the file, Hermione smiled and skipped over to her desk.

"Okay. This is good." Hermione said, as she set the file on the desk. "So, what you have here is a basic auror contract."

"What comes with that?"

"You get to show up at the hospital without being kicked out." Hermione teased. Ron looked at her for a minute, before he threw his head back and laughed. It was a happy laugh. That laugh that you hear when a person is full of joy. It's that adult laugh of joy. And when you're the person that gives someone that, you feel a sense of accomplishment. Hermione, on the other hand, felt a tremendous amount of guilt. Here she was, wooing another girl's boyfriend. Making him laugh, making him happy, making him smile. It was wrong. But, in another right, _oh so right_. "Okay, so, you want the best of the best."

"And what is that?"

"Ultimate package. You want that. If you join in the ministry, because of the training program that you were in, you can instantly get this. But in reality, our motto- and why we're so loved already, is 'Heal today, pay tomorrow'. And, in this our receptionists can't ask about money if you have a certain degree of need. So, we have a tremendous process where we have to take a million precautions making sure that we're healing the right person with the right treatment. And, now we're pushing to have aurors wear secret code identification. It's already designed, the scanner, and we're really pushing for it. And the reason why, is because 300 aurors have died- easily curable curses- because they weren't able to withstand certain potions or healing spells that we as healers put them through. Or because a healer was too afraid that this one man was at risk like so many others were… but he was in the end the one the 100,000 in the world that could withstand it."

"In real people words?" Ron asked.

"We want nameless id cards, so that we don't kill unidentified aurors from not knowing what they can and can't withstand." Hermione said, scratching the itch above her eyebrow.

"That's a good idea." Ron said, nodding awkwardly. And that's because he knew it. They'd talked about what they needed to talk about. Hermione knew it too. So, there they both were, thinking of ways to actually keep speaking to each other.

"Well, is there anything else that you need?" she asked, looking around just as awkwardly.

"Well… um, are you going home soon?" Ron asked. "Because, I could get you home safely. You know auror protection service." Hermione laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you can." She said, standing up. "In any case, I can blame you for any problems that occur while you and I are together." Whoa! She did that even when they weren't together. And they were both thinking it. They were.


	65. Realizations Revelations

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Why the hell would Krys, Harry, and Jason embarrass her like that? So, there they were- Thai, her boyfriend Michael, Angel, and Jennifer with Krys, Harry, and Jason. Just a regular old Breakfast Club full of teens that were likely to like one another by the end of the night.

"So, Michael, where are you guys going?" Krys asked, her arms folded over her chest and 'attitude' written on her face. What kind of attitude was she showing? Well… she was being nice. Or was she? Something about her nice tone made Harry, Thai, and Jason look at her like they'd never seen her that sugary sweet before. Was she faking it? She couldn't be faking it. Could she?

"Well, it's a party for me. My parents are throwing it, because I got into N.A Excellence auror training program." Michael said, nodding awkwardly.

"Oh my God. Congratulations." Krys said, holding her hand out. "That's a great school. It's supposed to be so awesome being under the instruction of Gregory Lake. I know a lot of people that went there and loved it."

"No you don't." Jason said.

"Um, yeah, I do. Gem's boyfriend Josephs went there. Stevens went there. You and Ares got in. I got in. My friend Marco goes there. My friend Davis goes there. And Davis loved it."

"Okay, okay, yeah." Jason said, nodding. Then he looked at Michael. "So, what time does this party end?"

"Um… we have hotel rooms because it ends very late." Michael said. And that's when the intercom buzzed.

"Hey, Marly." Krys said.

"Hey, Krys, you have someone here for you."

"Who?"

"Lewis Ellewood."

"Okay, he can come in." Krys said, before she shook her head and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. And then, there he came in. Lewis Ellewood… her date. And he looked sweet, and nervous, and shy. There he was, walking in with stargazer lilies- as if he wasn't cute enough. And… again, if it wasn't enough, he came with food. Krys looked at him and waved him in. He was so English and so adorable that she wondered… 'am I doing the right thing?' Was she doing the right thing? Here she was, in love with the father of her child, on a date with another man that seemed to like her. And then, like cold water or a slap to the face, it hit her. He's getting married. Move on with your life. "Hi."

"Hi." Lewis said, handing her the lilies.

"Thank you." Krys smiled and took them from him, before she looked at Harry, Jason, and the others. "Lewis, this is them." Krys said, kissing his cheek. Tell me _why_ _the_ _hell_ Ares popped up when she kissed his cheek. And not in her mind- he didn't pop up in her mind. He sat up in the bed with Mark in his arms, and looked at Krys- dressed to kill, kissing another man's cheek. Did I mention that Krys was dressed to kill? And by dressed to kill, we mean Abercrombie and Fitch navy Pamela top with empire waist front tie and moose embroidery, and a matching skirt called Taylor. On her feet were her navy Ralph Lauren sneakers. Krys looked around and smiled when she saw Ares. "Oh- you're awake."

"Yeah." Ares said, nodding and looking at Lewis, and holding Marcus who was beginning to stir. "Who's this?"

"Ooh- sorry, that's rude of me. Lewis, this is Ares. Ares, this is Lewis." Krys said, before she turned to Lewis, who just put his hand down from the wave. "So, what'd you bring me?"

"I remember you saying you liked Mexican food…" Krys nodded, and Lewis continued, "but I didn't bring that." Krys looked at him and laughed. "But I did bring you this." Lewis pulled a wrapped up enchilada out of the bag, making Krys' smile broaden. I mean, find a guy that brings you your favorite food, then… marry him, dammit!

"Thank you." She said, taking the enchilada from him. Then she looked at the others that were watching them. "Thai, you guys can leave. Make sure you call me when you get to the hotel. And here." Krys pulled a bag from behind her desk and tossed it to Thai. "Call me." Then she looked at Harry and Jason. "You guys can leave too."

"Um… we don't want to." Jason said, sitting down on her couch. What a cock blocker he was.

"Fine." Krys said, looking at Adrienne, Angel, James, and Mark's sleeping figures. "Since you're gonna be here, _you_ can watch the kids." Krys picked up the bag of food, took Lewis's hand and gave a curtsey. "I'll be back in a few hours."

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St. Eris Hospital was in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico. Legend has it that the town has healing waters. Leading to the hospital doors is a courtyard that ends at a fountain that spews fresh Aguas Buenas water. In the center of the fountain is the goddess Eris with angel wings, and the golden apple on an arrow- contradiction, I know. Right next to the fountain was the most beautiful grassy knoll that had a picnic blanket, two champagne flutes, and more lilies. When Krys saw this, she turned to Lewis with her eyebrow raised.

"I didn't do this." She said, shaking her head innocently. Lewis laughed and nodded.

"This is true. I did it." He said, as he helped her up the hill. Again, picnic blanket, champagne flutes, lilies… and the big guns, chocolate cake. Find a guy that brings you your favorite food, and marry him. What else do you need?

"See- if you keep this up… you'll have a stalker in me."

"I wouldn't mind." Did I mention that his accent was delicious? I mean, sure, Harry and Ron's accents were cute, but this guy's accent was edible. After he served her an enchilada and poured her a glass of sparkling cider, there was much conversation to be had. I mean, he's waited a year- he must have questions. And he did. "So, this is your hospital?"

"Yes. My hospital." Krys said, nodding.

"How?"

"Well, it was originally my grandmother's baby. She had it built from scratch here, because this is where she 'christened' my mother. And she was very successful, giving St. Mungos a run for their money. April Santos-Potter, healer of the year 15 years in a row. But, when she and my 'grandfather' divorced, she shut it down. And when she died, she left it to my mother, who died, and left everything to me." Krys said, nodding and biting her bottom lip. Wow… she'd never revealed that much in one breath. Well… aside from saying 'I'm pregnant.'

"So, healing runs in the family? Your mum was a healer, right?"

"You know, I don't know." Lewis looked at her questioningly. "My mom died when I was one. I have no clue."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Bringing it up."

"Yeah, well you can pay me back. Now, Lewis, you're in the hot seat." Krys said, looking at him. "So, what do you do? What job enables you to go to the Gallionaire's Club, also known as anti-conformist hell?"

"I…" Lewis said slowly, making Krys laugh. "Um… the Gallionaire's Club was a project started by my Great Uncle. And, now… it belongs to my father, who will one day pass it on to my older brother." Krys nodded, while giggling slightly.

"Sorry." She said, before she covered her mouth. "Well, aside from the fact that I've just disrespected your family project, I'm amazingly impressed. I mean… I won't lie to you. It _is_ anti-conformist hell, but… it's cool."

"No. Not so cool." Lewis said. "But, what took you to anti-conformist hell, as you call it?"

"Celebration with Hermione." Krys said, nodding her head teasingly in that 'oh yeah' way.

"Speaking of, how's she doing? Allen says she won't return his calls."

"I wouldn't either."

"Yeah, but it's your fault." Lewis said teasingly, making Krys look up at him.

"How's it _my_ fault?" she asked in a semi-whining way.

"Simple men cannot resist the eyes of a beautiful woman."

"Oh- great, give me that bullshit." Krys teased, making him laugh. "You know what, I'm gonna ignore that entire section of conversation, and track it back to when we talked about the Gallionaire's Club, which is spelled wrong on your entrance gate." Lewis nodded sullenly.

"That it is. My good for nothing brother was in charge of the archway gate. Granted, he was drunk or probably high, so we can always blame the drugs that he took, instead of realizing that our first born is a drunken junkie that abuses drugs and alcohol."

"You're a bitter one, aren't ya?" Krys teased, raising her glass. "Well, I'm guessing that you're the second born, and you think that you should be the one that gets the _Galleonaire's_ Club."

"My brother will run it in the grown and it will be a great heap of trash by the time he's done."

"Okay." Krys said awkwardly, resulting in a laugh from Lewis. "I sense tension between you and your brother."

"Um… yes. I do not like my brother."

"Why don't you like him?"

"Leonard is the golden child. And it doesn't matter how much he drinks and does drugs. It will always be the same thing, because my parents will always come up with excuses for him. And it doesn't matter how many times he empties out the Gringotts account or the Oro Galleons account… he will always be the golden child that they make all the exceptions for." Krys nodded.

"I can't imagine doing that to my child."

"What's your son's name?"

"Marcus."

"So, if you had another child, you'd evenly divide time between the two?"

"Of course. I mean, I'll always have a special place for Marcus, because he's my guinea pig baby. But, I'd also always have a special place for my younger kid, because they would be that baby that came and made me see how much better I am from the way I raised Marcus. And it would be so on after that, if I do or did ever have more."

"Yeah, well… someone's a good parent."

"Yeah, how about we stop talking about your parents?" Krys said teasingly. Lewis smiled and nodded.

"Well then, Ms. Rodriguez. What is it that you would like to talk about?" he asked.

"Oh…" Krys stretched out, and put on a cute thoughtful look. "Let's talk about you."

"No." Lewis said shaking his head. "I want to know about you."

"Uh… there's nothing really to know."

"Hmm… so it isn't true that you were once hit with a BBS?" Lewis asked. Krys groaned and nodded.

"Yeah, I did." She said. "But it was nothing."

"Really?" Lewis said skeptically, making Krys laugh.

"Okay, it hurt. But, the physical pain is nothing compared to the mental state. I'm just lucky that I came out unharmed."

"Yeah. I think we're all lucky you came out unharmed." Krys looked at him and smiled, before it slowly faded.

"You know, I think there are a lot of people that weren't too happy. People don't like me too much."

"That's impossible." Lewis said, shaking his head. "I cannot imagine that."

"You're lying through your teeth. People hate me."

"Yeah, well, I'm not one of those people."

"Aw. Dude, you flatter me." Krys said, partially gulping down the remainder of the Sparkling Cider in her glass.

"Are you okay?" Lewis asked, looking at her with squinted eyes. Why did people always ask that? Are you okay? Of course, she was okay. She was still standing, wasn't she?

"Yeah… I'm good." Krys said, nodding, and refilling her glass as if she thought it would somehow get her hammered enough to live through the rest of the great date. What kind of existence was that? Here she was with a gorgeous guy that seemed to really like her. And all she could think about was _him_. She loved _him_. Her son loved _him_. What kind of miserable life would she forever live if she couldn't get past that four-letter name…? She could do it- she had to do it. And she would. She really would. So, as part of her new realization and her solution, she looked at Lewis and turned the corners of her mouth up into a smile. "What about you? Are you good?"

"I am good."

"That's good." Lewis nodded, making them both laugh. "Do I seem ridiculously crazy right now?"

"No. You seem nervous."

"I am not nervous. I don't do nervous. Nervous is for adolescents."

"I'm nervous." Wow… that was adorable. See- she could get over what's his name. All she needed was the help of an adorable Englishman.

"Why?"

"I'm afraid that you'll steal my wallet again." Lewis said, making Krys laugh.

"Excuse me, but… if you wish to bring up the past, all I remember is that you promised me a drink that you didn't pay for, and… I just thought a reason that I can blame you for Hermione and Allen's breakup."

"How?"

"You said that you've wanted to ask me out since you saw me a year ago, right?" Krys asked, knowing very well that this was right.

"This is correct." Lewis said, nodding.

"Well, if you'd have asked me out a year ago, we wouldn't have had that problem."

"Well… you seemed more interested in Allen, so… I backed off."

"I never said yes to Allen. I said yes to you." Krys pointed out, before she mentally kicked herself. "Hmmm… if it's taken you a year to ask me out, I wonder how long it'll take you to do other things."

"Like what?" he asked, slowly and oh so softly. Krys looked up and shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know." She said coyly. "Things like holding my hand… hugging me… things like that." And that's when it happened. That's when he leaned in and kissed her. And not only was his kiss perfect, minty with a hit of sparkling cider, and so soft, but it was full of emotion. On his end. In her perfect kiss- well, _kisses_ with Lewis, she had to admit the truth. He was a fantastic kisser.

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When Krys got back to her office, the only ones there were Ares and the kids. And Ares was lying awake in the bed, looking down at Marcus. When he saw Krys, his face visually brightened, before he saluted her. How nice is that? How happy was that? There she was, slightly stressed, and she was blessed enough to be greeted in such a calming way. And then, he screwed it up.

"Why are you back so early?" he asked. Yeah, lovely. Ask me why I'm back? I just told a perfect man the truth about my relationship with you. And in the end, even when I told him that, he still wanted to be friends, and even told me that if I changed my mind, he would be there. Oh, you are the bane of my existence.

"It…it's not gonna work out." Krys said, shaking her head. I mean, sure it could work if she spent her entire life ignoring the urge to be with Ares. But… that wouldn't be morally right.

"Krys, you're nineteen. You're supposed to date just to date."

"Which would explain why you're engaged?"

"No, there's a difference between the relationships and the situations. I love Emily, so I'm going to marry her. I wasn't looking for it. I found it."

"Does it look like I need a lecture in love?" Krys asked, as she almost pulled her shirt over her head. Halfway up, Ares still hadn't stopped her, and it wasn't like he hadn't seen it before. So, she continued to pull it over her head, before she walked to her bathroom.

Walking out of the bathroom with her hair still wet and a pair of old lady cute flannel pajama bottoms and a fitted white tee, Krys looked at Ares, who was looking at her. "If _you're_ looking for love, why didn't _we_ work?" He didn't ask in a serious way. Well, of course, he did- he really wanted to know, but it was a sarcastic type of question, where he stressed some words, and pointed at her and pointed to himself and her. Krys rolled her eyes and started to towel dry her hair.

"_We_ didn't work because _you_ were going to be in France-"

"While _you_ were in Switzerland, yes. Train rides away."

"_No_, because _you_ were going to be in France, working towards your goal to be a great auror. And I was going to be in Switzerland working towards my advanced Healers Stamp in overall complex procedures, which is a lot of work. And great aurors have no room for girlfriends in their lives. Especially girlfriends that have schedules to be worked around."

"You know, if you'd have told me that, I probably would've chosen you. And worked around your schedule." Ares said stealing her towel from around her neck and pulling her in to him.

"Well, I had no room for probably." Krys said, as she let Ares help her dry her hair.

"So, instead of talking to me, you brutally dumped me."

"Yeah, but look at you now. You have an amazing fiancée and an amazing future ahead of you. And I, in my free time, look after my child and eat as much food as I can get, washing it down with D&G Kola Champagne. Who's winning in the social success?"

"Well, I guess there are a few good things that came from our breakup." Ares said, looking at Marcus. "He's a cool kid, you know."

"Of course I do. I'm cool."

"Yeah." Ares said, pulling the towel from Krys' hair, before he started to run his hand over her curls. "I heard that you cut your hair."

"No. _Emily_ cut my hair."

"How short? Shame or GI Jane?"

"Little shorter than Jada, longer than Demi."

"Wow… she said it looked good." Ares said, slowly twirling a lock of her hair between his fingers.

"It wasn't my style. You have to be an amazingly confident woman to pull off the no hair look. And it was more trouble than it was worth. With the hair came the skinny jeans- I'm not the type."

"You can pull it off." Ares said, fingering a curl that fell over her eye.

"I don't think so." Krys said. "I mean, I'm more of a slacks type girl. You know, nice slacky pants, maybe cargos- all that shit. Skinny pants aren't really my style."

"But you have them." Krys tilted her head back and looked up at him. They were in a suggestive position. Not suggestive actually, so much as… sweet. There they were, curled into one another, with Ares helping her dry her hair. And you have to wonder how the hell they ended up like that. But, yeah, Krys tilted her head back to look at him, making Ares shake his head and laugh.

"Okay. Yes, it's true. I have them. Just like I own a pink lacy thong and a matching wonder bra. It doesn't mean that I wear them." Krys said, making Ares' eyebrows shoot up for a minute before they both held the others gaze. And after a minute of serious gazing, they both knew that it was getting too serious, so Krys thought it would be funny to pucker her lips and scrunch her eyes closed. Hmm… good move or bad move for Krys when Ares briefly kissed her duck-like puckered lips? And while he'd only done it briefly, it lingered and it tingled. And when Ares pulled back completely, his eyelids were low, and he looked dazed. Four minutes, they were there for four minutes before Krys got up and sat at her desk.

"I'm not a great auror, Krys." Ares said, standing up. What does that mean really? I mean, she knew he was good, because in order to be in Moody's program, you have to know someone or you had to be really very good. And, yes, Ares' mom was someone to know, and she knew a load of people that would do anything for her, but… that's not Jules. She would never do that. Help him, yes. Do it for him, no. Ares did it all on his own, and he graduated on his own too. And even more, no matter what they tell you in school, in order to be an auror, you need more than a vast amount knowledge in the defense against the dark arts, and offensive manner. Okay, off topic, I know, but what did that really mean? Well, obviously, Krys knew what it meant.

"Of course you are." She said, pulling out files from a file cabinet. Then she turned to look at him. "You're a great auror. A great auror who I'm leaving my children with tomorrow." Ares looked at Mark and nodded.

"Okay." He said. "Where are you going?"

"Truthfully? Nowhere. But, I don't want them here anymore. I… have a lot of shit to do, and I don't like neglecting him and having him alone at the same time."

"Yes, because if you're going to neglect him, make sure that you pass him on to someone to pay attention to him. That's the way to go." Ares teased, making Krys smile and nod.

"Exactly." She said, before she sat at her desk again. The moment shared between them was _electrical_, if you will. Krys looked at him and raised her eyebrows in a 'can't believe that' manner, and Ares gave her one of his coy smiles. "So, what's going on with your wedding plans so far?" And that was like a snap to reality pushed forth by Krys. He was getting married to a wonderful woman. And as soon as she snapped him into that reality, she pulled him back out into their world. "Where do you live?"

"Huh?" Ares asked, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes scrunched up.

"Where do you live?" Krys asked. "I mean, you told me that you're moving in with Emily. And so, you have to live somewhere other than that. Where?"

"Nowhere really." Ares said, making Krys look at him.

"What happened? Why not?"

"Well, I mean- I was living with Jason. And Harry and Ron lived together. Then I started staying with Emily on weekends, and A.J started staying over, so I left. And I never officially moved my stuff out. So, I really don't live anywhere."

"That's not smart, Ares." Krys said teasingly.

"Well, why not?" he asked, sitting at her desk.

"Well, when you get into fights, she always has the option of kicking you out. And where the hell are you going to stay now that you and your mom are on the rocks. And by the way, about that- you should suck it up and be a fucking man." Wow… that was weird. She slowly fazed from sweet and playful to… not so sweet and not so playful.

"What did I do?"

"Ares, come on." Krys said, looking up at him. "Your mom hasn't been on a date since your dad left."

"How do you know that?"

"She talks to me."

"Well- what does she need to date for?"

"The same reason that you need to date. Even more so now, because her son loves another woman more than he loves her. Ares, you're getting married. Your mom is happy for you, and she loves you. And again, she hasn't been with anyone since your father left."

"Well, why does he have to be so young?"

"'Cause he's sizzling, and older men are sometimes intimidated when their woman makes more than them. But, that's beside the point, Ares. It's not about him. It's not even about you. It's about your mother who worked and went to sleep everyday before Brian came into the picture."

"But he's 25!" Ares shouted, before he covered his mouth and his eyes. "And she's not."

"So what?"

"She's my mommy." Ares said, before he looked back at her. "My mother and a 25 year old guy."

"Ares, you are saying the same thing over and over again."

"He's my age."

"No, he's not. He is five years older than you. And obviously more mature than you."

"No. Not fair. That's not your mother."

"Way to go, Jules, for snagging a sexy ass auror."

"He's an auror?"

"Yeah. He's in Class 1."

"Krys, try to understand this." Ares started. "She is my mommy, and she is dating a man that she could have had."

"Babe, she has him." Ares' face scrunched up and he shook his head.

"No. Ew." He whined, before he continued his previous thought. "I mean, she's old enough to be his mother."

"So what? She doesn't look it. Ares- come on. Just… how happy does she look now? How many years have been shaved off her face?"

"She obviously looked young enough already." Ares said, rubbing his temples as he lied down on Krys' couch.

"Ares, do you want your mother to be happy?" Krys asked.

"Yes, bu-"

"No. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Do you want her to be happy? Yes or no?" Ares looked up at her and nodded.

"Of course I do." He said dully.

"Well then. She's happy with Brian just like you're happy with Emily. And like you said earlier, she wasn't looking for it. It found her." Krys said, before she sat down next to him on the couch. "Come on, Ares. Now she has something other than her work to keep her happy."

"That's the problem." Ares said. "Do A.J and I not keep her happy?"

"Um… well, duh." Krys said, kicking back and placing her feet on the coffee table. "But, for the longest, you and A.J have had your own lives. I mean, before this, you hadn't visited your mom in over a year. What was she supposed to do other than that?" Ares groaned and laid his head back. "But- no, no, no- don't be _ugh_ about it, okay? I mean, of course, _she's Jules_, she understands, Ares. She knows what it's like, but she needs someone too. She wants a life too. And after 18 years of being hit on and asked out and semi-courted, she finally chose someone that she loves. Someone that she thinks is worth it."

"Love?" Ares said, popping his head up and looking at Krys. "What the hell do you mean by love?"

"I just meant love in a general meaning of the word. You know, like love life?" Boy was she lying, because if Krys knew what love was, and she believed that she did, what Brian felt was love. And Julia Delgado was less than a millisecond away.

"Oh."

"So when are you going to talk to her? When are you going to call your mommy?"

"I'm… I don't know." Ares said, laying his head down on the couch arm.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know. I don't… I… don't know."

"Well, it's already been a month added to the two years. You might want to get your priorities in order."

"What about you and Hermione?"

"What about us?"

"When are you going to fix that?"

"I already did. We agreed that we wouldn't talk anymore, but she can still act as Marcus's godmother. I won't bring my personal life into my child's or my job. I mean, Ares… come on. This is your _mom_. She has always been understandi-"

"Really? Has she?" Ares asked in that 'you sure?' way. Krys nodded. "What are you willing to bet for it?"

"I don't know. What do you want?"

"Um… breakfast."

"That's not even a real meal."

"The most important of the day." Ares said.

"Fine."

"Loser makes the winner-"

"Ares, I know that I'll lose, so just get over with it." Krys said, smiling him.

"When I introduced her to Emily and Emily's parents, she choked on a roll and asked- in front of the entire table, I may add- if I was really serious about this girl or if she was one of my drunken lays." Krys covered her mouth as she cracked up on the couch.

"Well… it's a legit question."

"Not in front of my fiancée's parents."

"Well, Ares, come on, I'm sure you've had your share of drunken girls."

"I… well, yeah. But it wasn't appropriate. And it wasn't supportive."

"Okay. So, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Turkey bacon and pancakes."

"Where?"

"My apartment. Well, my old one. I have to move my stuff out."

"When?"

"Tomorrow- well, the day after."

"Okay. 10- 11? I have a meeting at 7:30, so that's good."

"Okay."

"I love you, Ares." Krys said, making Ares smile up at her.

"Me too." He said, before he gave her a pound. "I… I love you too, Krys."

"Dude, I'm gonna get us matching rings. So that when our fists touch, they'll spark and light up. Hell yeah, that would be hot as hell." And that was the Krys way to end a conversation that was getting too serious. Entirely too serious.

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"What do you mean by; he kicked you out of the hotel room because you wouldn't have sex with him?" Harry shouted into the receiver, after he sat up in bed. Wow… that was as subtle as she'd asked him to be. Honestly.

"I mean… when I said no… he got up, left the room, came back an hour later with Skylar Jenson, and proceeded to make out with her in front of me. It was like my own personal cabaret performance."

"What a prat." Harry mused aloud, before he shook his head. "Where are you now?"

"I am now hanging out in the hotel lobby. Can you come get me?"

"Thai, why aren't you calling Krys?"

"Because, she'd kill him." Thai said, with a sigh.

"Will you stop lying to me?"

"Because…" Thai sighed again, before he heard her breathing all panicky into her Sidekick receiver. "Then she'll have been right, and I'll feel stupid… and she'll mention how stupid I've been." More flustered and constricted breathing, before he heard her plop down. "So can you come and get me?"

"Yes, I am coming. Give me ten minutes." Harry said, before he hung up. What could he do? How would he keep this from Krys? If she found out, she would kill him. Chances were that she'd already found out. She was going to kill him, he thought as he threw on his pants. She was definitely going to kill him.

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"What do you mean 'don't overreact?!" Hermione screamed at Harry, as he and Thai stood in her doorway.

"I mean don't yell, don't curse, and most of all, do not tell Krys." Harry said, attempting to keep Hermione at bay. I mean, she wouldn't tell her, would she?

"Harry, if I don't tell her, then I'm violating our professional relationship by butting into her personal life and withholding information from her. I cannot do this." Hermione said, walking over to the phone. "I have to call her." And then… the moment of truth. Hermione picked up the phone and held it to her ear, before it flew out of her hand.

"Hermione, if you tell her then she'll know that I'm not telling her."

"And… how is this _my_ problem?" Hermione asked, as she pulled her hair back and stared at him. How was it her problem? He was lying. It was his fault and he'd done it to himself. Right?

"Okay, fine. If you want to tell her, go ahead." Harry said, making Thai stare at him as if he'd just done the most outrageous thing in the world.

"Harry, no!" Thai whined, making him hold her back.

"But, you'll have to live with knowing that you let Krys know that Thai is so afraid of her that she can't tell her when something's wrong." Harry said, feigning sorrow.

"That's not true." Thai said. "I mean… I don't wanna tell her because then she'll have been right. I mean…"

"Oh! Well, you see, Harry. That's not the reason that Thai isn't telling her." Hermione boasted. "I'm telling her."

"But Hermione, then she'll know." Harry said, in a 'do you really want this to happen voice.' Thai looked in between the two as they began to bicker, and sat down before groaning.

"Just let her tell her. In fact, you can both tell her together." She said, lying down on Hermione's couch. Well, in my opinion, if there is ever a way to get someone to ponder on doing something that you didn't want him or her to do, you should tell him or her to do it. And when she did, Hermione and Harry looked at her.

"Why?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows raised and her hands crossed over her chest. She had this 'oh really?' look on her face that probably meant that she didn't think that Thai really wanted her to tell. "You want me to tell Krys that you were kicked out of the hotel room by your boyfriend?"

"No, but that doesn't negate the fact that you probably should." Thai said, looking up a bit and shrugging her shoulders. "I mean… she'll find out eventually, when I'm not on the phone and when I'm not traipsing around talking about my wonderful eighteen year old boyfriend, now won't she? Contrary to what opinion we've concocted due to her decisions in her personal life, she isn't stupid."

"Okay. Good." Hermione said, lifting her phone to her ear, before Krys and surprise guests Angel and Jennifer popped up in Hermione's house. Hmmm… for a few moments, no one said anything. They all just looked at one another, until Krys nodded and sat down at Hermione's table, after the 'may I?' look. "Hey!" Hermione clapped her hands together like a good host and looked around. "Who's thirsty?" Harry raised his hand.

"I could go for some coffee." He said, sitting down at the table with Krys, who looked at him stonily, before she looked back at the couch. She looked as happy as he thought that she would… only, in reality, she looked a lot less happy than he thought she should. Thai was safe… that was all that should matter, right?

"Contrary to how important that is, Harry, no, it's not all that matters." Krys said, rolling her eyes, before she looked at Angel and Jennifer.

"So…" Hermione started, as she looked around at everyone. "Does anyone want cake?"

"I- I would appreciate some cake." Harry said, nodding and looking around awkwardly, as Krys glared flaming daggers at him.

"What about you, Thai?" Hermione asked, holding up her cake server and knife. "And… you guys won't believe… I have ice cream. Yeah, I do. Cookies and Cream."

"Sure." Thai said. "Why not? I can now afford to gain massive pounds- even though… I never really cared about that before. But now, I have absolutely nothing to lose… so, pile it on me, baby."

"Okay." Hermione said, nodding. "I'll just… you know, bring the whole cake out here… in case any of you want any… at all. You know, cake is… universal. Yeah…"

"Hermione, please, shut up." Harry said, shaking his head.

"I- I will just go get that cake. That's what I'll do." Hermione said, backing out of the room slowly.

"Okay… so, what brings you here, Krys?" Harry asked.

"Well… I was woken up at four o'clock in the morning, when my silent house alarm went off. And, while I was pissed at the moment, being woken up, I was saying… 'Thank God, I live near my work'. Come to find out, Angelo apparated into my front yard and used my key to get in… to find Thai. Thai, who I believed was at the hotel, celebrating her soon-to-be auror boyfriend's success in getting to N.A. excellence." Krys said, looking around and crossing her arms over her chest. "So, when I got to Angelo and found all of this out, he said that he didn't know where you were."

"I'm sorry you had to search for me." Thai said, sitting up. Krys nodded in the 'whatever' sense.

"Oh yeah, _that's_ why I'm pissed. _That_ was the most difficult part of tonight." she said sarcastically. "I _really_ had to look and find you." Then she rolled her eyes and looked at Harry. "Anyway, once I called your parents, ever-"

"You called my parents?!" Thai screamed, shooting up from her spot on the couch.

"No, but its shitty being lied to, isn't it?" Krys asked, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I had to put my work and presentation preparation on hold to come here, because- well, if anything happened to Thai… I would…"

"Aw… you'd be that heartbroken?" Harry asked.

"No. Her parents would kill me. You know what it's like giving your child to someone and not getting him or her back?" Krys looked at Angel and Jennifer. "Look… shouldn't you guys be getting back to your hotel room, or whatever?" While Jennifer looked at Angel, he looked at Thai. And more confliction in the relationship, when Jennifer said,

"Yeah, I guess we should," while Angel said, "No, its okay. We'll stay." Let's just say when you're a selfish girl; it isn't fun to know that your boyfriend would rather comfort his friend than have sex with you. That's up there on the list with him cancelling your birthday trip to the Bahamas, because his mother died.

"Oh that's okay." Thai said. "I mean, I'm not exactly a wounded woman. I was kinda the one who told him to go fuck himself… and if that didn't satisfy him, to fuck someone else. And that's when I kicked him out of the room, waited until he came back with Skylar, then left."

"So, what happened, anyway?" Hermione asked, walking out with a platter that held coffee cups, before placing it on the table, and coming back with the cake platter. Thai still hadn't said anything, as she was looking at the coffee cups and furrowing her eyebrows in a thoughtful expression. When Hermione sat down next to her, she looked up and inhaled deeply.

"Okay, so earlier when I had to get past my parents, he called me… and I said that I didn't know if I could go. To which, he responded 'too bad, I thought this would give us a chance to be alone.'" Thai laughed and her shoulders shook before she looked up at Krys. "So, I asked why we would need to be alone, and he has this confidently joking answer that I thought was just that… a joke. Whatever. In the room, he had a gift bottle of champagne from his parents, and… he wanted to toast to a special night- all that shit. Well, I didn't have any champagne, because… it's nasty and I don't like the taste. Whatever. So, I'm lying on my bed, because-" Thai stopped, and started laughing. She was having these hysterical giggles. Disturbing hysterical giggles. "When we got to the hotel, our room was for a king size bed, and I had them change it to two twins. Whatever. So, we're in the room, and I'm on my bed, and he comes over. And he starts kissing my neck and whatever. So, all of a sudden, he pulls out one of Krys and Hermione's condoms, flicks it in front of my face, and says 'put it on me.' To which, I responded, 'wow… you really believe in safety, don't you? But I will say, _you_ wearing a condom to fuck yourself does seem to be going a bit far.' So, he started laughing and asking why I was teasing him. I laughed, pushed him off, and let him know that I wasn't teasing. Then he said some bullshit about how he could find it somewhere else… yadda, yadda, yadda. So, all of a sudden, he leans in to kiss me again and… so…" Thai trailed off, with her eyes darkening.

"So… what?" Hermione asked, looking at Thai.

"He didn't get what he wanted, but he did try to take it." Thai said, looking down at her fingers.

"Um…" Hermione started, before she ran her hand through her own hair. "How did you…?"

"Things my godmother taught me." Thai said, with a laugh and sigh. "That… and… after I stabbed him with my shoe a few times … he just hung from the ceiling for a while. Oh… and the stun gun."

"Ah." Krys said, standing up and nodding. "Best investment for a sixteenth birthday gift I've ever made. I'll be back."

"You know what?" Harry said, standing up. "I'm coming with." Krys looked at him for a minute, before she nodded and they walked out together. Once they left, Angel sat down next to Thai and looked at her, making Hermione look at them and sigh.

"Okay." Hermione said, picking up the cake. "This calls for a serious breakup party."

"A what?" Jennifer asked, sitting at one of the chairs and crossing her legs.

"Well, whenever Gem and Nic would break up with a guy, Gem, Nic, Krys and I would sit around the table eating and coming up with reasons that we didn't need men and talking about our bad breakups." Hermione said, nodding and cutting into the chocolate cake. Playing with her fork and savoring a bite, she looked at Thai and nodded. "It's proven highly affective. Now, Gem is with a man that she's cheating on, and she knows that he's cheating on her… and they know that they're cheating on one another. And they're both very happy with that. Nic is in a shitty relationship with a man that she believes loves her, but refuses to commit."

"How exactly has that proven affective?" Angel asked, looking up from his cake.

"Well, before the breakup talks, they wouldn't've been able to identify the flaws in their relationships. Now they know that they're dysfunctional and screwed up." Hermione said, nodding happily and making Thai laugh.

"Well… it couldn't hurt really, could it?" Thai asked.

"Well… truthfully, it can." Hermione said, nodding. "See, because most people believe that their lives are okay, and ignorance is bliss. Nobody wants to know that they're screwed in the love department. However hearing that others are as miserable and screwed up is equally as satisfying."

"I can believe that." Jennifer said. "I'm in."

"Well, we can't do it tonight." Hermione said, making them all look at her questioningly.

"Why not?"

"Because, we need girls that are more screwed up that we are. Plus… you need girls that have dated numerous guys. You need Gem, Nic, Emily, Kay, Ginny and A.J. I'll call them and set a date when we can all meet. We'll make a big thing of it- big sleepover. And then… we can watch the greatest love story ever told." Angel just looked around. Is this what girls did in their free time? Sadly, he found it fairly interesting.

"And what's that?" he asked, the question of what the greatest love story ever told irking him and eating at him. That question made Hermione, Thai, and even Jennifer stare at him in disbelief. "What?"

"Have you never heard of Sweet November?" Hermione said, in the 'well, duh' voice.

"No." Thai said. "It's A Walk to Remember."

"You guys are so wrong. It's The Notebook."

"What are those? What- I've never seen those damn movies." Angel said, looking at them like they were crazy.

"Well, you're missing out on something, then." Hermione said, pulling her remote out and popping Sweet November into her DVD player.

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"Welcome to the Golden Galleons Hotel, can I help you?" the lady behind the desk said, with a flip of her hair and a smile in Harry's direction. Krys looked at her nametag and shook her head. Why did she have to be named Marigold?

"Yeah, okay." Krys said. "Can we have a room?"

"Well, we don't usually let people have rooms without reservations."

"Yeah, okay. Room. Now." Krys said impatiently, banging her fist twice at the desk. Harry looked at her and smiled at Marigold.

"We have a reservation." he said.

"We have a reservation for a penthouse room under the name of Potter." Krys said.

"Oh… is it one of the honeymoon suites?" Marigold asked, looking through her scroll.

"No." Harry and Krys said in their 'no way' voices.

"Well, all of the penthouses that have been booked are either honeymoon suites or have king size beds." Marigold said, looking at the two in confusion. "So…"

"I meant no, as in… our penthouse room will be so much more than just a honeymoon suite. It'll be a… _love nest_." Krys said, hesitating to slide her hand around Harry's waist.

"Yeah. What she said." Harry added, resting his chin atop Krys' head.

"Aw." Marigold said smiling. "Okay… well, it looks like your reservation was lost. I'm afraid that we don't have anything in the penthouse. Um… do you think that you can take a room with a king sized bed instead?" Krys looked up at Harry.

"Well… puppy, is that okay?" Harry asked, looking down at Krys, making her smile and look up.

"Aw, Prongs, you're making me blush." She quipped, before looking at Marigold and smiling.

"Has anyone told you two that you're adorable?" Marigold asked. Wow… she had a bad picture of love when she was younger.

"Actually, no, I haven't heard that. But I won't get tired of hearing it. You've given me a big head." Krys said, smiling at Marigold some more. And as if the smiling at Marigold wasn't enough, Krys looked up at Harry and gave him that ultra beautiful, ultra fake smile of hers.

"Oh- well, I have a room here for you. And now, all I'll need is your key." Marigold said, beaming at them herself, like a hundred watt bulb. Harry nodded and handed her his key, before moving away from Krys a bit. As she processed his key, and clicked it into the compact, Marigold stared at the two. As she handed Harry his key, she slipped a receipt in his hand and winked, before she turned away. When Harry looked at the paper, he stopped and covered his mouth, attempting to hold his chuckles.

"What?" Krys asked him. "What is it?" Slyly, Harry slipped her the receipt.

"Here."

"What kind of shit is this?" Krys asked, looking at the empty paper that only had Marigold's name and owling address in a red heart. What kind of home wrecking hussy was she? "Oh my god, you looked too disconnected. You didn't stare at me lovingly enough, doofus. You suck."

"Maybe you were unconvincing. You're not as good as you think, you know." Harry said, moving away from Krys and walking into the elevator.

"Damn right I'm not good. I am great." Krys said, kicking Harry on the ass, before she pressed the 5th floor button.

"You know, we probably shouldn't be turning on one another. It could just be that she's a whore."

"That is true." The rest of the two minute ride up in the elevator was quiet, because… what was there to say? Talking about what they were about to do wouldn't do anything but make them not want to do it… and they damn sure wanted to do it. Looking at one another would just serve as a way to see one another, and they've seen enough of one another. And talking to one another about random things would just make them both realize that some awful things could have really happened that night, and that chances are that even more awful things were to come. So, standing side by side one another was enough for them. They were good like that. Standing side by side one another was enough, and it was a great way to accept what they were about to do, and the risk they were about to take for a girl that really did belong to their little family. When they walked out of the elevator, Krys was the first one to walk out, and when she did, she walked out without a bit of espionage catwalk in her step. She walked casually, and strut across the hall as if she was just getting from one place to the next. This is all that she could think without feeling the least bit guilty of what she was planning to do. And even as she walked to this room with a strut, she still felt the least bit bad that this was what it had to come to.

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Hermione spent another grueling day in the office, seeing patients for seven blocks consecutively. Well, if ever there was a time for you to climb the professional ladder, it was during the time when your personal life was sinking below the gutters. Although sitting at your desk, thinking about what a loser you are isn't the way to go when you remember that your boyfriend dumped you because he was in love with your best friend, and your new love interest is schtupping a pretty, little, blonde _foxy_ thing with longs legs and a perky d cup- as if that wasn't an oxymoron. Huh- how do you escape from that reality other than a nap? But, as if her life wasn't punishment enough, when she was about to take her time to nap and fly off to sleepy land- BUZZ! shouted right in her goddamn ear, making Hermione hit the intercom and shut it up then lie her head back down on the table.

"Hermione!" Justine shouted into the intercom, making Hermione's head fly off her desk again.

"Yes, Justine?" she asked in her gritted teeth voice.

"You have a meeting in the conference room on the top floor."

"Thank you, Justine." Hermione said, standing up and fixing her jacket. As she walked out of her office door, she couldn't help but wonder what effing meeting she was on the way to, because she damn well didn't remember. And then… in the conference room, she remembered perfectly well. This was a mandatory meeting for her. When she walked in and saw Krys, she immediately, without thinking sat down next to her, making Krys slide a folder in front of her.

"We're screwed." She said, making Hermione look up at her.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"We've reached capacity." Krys said, opening the folder to show Hermione the breakdown of the numbers. "The ministry just found a 12 year old runaway that's family died 2 years ago. No orphanage can house her. She's never been to school, and you'll love this one… she's been on the road for two years." Hermione looked up at her questioningly.

"What about us?" she asked.

"We have reached capacity. We don't have enough weather or ice witches to house more fire witches. And since they regulate one another, we can't very well mess with the balance. And, there's no alternative, because we've reached our capacity of fire sealed isolation dorms."

"I thought this meeting was about Adrianne."

"It is." Krys said, nodding. "I don't want her to go."

"Well… neither do I, but a family wants her."

"No. She's not leaving."

"Well, I don't know how you intend to pull this one off, but-"

"No, there is no 'but'. I fully intend to pull it off. I already have it held off for a month."

"What? You intend for her to live in the orphanage forever."

"No. I just don't want her in that family."

"You've never objected when the other children got adopted."

"No. They're different."

"What's so-?"

"Excuse me, Madam Granger and Madam Rodriguez, but we are not here on a social call." Mr. Rothman said, as he stood in front of them

"Oh- we're well aware." Krys said, rolling her eyes. "And to spare us all the speech about how we're only the talent and you're the business mind, I think we should move on and speak about what we're here to speak about. Or… is that a problem?" Rothman cleared his throat and waved his wand, making the room go dark and the smart board pop up. And… as elementary as it sounds, there was a t-chart with the names Adrianne Vega and Carina Castro. Then he gestured the board to Krys, before he sat down in his head chair. "To start off, does everyone have their handout?" After it was clearly affirmed that everyone had a handout, then came the evil looks and bitches. Marcia Johnson, that bitch, with her evil straight eyebrows, raised her hand. "Yes?"

"I thought that we resolved this when Adrianne Vega got a family assigned." She said, raising her eyebrows.

"I don't want her to go." Krys said simply, causing a few to laugh.

"Well, I believe that your personal feelings in the matter are irrelevant."

"This is not a personal feeling. It is my professional opinion that Adrianne not be released from the care of the orphanage."

"And why would that be, Madam?"

"I believe that it would be irresponsible of us to release her into the care of just anyone just to make more room for someone else that will only need the room for a month or two out of the year. This, versus Adrianne Vega, who is a selective mute that only responds to a select amount of people, in my eyes is no contest."

"And you just happen to be one of those people, don't you?" Krys looked at her questioningly. "You're one of the only people that she speaks to?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, if you just happen to be one of those people, then I believe that your interest in this case is much more than professional, no matter what your claim."

"And what exactly is it that I've claimed? I've never claimed to be strictly professional in this matter. But that doesn't negate the fact that the opinion that I just so happen to be sharing with you at this moment is that of my professional opinion."

"Then, in order to house Adrianne Vega, we're supposed to turn Carina Castro out to the street?"

"I never said that." Krys said, shaking her head and waving her wand. When she did, another chart popped up. "Having met Carina Castro, I believe that she would fit in famously. Moreover, I have no doubts that she would warm to our staff. I mean a spunky, bilingual, fire-witch gymnast that has been dexterous and clever enough to live on the run and support herself would go with our selection famously. However, we have two problems. We don't have the space- well, we've occupied our set fire-sealed space, and we do not have a regulator. In order to get a permit to magically add another few places for a fire witch or wizard, we must have an ice or weather wizard or witch to regulate, and visa versa." Krys looked back to her audience, and smiled before she waved her wand again. A picture of a small boy popped up on the smart board. "Here's our regulator."

"And who is this?" Mr. Rothman asked, looking around.

"This is Luis Vicente." Krys said.

"And why don't we have him?"

"Okay. Here's the thing." Krys looked around and smiled. "He's in Europe. Cantabria, Spain."

"Then we have no access to him. No rights."

"We can if we get the say-so from the head of International Affairs." Krys said, nodding her head.

"But you have to go through the ministry for that. We have neither the time nor the reason. And that is far too great a case wasted on two young children."

"You don't have the time, because your priority is your paycheck. You don't have the reason because you're not the little girl that needs a home. And I don't mean a house or a place to live. I mean a _home_." Krys said, sitting in the head chair. "Like I was saying, I can have a meeting set with International Affairs, trying for the permit to take Luis out of the legal bounds of Europe and bring him into Puerto Rico."

"And _why_ would we do that?" Marcia Johnson asked, her hands folded under her chin. She thought that she would win, didn't she? Oh my, oh so wrong.

"We will do this, because the reason that we have an orphanage in the first place is because we want to get children off of the streets and into a safe and loving environment. On top of that, he speaks no English, and we are the only Spanish-speaking orphanage that has a regulator set up for him." Krys said with a superior smile. Now, the taker and the keeper. Krys stood up and walked around the conference room, with the classic executive stance. The walking, the hands behind the back, the claps, and the pauses. "And we'll do this because the costs of this will be far less than opening another orphanage. Which is what I fully intend to do, if this isn't passed. And in order to get my new orphanage up and running, I will spend double the money to have it built, and Luis Vicente will be one of my regulators. So, we can spend a couple of hundred on building new rooms, or we can spend a couple of hundred thousand on building a new orphanage. And I don't believe that it's the money that threatens my board… I believe that it would have something to do with a new board being hired, so as to you all splitting your power amongst people all of _my_ choosing. And I do have new applications for your jobs everyday. And I am not held to contract on giving equal power amongst the boards, if I so choose to do this." Krys looked around, before walking to the head of the conference table and sitting down in the head chair. "So, what do we all say?" Annabel, one of Krys and Hermione's newer friends, was also on the board. She smiled at Krys and gave her a discreet thumb up.

"Well, Marcia, I believe that if Madam Rodriguez can get a meeting set up between she and the head of International Affairs and get this approved, we should keep Adrianne Vega, admit Carina Castro, and bring in Luis Vicente. After all, our sole purpose and main priority is to get the children into the families that will cater to their best interests. We are the family that caters to Adrianne Vega's best interest."

"House or discard?" Krys asked. "You all know my vote." Looking around, Krys stared each person in the face before sitting down. Hermione looked at her and raised her hand discreetly. "All in favor of housing, say I."

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"What are you going to do now?" Hermione asked, as she and Krys walked down the stairs to their offices. No thinking, and no hesitation, they both walked into Krys' office and looked at the empty beds. "Is Harry still watching them?" Krys nodded.

"Yeah. I have to go. I'm having _breakfast_ with Ar- aren't you going to sit down?" she asked, dodging the name and taking off her coat and stethoscope. Hermione looked at her and nodded.

"I have a question." She said, with constricted breathing and a bit of nervous twitching. "Can I ask you a question?" Reluctantly, Krys sat on top of her desk and crossed her legs. She really didn't want to know what could make Hermione so twitchy. She really didn't wanna know. "Did he really come around when I was in classes? I mean, did you know that he wanted you in the beginning?" Heavy. "Did you know that he was falling in love with you? I mean, if you say that you didn't, then I have to believe you, but if you did, then can we really patch this up?" Heavier. With a groan, Krys ran her hand through her hair and felt a heavy, cold, anvil of dread clump down in her stomach. She should lie. Lying would be better for the both of them. But she didn't. She told the truth. Great, Krys, tell the truth when it's stupid to do so.

"I didn't know." She said shaking her head. "In all honesty, I just thought that he was a flirt. And when I found out that he was quote end quote 'in love with me' I was in too much of a shock, too ignored, and too annoyed to do anything about it." More cold dread. "After he kissed me, I just thought it was like a sudden moment of regret thing- and that he'd moved on by the second date." Inhaling deeply to spill out more truth, Krys almost choked on it. The truth, that is. "He did always come around when you had classes. And he told me that he would do whatever until he had me." Hermione nodded and looked around the room. In that moment, Krys could understand her hating her. If Ares had fallen in love with Hermione, all the while Krys was falling in love with him, Krys would have flayed them both… with no mercy. But, Allen wasn't to Hermione as Ares was to Krys. Allen was to Hermione as… Seamus was to Krys, and even that is a stretch.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked. When Krys 'came to', Hermione was looking around uncomfortably, afraid of what she might hear. And she should be. She should have been. What Krys was thinking of was… Ares and Krys being together, Ron and Hermione being together… a perfect world. But… a world where Hermione was with Ron and Krys was with Ares was… an alternate universe or something. Looking up at her, Krys pulled her hair back from her face and smiled.

"That when I first met you, I thought that I could kick the prissy bitch out of you. Turns out… I couldn't." she said, before she hopped off her desk and walked behind her screen to change. "Well, I was actually thinking that I could kick the prissy bitch out of you, if I did it hard enough. But then I thought about how the last time I told you that, we took Thai to Culebra Island, and you danced with a beautiful Puerto Rican man on the beach all night." On the couch, Hermione smiled and nodded. That was a great day, too. 'That was a good day,' Hermione thought as she nodded in that Kool Aid man 'oh yeah' way.

"I would've married him too, if he could've spoken English." She said. That man was gorgeous, and it was true, Hermione did dance with him all night on the beach. The next morning though, she realized that the only word that he knew was dance, and she really didn't feel like having Thai translate for her for their entire lives. When Krys stepped from behind the screen, Hermione almost laughed, making Krys' eyes widen.

"Oh- that bad, huh?" she asked nervously. "I have nothing else here, and I had blood on uniform from the surgery this morning." Krys was wearing a slinky white halter-top under a nice black crocheted poncho. On her bottom was a white calve length pleated skirt, before her black open toed stiletto heels.

"No, it's really nice. That's why I laughed… the last thing that nice that I saw you wear was… your ball gown." Then she squinted… huh-. "What happened to your hair?" Krys' hair was no longer in their bouncy spiral coils. It was more… long and wavy coils that would most likely be considered straight. I mean, it wasn't as if her hair was never straight, but it was… different. Like she was trying to impress someone. "Okay, we don't have to be friends, but where are you going?" Curse her… she knew.

"I'm going to have breakfast, and this is all I have here." Krys said, with a face straighter than spaghetti. Straight face and cool demeanor, Hermione knew that she was lying. Not that she wasn't good at it, that was. Hermione just knew her too well. All those years of friendship down the drain, and Krys gained someone that knew her too damn well. Hermione must be stopped.

"Liar. Who are you going to see?" This time, Hermione sounded too certain. She definitely knew that something scandalous was up, no matter how blind she was to the details. This resulted in a stare off. Hermione stared at Krys, and Krys didn't look down. "Who are you going to see? Come on. Tell me." Hermione whined. Krys shook her head and laughed.

"I'm not going to see anyone, Hermione. I'm serious." She said. "Okay, I'm lying. I'm going to see someone, but not the way you think. You think its something or someone special. I'm not going to see anyone special."

"Okay, stop lying to me. Again, stop lying to me. Once more, stop lying to me."

"No one special. I'm just going to breakfast." Krys ran her hand through her hair and

"Who are you going to see, Krys?" Hermione asked even more forcefully. Finally, Krys ran her hands through her hair, grabbing it almost disturbingly, then plopped down in the chair behind her desk. Groaning as she banged her head on her desk, Krys mumbled his name. "Who?" Krys brought her head up and attempted to pick her pride up along with it.

"Ares." She said, brushing her hair with her fingers.

"Krys, come on, you're not going down this road again, are you?" Hermione asked. "Do you not remember what happened when you went to tell him about being pregnant? Don't you remember the woman that walked out of the place? Gabrielle _something_. And it took you so long to get over him the first time." Krys laid her head on her desk again and mumble/shouted- attempted to shout something. "What?" Again, Krys got up off of her desk.

"It took longer than you think, Hermione. I'm _not_ over him." Hermione looked at her and shook her head in shame.

"Poor you." She said. "Darling, in case you haven't noticed, he's getting married. And she's your friend. Your new friend Emily. You know, Emily, who has asked you to replace Kay as her maid of honor. That's not something that you mess with, Krys. She asked you to be her _maid of honor_." And there it was again.

"Oh God, Hermione. I know… I know." Krys whined. "I'm so pathetic. I'm a pathetic girl. I put on this damn outfit, and I loosened my curls with a lot of hard magic… and I'm wearing this stupid Fendi poncho shawl-y thing. And I'm going to cook him breakfast- Jesus Christ!" And that's when she knocked a lamp off of her desk and started to bang her head on her desk. "I'm so stupid, stupid, stupid." Then came the whining and the whimpering, like a puppy. "Now I'm gonna spend the next year and a half listening to Wild Horses and I Will Remember You, while crying and boozing." Hermione sat at the couch and looked at the poor stupid girl and realized something very devastating. She was a stupid girl too. She was no different from Krys. The only difference was that Krys had gotten a lot farther than she had.

"No… you're not stupid. I'm stupid." She said, making Krys look up as if to say 'oh really? How?' "Well, we're both stupid. I'm not over Ron."

"You weren't even under him." Krys said. This isn't to say that Hermione and Ron didn't have anything, because they had love. But, while Hermione and Ron had love, they didn't have a love that was really followed through on. Krys and Ares had… first times. A lot of first times. First kisses. First loves. First… children, if you can call him that- it's not like he's getting protected by Sinbad, I know. But, they had firsts. Then again, maybe it could've hurt worse because they didn't have anything. Maybe the thought that they never will, can lead to more heartbreak than Krys' having loved and lost feeling. So, maybe Krys should take that back. "Oh- I'm-"

"Yeah, well, do not be mad at me because you were on top of, underneath, and side by side with Ares. Not my fault he's moved on. It's your fault that he's moved on." Okay, true.

"Oh, you're begging me to beat the prissy bitch out of you, huh!?"

"And you're begging to lose another friend!" Krys stood up and pulled her hair back into a ponytail before she started to do some really deep yoga breathing. "Do you really want to prove that every friend's boyfriend that Krys sees turns to _hers_?" Oh God- that's what they all thought of her? That's what Hermione thought of her. Oy. But was it true? Did Krys steal people's boyfriends? Well, she must have said it out loud, because Hermione nodded, then shook her head with more indecision than Krys used denying the question to herself. "Well, you- Krys… I don't think that you mean to, but… you do."

"Ooh… not good." Krys whined, running her hand through her hair once again. This wasn't a fun realization on her part. She had enough trouble dealing with the fact that Ares was going to spend the rest of his life with Emily, while her son visited their happy home and called Emily 'mom'. This was just another coating of nail polish was what this was. It was a serious blow to her ego… not that it really should be. If anything, it should have inflated her ego. I mean, she could steal boyfriends with her womanly charms and no other real work on her part… but… it just made her feel like throwing up anything that she'd ever eaten, if that's not too graphic. It made her feel as if she herself couldn't trust… herself. Because, she didn't know that she'd ever done it… so, it must have been something poisonous that she couldn't control in herself, like anger, rage, and… blind… anger and rage. So, all the while she thought that it was a problem that she had that she could control… a problem that she herself let herself have; it was a weakness… something that she couldn't control. But then…

"Krys, it isn't just you, you know." Hermione said. She looked like she'd been thinking as hard as Krys had. "The men are not without fault here, you know. They should know better. They're the ones that were involved in the relationship, and if they couldn't resist… whatever temptation you threw there way then they weren't completely honest with themselves about the relationship… and neither were their girlfriends." Krys stood up and inhaled deeply before she nodded. "Because, they had to have seen some change in behavior, and the way they act around the temptation. More in love than they act around their girlfriends. Actually, just… in love. So… blame the men, because I don't really believe that the…"

"Temptress?" Krys offered, making Hermione laugh and nod uncomfortably.

"…Temptress sought these guys out so much as they sniffed her out."

"Some truth, I'll admit. But certain temptresses may have gained a bit of lost confidence… or nonexistent confidence may have begun to exist once a certain galleonaire called her sexily adorable after breaking their date to date who he referred to as her more attractive and thinner bestest friend. And… her having been compared to her friend in that light may have been what made that confidence exist. Even if she never thought it would have gone that far." For a minute Hermione nodded. She looked… saddened. As if, Krys had really betrayed her. Then something happened. She wiped her face with her hand and bit her bottom lip.

"And certain bestest friends shouldn't have accepted the date…… when they knew that he asked you out, and broke the date, and commented on your pregnancy weight. Certain bestest friends did it because she thought that it…" Hermione inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She was ashamed… and Krys didn't wanna know. She really didn't wanna her it. But… not because she was mad… but because she was ashamed too. She was a bad friend. And this was pushed even farther when Hermione held her head in her hands. "That it made her as good. As smart, as witty, as pretty. Or even the impossible…" Hermione looked up. "Prettier." Oh no… I was way wrong. _This_ was closure. But… it was also an opening. To their newer… way weakened… semi, could be, probably friendship.


	66. Note to Readers

I have not abandoned my story. I'm actually working on a chapter right now. Its just been a bit more difficult for me to update.


	67. This is What We Need

When you're a woman with a child, it is so difficult to leave them with a woman that you don't know. In all honesty, Krys had no problem getting someone to watch Marcus, but she didn't want to depend on anyone else. And in this case, it would be this person's job. Krys was hiring… a nanny. I know, I know. How impersonal and socialite was that? Well, she'd had a nanny, and she loved that woman. Maybe that would happen for Marcus too. So… you can only guess what they did the entire morning. Krys and Marcus spent the morning interviewing nannies.

"So… your résumé says that you've worked as an au pair in Paris." Krys said, holding Marcus in her lap. And that was the general statement that was repeated like… fucking 30 times. Even worse was that each girl nodded with that 'yes, _ma'am_, I did'. Ma'am- bitch, I'm younger than you!!! But that wasn't the issue. The issue was that none of them had the spunky girl attitude that Krys wanted. But, of course, it was not up to her. So… she and Marcus needed a signal. When he shook his head obviously, and squealed out a cute little yawn- she knew that that was an absolute no. And they didn't even get a chance to discover a signal for yes, because… he hated them all. So, after the 30 crap interviewees were out of her house, Krys looked at her baby and smiled. "Who is going to watch my precious gem?" For a moment there, Mark just stared at her and shrugged. "You want to stay with A.J?"

"No." Mark said, shaking his head.

"Ginny?" Mark shook his head.

"No, mommy."

"Jason?"

"No."

"Who do you want to stay with?" Mark looked down and shook his head, embarrassed, as could be seen by the way he played with his hands and the blush on his cheeks.

"Nobody." he said, shaking his head.

"Sweet pea, who?" Krys coaxed. "Come on, tell me." And finally, she knew that she'd gotten him. He was about to tell her. "Who do you want to stay with, Marcus?" Mark looked up at Krys… the same way that Ares does, before smiling cutely. He blinked his perfect green-hazel and slate blue eyes before he said what every woman wants to hear.

"I wanna be with you."

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She'd missed this. What the hell was so important in her life that she only really had her son in _her_ free time? Nothing…no one. So, as they lay in bed, with him attempting to read her If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Krys realized that she needed no one else. No one. Marcus was what was missing from her life.

So, after her sweet pea told her an hour long story from a book with like… 10 pages, he was in mega nap mode. And truth be told, so was she. So, they napped, curled into one another, his arms around her, as they huddled beneath the quilt. And it was sheer perfection. And when he woke up, he gently tugged on her hair, making her stir and look at him.

"Yes?" she asked teasingly, making him smile with the five teeth that he had.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." He said, rubbing his belly in a circular motion.

"Otay, we're gonna go eat some turkey." Krys said, making Mark nod vigorously as she swept him up in her arms and traveled downstairs, where apparently, a party was going on in her house.

There Harry was, with Ginny, Jason and A.J, with the smoked turkey legs already cut up for Mark and Krys.

"I'm amazing, I know." Harry said, as he tossed Mark up in the air, making the baby squeal preciously. "So, how did the n-a-n-n-y hunt go?"

"It didn't. Mr. Picky over here didn't like anyone." Krys said, making Mark pout at her. "But, he doesn't need a nanny. I think I'm gonna take some time off after this Adrianne thing. I mean, the Soya and Krystellis thing went well, now Krystellis is off the respirator and in the orphanage…she's happy, and we already have parents lined up. People that I picked, so…its good. And…after the Adrianne thing, I can just go in on special calls instead of spending so much time there, that way, I'll have more time for him." Harry looked at her, then at Mark, who was looking around with the rest of them.

"How much time off?" A.J asked, making them all look at her. Yeah…how much time off. I mean, on average, Krys saved about 9 aurors on a _slow_ day. "Because truth be told, your hospital can't afford that with your new contract." Krys raised her eyebrow. "That's not how I meant it. I just mean that…it's not like we won't take care of him for you."

"You don't even have to ask us, and we'll be here with him. He's like our village child." Harry said, making Krys laugh as she laid her head on the table.

"I know. I just feel like I've been too dependent on you guys, and that I've been neglecting him." She said.

"Krys, you're a good mother." Jason said.

"Mommy." Marcus sing songed, making Krys look at him with squinty playful eyes, as Harry handed him over to Krys.

"Yes?" she sang back, making Marcus tug on her curls. "You're still pulling hair?" Mark nodded and kissed Krys' cheek as he hugged her and bounced up and down. Okay…she believed Jason now.

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Lying around in leather chairs around Krys' indoor pool, the girls had Hagen Daaz, cake, candy, cookies, brownies, popcorn, and milkshakes galore, laughed and talked about what they needed in a man or what they had in a man that they didn't need. When Gem suggested the game, both Krys and Hermione were hesitant. It's not every day that you have to explain that you want exactly what some of your friends' boyfriends have. At least, not for Krys and Hermione. Plus, they really did not want to hear about Gem's ideal man. He would probably constitute characteristics of every serial killer wife beater that they'd ever held on World's Craziest Criminals. Not that they didn't love Gem. She was just an asshole magnet. When Emily began, Hermione looked at Krys… her poor friend. Why should she have to listen to Emily talk about what she likes in a man… especially since she wasn't describing Ares at all.

"Honestly, I need a narcissistic man with loads of testosterone and just a bit of a temper. He has to be right all of the time. He has to be the one who gets the last word. You know?" Emily said, looking at them and moving rapidly through her Hagen Daaz. Again, when Hermione looked at Krys, she saw nothing but… anger, was that? "And that's exactly what I have with Tristan now, you know?"

"Hold on, hold on." Thai interrupted… thank the deities that someone had. She was waving her spoon saying 'time out'. "How do you manage to cheat on Ares? I mean, it's Ares. Why would you even want you? Don't you just wanna be with him all the time? He's such a sweetheart."

"I don't want to. I mean, I really don't. It tears me up inside." Emily said, now looking in her Hagen Daaz carton with more concentration than eating required.

"Well if you don't want to cheat on him, why do you do it? I can't imagine doing anything that I don't wanna do." Jennifer said, looking around as if to question if she was the only one that was thinking about that. As it should be, she wasn't the only one thinking about that. If she didn't want to, then why did she? "It's a simple solution if you think about it. If you don't want to be doing something; don't, and if you do; attempt. I hate it when people say that." Well that's funny…that was the excuse she'd used with Thai when she started going out with Angel.

"Ares was a plan." Emily said, eating her ice cream and shrugging. "I've been with Tristan since I was at Beaubatons. He went to our neighboring school. We've been on and off since I was fifteen. I mean, he was the first guy I ever slept with. The first guy I ever- the one problem with our relationship is that I love Tristan. And Tristan loves…girls. And he just would not make a commitment to me. And… about a week before I met Ares, Tristan dumped me for and proposed to one of my other best friends- Christine. I found Ares, who was gorgeous, and was interested… so I started to date him in order to make Tristan jealous. I thought that it would be okay. Especially since on our first date, Ares seemed broken because of this girlfriend that he had over the summer. And when we started to get serious, Tristan started to call me. And the more serious I get with Ares, the more Tristan begins to offer. And the more Tristan begins to offer, the more I want to run away with him… like he asked me to, the more I want to accept his marriage proposal."

"Okay." Hermione said. What the hell else could she say? She didn't know what to say.

"I know… Ares is perfect. And I didn't expect to love him… but I do. And Tristan is…the one. I didn't expect to stop loving him. And I haven't."

"So when are you going to end it with Tristan?" Krys asked, studying her nails.

"Why would I do that?"

"So then you're going to dump Ares."

"And why would I do that?" ………………if it wasn't Thai's night, I am so very sure that Krys would have killed Emily right then and there. Truth be told, motherhood softened our girl. But while her mind was wind, her heart was fire. And it showed in her eyes, a blue flame that couldn't be blown out by the strongest wave from the turtle guy.

"You know what?" Thai asked, looking at Krys and hopping up. "Let's go out. This is my day, and I wanna go out. So, we should all meet back here in an hour, because we're going out."

"Whatever." Krys said, standing up and throwing her cookies and cream Hagen Daaz carton in the air, making it disappear. "I'll go get dressed."

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"Well, what are you going to do now?" Hermione asked, as she and Krys walked around the foyer. It was like a game of follow the leader. The two walked around the marble tiles in a pattern, most likely because they were bored, but to a common outsider it would seem to be something more important. Hell no, it wasn't.

"Do? What about?" Krys asked. Well, we all know that Krys no doubt knew what she was talking about. But, it is always like that girl to be damn difficult. With one penetrating look from Hermione, Krys decided to reveal a bit of the true feelings. "What can I say about it? I mean, after yesterday, Ares believes that I'm the girl that cheated on him…while we were together, of course, because he somehow found out the date of Marcus' conception. And he thinks that he went wrong somewhere in our relationship. So… I can't change it even if I try."

"Krys, you expect me to believe that you… boyfriend stealer, spent an entire day with the ex-boyfriend, who's obviously still enraptured by your charms…and nothing happened?"

"Something could've happened. But, Ares and I are too aware for anything to happen. The entire time, I was thinking about what you said, and he was probably thinking about it too, because I told him what you said. And, like I said before, he thinks that I cheated on him."

"Well…I guess in this case, you have right." Hermione said. Did she have right? No. Did she think that she did? No. She knew that she didn't have any right. It would be immoral and unethical. "I can't do that. At least, not with intent, and not with those intentions. If I went into it, planning to do it the entire time, I could never forgive myself. But whatever, Hermione. Two months ago, you wanted me to be with Lewis. Lewis, who, yesterday asked me to some ball-a-ma-thing-a-ma-bobby that's in like, a week or something. And I said yeah. So, there."

"But I thought you told me earlier that you told him about your situation."

"Yes, he knows. But we're trying to work that out and make it so that I'm no longer feeling that way. And… we probably will, after we make out at the ball. We're gonna make the feelings go away." Krys said, nodding forcefully, as if she really believed that that could and would.

"Oh- so the feelings that you've had since you were twelve are gonna go away? That should be simple." Hermione said, sarcastically. After the woman gathered, Thai requested that they walk around Beverly Hills. Whatever the hell she wanted to do that for, I don't know. So, walked they did, until they came across a courtyard and started to hang out on the stairs. Emily pulled out of her purse and proceeded to take an impressive swig. Impressive, it was until she sprayed it across the steps.

"Jesus, Emily." Krys said, backing away from the smell of Vodka. "Do you really think that this is the time to drink?"

"Well, yes." Emily said, nodding, before taking another impressive swig. Just then, a red car pulled up as quickly as lightening. So quick in fact that Krys was very sure that there was no muggle in that car. It had to be someone else. And she was even more certain when Emily hopped down the courtyard stairs and ran to the car. And as she did, the guy wound down his window, making Krys and Hermione's hearts stop beating. That could not be Tristan. Could that really be Tristan?

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"Tristan!" Emily squealed as she ran to the car. As she approached, he smirked. You could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew the hold that he had on her… and she did not care. "I thought you said that you weren't coming." As her blonde and blue fiancé #2 smiled, Emily crouched down and kissed him. When she pulled back, she licked her lips and looked around in the car. There were three other guys inside. One looked like he belonged on the same runway as Tristan, and she knew him to be one of the guys that he was always with when he attended the brother school to Beaubatons, while the other two were younger, still in school young, and kinda cute.

"Well, I'm having a little party back at my house tonight." Tristan said, in a mischievous way. He was luring the 15 year old schoolgirl in her away into his evil lair.

"Ooh- am I invited?" Emily asked, acting coy. It was almost as if she didn't think that she was his sex slave already. She believed that she was invited; otherwise he had better not be partying with anyone else. As Tristan chucked her chin, he looked behind her to the courtyard staircase and bit his bottom lip.

"Is that your friend from the dress shop? The minx-like Yankee with the filthy mouth?" he asked Emily, showing that catlike grin, making her look at him and then look at Krys with venom. "Hey, who's my tiger?"

"Me."

"Is that her?" As Emily nodded, the guy in the passenger side stared at Krys and Hermione also, as they laughed with one another. The dark haired one was magnificently and mysteriously beautiful, with eyes full of wonder and wise knowing, while the blonde haired one was full of blameless wonder and beauty, he thought.

"They're truly magnificent." Passenger guy said, turning his head to the side to study the girls. "Especially that one." Then he pointed, making Emily roll her eyes.

"Everyone thinks the Krys is magnificent. That's nothing new." She said it in a way that didn't exactly say friend or foe…more…competitor.

"Well another blonde named Christine. Did you stock up after our dog here knocked her out?"

"Nelson, be quiet." Tristan said, looking out the window and past Emily again. It seemed like they were all looking at the group of girls.

"Wait- you like the blonde? Which one?" Emily asked, looking back at the group again.

"The one that's laughing." Nelson said, still staring at Hermione and studying her as if he would be taking that one test for the rest of his life.

"Oh. Oh! Hermione- well, you're in luck, because she just broke up with her boyfriend." Emily said, smiling at Tristan and raising her eyebrows. "So, where am I going to sit if we're going to the party?"

"Wait just a minute, Emily. I promised all of my brothers here that they would all have a date to the party. You told us that you were with a group of girls." Tristan said, before he turned back around to look at the younger guys in the back. "Do you see anything that you like?"

"The redhead is hot." One said.

"No- the redhead is mine." The other one said.

"You got the hotter one last time."

"I've called the redhead."

"Boys, you will just have to learn to share." Tristan said, giving them his devilish grin. "Well, Bobcat, can you make that happen?" When Emily said yes, there was no kind of guilt or hesitation in her voice, mind, or heart. And it was at that point that she knew exactly what to do with Ares, as she was at the party. She would send Krys to him through feigning concern for his wellbeing. Oh, the plan would work. Skipping over to the girls, Emily smiled at Hermione.

"Oh- Hermione, Tristan's friend Nelson would love to meet you." She said, smiling that 100 watt façade. With one look from Krys, Hermione laughed and shook her head seriously.

"No." she said.

"Come on, Hermione… please? If you don't go to the party, then I can't."

"No, I'm not going to help you cheat on Ares. He happens to be a very good friend of mine." When Emily rolled her eyes, Hermione flipped her hair, and then she stood up, looking at Emily with stern eyebrows. "The answer is no."

"Hermione, this is not so that I can cheat on Ares. It's so that I can be with Tristan for one more night before I tell him that I love Ares." Emily lied so sincerely in fact, that Hermione softened and nodded.

"Okay." She said finally. Reluctantly following Emily up to the car, Hermione looked down at her shirt and swore at herself, cursing that she should've worn a nun's habit instead of the beaded lace halter top that she wore. When the blond walked up to her and smirked, she cursed herself.

"Hello, sweetheart. I'm Tristan." He said, holding his hand out- all smug and shit.

"And I'm trying really hard to care about that. I really am." Hermione said, turning to Emily and shaking her head. When the next one, the redhead walked up to her, she backed up a bit. Whoa…clone alert, anyone? He reminded her a bit too much of Ron. So, when he walked up to her, with a tinge of nervousness, Hermione smiled. So far, he acted a bit like Ron, too.

"Hi, I'm Nelson." He said softly, as he looked down at her. With a smile on her face, Hermione nodded.

"Hello, I'm Hermione." She said, making him step back a bit. He looked so shocked.

"You're British?" he asked. Now we know what shocked him. Did hanging out with Krys make her look any less British?"

"Yes, born in England."

"I was born in Scotland."

"Ah… well."

"So, I'm really very sorry about my friend there. You have to be a certain kind of girl to care for his charm. And usually, just not in this case, you have to be a girl that almost no other guy likes to have a real relationship." Well that sort of explained the ill feelings that she had towards Emily at the moment. What did that guy have that Ares didn't? Okay, a job. So what? Ares was going places. Then again, what did this redhead have that Ron didn't? Well…he had a single status, and a real desire to be near her.

"You really did not need to tell me that. I could see it in his ability to turn loved fiancées into cheaters." Hermione said, nodding and slipping her hands into the pockets of her light blue skinny jeans.

"So tonight we're having a bit of a party at Tristan's penthouse. I was wondering if you would mind joining me." Would she mind? Not at all. In fact, she would love to. _Would_ she?

"Oh- I can't. That would defeat tonight's purpose, and I'd feel bad about leaving the others." With a bit of a pout on his lips, Nelson nodded.

"Okay. There's just one problem with that."

"What?"

"It makes me like you more." Smiling, Hermione nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry… I just can't leave." She said, backing away with a wave.

"Hey…do you think you'd be interested in having dinner with me sometime?"

"Maybe…sometime." Hermione said, nodding and shaking her head, before walking back to Krys and the others.

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"So…what do you girls like to do?" young one #1 asked. Rolling her eyes, Thai looked at him and looked at Jennifer.

"He's talking to you." She said to her, before walking away. Jennifer smiled at the guy that was just speaking to Thai and licked her lips.

"So, what's your name?" she asked, before she led the two over to the column that Thai left them for. What the hell was she doing? She knew damn well that tonight was supposed to be about the girls, with no ties to the guys. This was Thai's night and that was the way that she wanted it.

"My name is Vaughn Taylor." The first guy said. He was cute. There was no doubt about that. He had this dark brown hair that was spiked a bit up front and a bit tamer in the back. His eyes were dark brown and mischievous, complimenting the smirk that played at his lips. His looks so were not the problem. The biggest problem that he had was that he had certain arrogance about him, an arrogance that you don't mistake for confidence. And then there was the name. The name spelled arrogance. When he picked up Thai's hand and kissed it… there was no doubt about it. She needed to get the hell away from this guy. "And what's your name, sweetheart?"

"Vaughn, I think you should leave the lady alone." Said the blond one that was standing right behind Vaughn, making it seem as if there was a line to get to Thai. This one was also just as cute. He had dark green eyes that were seriously penetrating, and he was a real blondie. If I had to choose a person that he looked like, I would say Justin Taylor QAF age 17. And that meant cute. He looked at Thai, and smiled. His smile said hidden arrogance. "Hi, I'm Zachary Michaels." Thai nodded, and raised her eyebrows at Jennifer before she started to walk away again.

"Jen, when you're done, just say the word." She said. When Thai walked off, both Zachary and Vaughn showed her the attention that she believed that she deserved. I guess when the filet mignon is finished you must settle for the filet ala McDonalds.

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"Emily," Tristan singsonged. "I don't think that you can come to the party." Then he kissed her hand. "There's a certain structure to this party. And you cannot be there if there is an off number of girls to guys."

"Tristan, you underestimate me if you believe that these are the only girlfriends that I have. I'll have a few girls at your address in an hour. Now make room for your fiancée." Tristan smiled and kissed her lips, before tapping his wand on the gearshift. In half a second, where the gearshift was, there was now an extension of the seat. "I will be back." With more of a run than any girl that was playing coy should have, Emily ran her way up the courtroom stairs, where Hermione and Krys were again laughing.

"Was that tongue action the way they say goodbye in France?" Krys asked, crossing her legs and folding her arms.

"Actually, I'm going to say bye to his parents too. I'm going to the party." Emily said, waving before she turned around and ran down the stairs. While the Ferrari sped away, Emily gave her tootles wave and winked at the girls.

"Well, it seems that we have found the man that Emily has been talking about." Krys said, folding her arms across her chest and sighing. "I can't believe _that_ Tristan." And then, Kay did something that shocked them all… she stood up and sat between Hermione and Krys.

"When are you going to tell him?" she asked. Krys and Hermione looked at her.

"When- who?" Krys asked. Kay and Hermione looked at her like she was stupid.

"When are you going to tell Ares?" Kay asked, making Krys look at her like she was crazy.

"Well, we can tell him tonigh-" Hermione started.

"No, Hermione. We're not telling Ares." Krys said, looking up at them. "Why would we? It's none of our business."

"She's engaged behind his back." Hermione said, looking down at Krys and raising her eyebrows.

"He loves her." Krys challenged.

"He loves you." Kay and Hermione said in unison, before they both looked at one another. As soon as Kay's voice was heard, Krys whipped her head around and looked at them, just as they'd looked at one another.

"What did you say?" Krys asked, with her eyes wide and a look of shock written all over her face.

"He has to. No guy does that if he doesn't still have feelings for a girl."

"Does what?"

"Almost faint when he sees her in a wedding dress. Krys, just tell him. Please, just tell him."

"She's your best friend. Why would you want to do that to her?"

"And he's yours. Why would you let her do that to him?" Kay looked Krys in the eye. "He's such a nice guy. He deserves better. He doesn't deserve a woman that makes her side boyfriend one of his groomsmen, and has a quickie with him in the bathroom when they're supposed to be trying on tuxes." Krys looked at Kay, making Kay nod. Then there was a gigantic pause, when Kay closed her eyes. "He deserves his family." Kay said, making Krys stare at the floor ahead of her. What else did Kay know?

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Do you know how quiet a mansion is when there's no staff and no one else but you? The only reason that Krys didn't echo every time that she made a step is because of the fully furnished house. But, even with the furniture there, her footsteps reverberated off the wall each time she made a step. So, you can imagine the crazy acoustics in her house when the doorbell rang. Rolling out of bed, she couldn't believe that someone was coming to visit her. All of her friends had assured her that tonight was date night, and that she was the only one without a date. Well, except Hermione, and Hermione was as lonely as Krys at the moment. Meanwhile, who the hell had date night on a Thursday night? When the doorbell rang again, the sound bounced odd the walls and hit Krys' ear making her scream "I'm coming, dammit!" Suddenly she wondered who the hell this was and why she was rushing to the door if she didn't know who the hell this was. Why didn't she think to get fully dressed before going to answer the door? Hmmm… well it wasn't too terrible what she was wearing. Girl boxers, knee highs, with a Georgetown t-shirt on… maybe she shouldn't be bothered. Opening up the door let Krys know that it was definitely someone that she wanted to see.

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"What do you want?" Krys asked, leaning against her door and pushing an Ares with Mark in his arms away a bit. Why he laughed, she had no idea. Well… maybe it was because he knew that she didn't want him to leave. By the way he smiled at her, he definitely knew. Ares and Mark together seemed so natural that Krys wholeheartedly believed that she would never have to tell either one of them where they belonged, and they would have a beautiful relationship anyway. Just the way they looked together; Mark snoring or "purring" with his head on his dad's shoulder was just adorable- and uncanny, when you saw their faces together. With one side of his mouth hitched up, Ares smiled at her, then looked at Mark.

"Your child missed you." He said, smiling.

"You know, somehow, I don't believe that at all." Krys said, with a laugh in her voice. For a minute there, Ares looked like he agreed with her, but that was before he laughed and shook his head.

"So, are you gonna make me stand here all night?" Krys sighed, and then looked around. Finally, after sighing again and rolling her eyes, she looked at him and smiled.

"Would you like to come inside?" Ares looked at her and shook his head.

"You could sound a bit more enthused, you know."

"I'm not." Krys teased, before she opened the door wider. When Ares walked in,

he looked around as if he hadn't seen the house before. Well, dammit- that kinda made her mad. Or… nervous. And then he looked at her. Jesus. "So, why are you really here?" As he looked at her, she could see that he was looking for that answer also. Why was he here? Why did she even care? He was there.

"Well, I was thinking that we could do something." Ares said, looking at her in that 'well, why not' way. In reality, could they go out together? Why would they want to? Oh, well, in case you didn't remember, Krys, you're friends.

"Why would we do something?" Krys asked, making her best friend Ares laugh. It was a nice laugh that she regretted loving. A nice laugh that was attached to a nice smile that she regretted loving.

"Why would we do something? Well… everyone else is on date night, and I thought that we could just hang out." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Plus, I can't find my fiancée and I thought that you'd seen her. But, I also wondered how you were doing." Huh- false pretenses, wonderful. He was there to see her, yeah right.

"Well, if you want to hang out, I guess I can move some things around in my busy schedule." Krys said sarcastically, as she threw her hands up and gestured to all the things that she needed to get done.

"I can see how busy you are." Ares said, humoring her. This was an awkward conversation that they were having. Actually, there was no real conversation. What were they talking about? "So, will you hang out with me?" What could she lose, short of her dignity?

"Well, we can't hang out. It's past Marcus's bedtime, and we can't very well leave him here."

"No. Of course we can't." Ares said, before he looked behind himself. Slowly, A.J stepped into sight and shrugged.

"What can I say? I love the little boy." She said.

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Ares sat around on Krys' couch in her room, waiting for her to pick out some clothes.

"How long does it take to get dressed?" Ares asked, looking through the book that was lying open next to him. 'Dealing with the Loss of a Family Member' "Um… Krys, what are you reading?"

"Huh?" Krys asked, as she walked out of her closet fully dressed. Well, now he knew why it took so long for her to get dressed. Krys looked amazing. She looked utterly amazing. Or at least, different… and certainly unlike any mother that he ever remembered when he was younger. And the conversation that they'd had a few days earlier obviously inspired her somehow, because she was now wearing low rose light blue skinny jeans, and a white and silver off the shoulder top that rode up a bit, showing Ares that Krys hadn't gotten rid of any of her tattoos in those areas, and that she had a hip bone to kill for. "What did you say?" She wasn't paying him any real attention. She was clapping around in her white and silver flip flops that matched her shirt and jewel-y and jingly belt, and looking for something on her dresser. The biggest issue that he had was looking away as she bent over her dresser in search of her whatever. "Ares! What were you asking me?" she asked, all agitated as she rummaged through her dresser drawers.

"Why are you reading the book Dealing with the Loss of a Family Member?" Ares asked, staring as Krys continued to look through her drawers. Krys looked back at him and smiled softly before she shrugged.

"There's a possibility that I will have to send Adrianne off to live with that family. And I haven't lost anyone recently, so I want to be prepared, just in case I lose her." She said, before she shrugged again, making Ares slightly uncomfortable. The idea of Krys feeling as bad as he knew that she felt when her father died, made Ares the saddest that he'd been since she'd broken up with him. And that wasn't easy.

"What're you looking for?" he asked, attempting to change the subject so that the situation could be a bit more comfortable. In an attempt to make him more comfortable, Krys smiled, and turned back around to search before she answered.

"My lip gloss." She said, making Ares smile, as he picked up the lip gloss that was peeking out from the couch cushion.

"Ah. Your lip gloss." Ares repeated, before he read the label. "Is it called '_smashing berry sparkle_'?"

"Yes! God, I can't believe you remember that. It's sad that I've been wearing the same type of lip gloss since I was 15." Krys said as she continued to search for her lip gloss.

"The one that tastes like… goodness?"

"Yes." Krys said.

"Oh, well, I didn't remember. I have your lip gloss right here." Ares said, holding it up. Holding it up, until Krys hopped over to get it. Then he held it out of reach instead.

"Give me my lip gloss." Krys said, poking him in the stomach and reaching for it.

"No." Ares said, still attempting to keep it out of reach. Keeping her lip gloss away from her, and having her stretch all over him was more enjoyable than it should've been. In all honesty, it shouldn't have been fun at all. He should have been somewhat uncomfortable. He should've stopped it and he shouldn't have let it get that far or that fun. To any third party viewer that saw them on the couch, Ares and Krys seemed the ideal couple, and seemed to be together. There they were on the couch, Ares lying down, as Krys straddled him. Ares' arms stretched out above his head as Krys attempted to get the lip gloss. Why she didn't just use magic was the one question that would plague the mind of anyone that watched the two. Either she was enjoying it too much to think about it, or she was just too devious for words- either one was bad.

"Ares," Krys said calmly, as she smiled down at him. "Give me the lip gloss. Now." Ares smiled just as calmly, if not calmer and more playful, if possible, at the same time.

"I refuse." He said, taunting her, dancing the lip gloss around before Krys leaned over and attempted to snatch it away… again.

"Okay… how are we going to work this out?" Krys asked, folding her arms over her chest. Ares shrugged.

"Go without lip gloss." He suggested, shrugging his shoulders with a definite look, before he nodded. In all reality, anyone but Krys and Ares could derive to an absolutely complex conclusion about Ares and why he didn't want Krys to wear lip gloss. "Yes, you will go without lip gloss."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because, I don't appreciate you getting… _dressed up_ when you go out with me, in order to get some other man's or men's attention."

"Hmmm… wow." Krys said, hopping off of him and backing up. "Possessive much? Or just plain bitchy?"

"Plain bitchy." Ares answered teasingly, making Krys laugh and nod.

"Okay." She said, picking up her hoodie and putting it on. "No lip gloss." Then she looked thoughtful for a minute. "It's not exactly like I need it."

"What's with the Tinkerbell 'do?" Krys laughed and took out the bun, letting her curls fall over her shoulders, before she shrugged. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready." Krys said, licking her lips. "Um… I need the lip gloss."

"Alright, come here." Ares said, giving her the come here finger. Plopping down next to him on the couch, Krys held her hand out, before Ares lightly swatted it away. Turning to him and crossing her legs she looked at him and stuck her hand out again. "No."

"Please?" Ares shook his head again. "Okay, put it on for me, then."

"What?" Ares asked with an outraged look on his face.

"Put it on for me." Krys said leaning in slightly. "Don't glop it on. Just swipe it on lightly. It's not the brush kind, it's the spout kind. But, you have to do the top lip first."

"Why am I doing this?" Ares asked, as Krys leaned in a bit and opened her mouth with a slight pucker of her lips. Ares slowly, and shakily, swiped the lip gloss across her top lip.

"Okay, now the bottom lip." Krys said, opening her mouth a bit wider. This time, when he swiped the lip gloss across her lip, he wiped away the stray excess that he accidentally let travel outside of her lip.

"Okay." He said shakily, as he _shakily_ pulled away. While he put the cap back on the lip gloss, Krys lightly licked her lips, making Ares laugh. "Um… was that all for naught?"

"No." Krys said, licking her lips again, before rubbing her lips together. "This lip gloss is utterly delicious. I mean, there is a reason that I wear it."

"Are you ready?"

"_Yes_. Are you?"

"I've been waiting for you." Ares said, hopping off of the couch and grabbing Krys' hand. As the two walked out of the house and made their way to the gate, Krys looked at her Beemer and then at Ares.

"Do you wanna drive?" she asked, as they walked hand in hand.

"Do you?" Ares asked, looking down at her, making her shake her head.

"No. Walking is nice." Krys said, being pulled into Ares' side. It was like his body was made for hers to melt into. It was like Emily didn't exist, and that she ceased to stand in her way. And even more so, it was like Ares was enabling Krys to take her place… scary great thought.

"So, how is the case with Adrianne going?" Looking at him, Krys smiled and shook her head. "What?"

"It's nothing. I just- it feels a lot like old times. And when you came back, I didn't think that you would forgive me. Especially since you said that you would never forgive me." Ares nodded, and pulled her in a bit closer.

"I always say that I'll never forgive you. That's what makes it so great when I do." Ares said, kissing the top of her head.

"Hey, hey, hey. None of that kissing, unless I'm enjoying it thoroughly."

"You _are_ enjoying this." Ares said.

"Well, to answer your question- I haven't set the case up yet." Krys said, looking down and watching her feet as she walked. As her flip flops made the flippy floppy noise, she scrunched up her toes and avoided the penetrating hazel eyes of the Delgado man. After lightly elbowing her in the side, making her look up at him, Ares raised his eyebrows questioningly and said… or coughed something surprising.

"Weirdo."

"Hey!"

"No, I just mean that you're weird." Ares said, making Krys look at him questioningly.

"You say that as if you just-… I can't even. How am I weird?"

"Because… okay, Krys. I love you." Smiling at her feet, Krys nodded.

"Noted."

"And you love me."

"Recognized."

"How different would your life be now if they'd let Razz and Jason adopt you after they both got kicked out of the orphanage?"

"Very. And I know where you're g-"

"Hold on." Ares said, holding her around her waist as he directed her. "And even more so, as happy as I believe that you would be now, I don't think you'd be as happy as you are now. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes, but let me just make you happy and say… no."

"While a few things wouldn't have happened, you had Mr. Rodriguez-"

"Ares, can I just stop you and say that the man died two years ago. You saw him last about 3 years ago. I saw him last 3 years ago. He's dead- you can call him Joshua." After a 30 second stare, Ares took her hand and kissed it.

"You really are a weirdo." He said, before they crossed the street. "Anyway, you had your dad."

"What the hell are you getting at, Ares?"

"I'm saying that even if Adrianne wanted to leave, she wouldn't tell, because she loves you. But if she goes to that meeting, it _will_ come out."

"She told me that she doesn't want to go."

"Okay well, if at the age of 5 you had to choose between your birth parents and Mr. Rodriguez, who would you have chosen?"

"That's not an accurate analogy."

"Point is you wouldn't be able to make that decision because you wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."

"She's 7."

"She's a little _you_. Calculating, strange, and holding a temper."

"Ares, I don't want to hear th-"

"Doesn't matter." Ares said. "Because the truth is that you haven't set the appointment because you don't know if you're doing the right thing or not."

"No. I haven't set the appointment because I feel weird about asking your mother for this favor. Personal- easy. Her job, a bit more difficult. So, I was going to ask if you would ask for me."

"Anyway- how are you?"

"Ares-"

"I, personally, have been great. You know, I have people asking me why I'm getting married; friends telling me not to get married; friends saying that I'm too young. What do you think?"

"Do you care?"

"I asked."

"Rude." Wtf was happening there between the two of them? He really did not want her to tell him what she thought of his engagement, because if she did, he would know how she felt about him. Concerned ex-girlfriends/best friends only tell you not to get married when they want you back. And while she wanted him back, she didn't want him to know that she wanted him back.

"Well, I did ask, so I guess I do care." Ares said, looking at her.

"Fine. But you asked for it." Krys said, before she stopped on the corner and looked up at him. "You don't have a job. You've known her for a millisecond. She wants the world, and you can give her, at most- at the moment, a _small little quaint town inside a shitty county_. And the one worst thing is that… you're not talking to your mother because something gave you the unmitigated gall to think that you were a man and that you were above accepting the fact that your mom has a boyfriend. All the while this is happening; she has yet to get-"

"How do you know?"

"All the while this is happening, she has yet to _attempt_ to _attempt_ to get you and your mom speaking again."

"Um… okay. I asked for your opinion. I got it."

"But… all the while she has done and is all of these things… I'd like to think that I've taught you well. And even more so that I've ruined you so badly for other women that the ones that you can have a mature relationship are incredibly wonderful, understanding, and real women. Then again, for a gold digging tramp, love doesn't matter- so is she a gold digger? However, when I realize that I've damaged you for every other woman to come, simply because I am so damn Krys, I recognize that you'll never truly be happy unless the woman is equally or more wonderful than I, so… I appreciate the fact that she has made it this far."

"_Okay_. And what does that mean?"

"It means that it's not my job to tell you what to do, or even what I think. It's my job as the best friend to point out the good and the bad before allowing you to weigh out which outweighs the other." Krys said, looking up at him. "So… does the bad outweigh the good? Is there more good than bad? Are you happy? And if you are, how does it compare?"

"To what? Being with you?" Ares asked softly, before he looked down at his feet. "It doesn't." Fricking whoa!

"Where are you taking me?" Krys asked. She couldn't even attempt to hit on the topic that they just struck. Not at the moment. Hitting on that topic would strike shit or oil- two extremes. He didn't wanna hit on the topic either. She could see it in the way that he looked at her and looked away, then looked even further away.

"None of your business."

"How isn't it any of my business? You're taking me somewhere."

"Yes, but it's my right to surprise my best friend with something. And that is what I'm doing."

"Don't get testy with me." Krys said, leaning her head on his shoulder and draping his arm over her. "So… how's the wedding planning going?" Ares looked down at her but didn't say anything. Sadly, for a minute, she thought that he would kiss her. Even more so, she hoped that he would kiss her. And when he didn't, she contemplated kissing him.

"She wants to have a big wedding. I personally don't see the appeal." Ares said, leaning his head against Krys'. "She's very high maintenance."

"I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but I don't care." Krys said, her arms flailing like a crazy woman, making Ares laugh.

"You asked, Crazy."

"Yes, in order to direct us from the crazy sexual innuendo filled conversation that was to come."

"I'm sorry." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't really know what to talk about."

"Ah, well this is a predicament." Krys said, looking up at him and smiling. "I can't really remember a point in time when we didn't have something to talk about."

"See, so I'm nervous." Ares rationalized. Hmmm, that was kinda cute. When they were younger, whenever they needed something to talk about, Ares would bring up the first day that they'd met one another. The conversation almost always went the same way. He would laugh and hug her before mentioning that he never thought that day would be the best day of his life. And she'd smile and fall a bit more in love with him. Sad little cycle it was, sad little cycle.

"So, talk to me about what you used to talk to me about." Ares looked down at her and shook his head.

"We're here." He said. When she realized where they were, she smiled.

"You brought me back to Sweet Central." Ares laughed at their pet name for the little cluster of shops that they'd discovered one night while they were on one of their walks. The cluster included a bakery, an ice cream shop, a candy shop, and a few other shops that sold delicious treats. When she got past her nostalgia, Krys looked at Ares and attempted to block the pain in her eyes. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"I brought you here because I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, so you're trying to bribe me?" Krys asked, sighing before she stood in front of him and looked up. "What do you want?" Ares smiled and shook his head.

"You're my Watts." He said, before he slung his arm over her shoulder and they started to walk into the pastry shop.

"I'm the Watts to your Keith?" Krys asked, as she walked into the shop first.

"Yes. You're the Watts to my Keith."

"No, I'm not. I'm the Duckie to your Andy." Looking at her for a minute, Ares shook his head before ordering a pastry platter. When he walked back over to the table, he stared at her for a bit more.

"You are not the Duckie to my Andy. In fact, if you hadn't dumped me, we would still be together. And- to tell the truth, I'm probably the Duckie to your Andy."

"Now why would you say this to me?" Krys asked looking up at him and smiling. "Plus, as you know, if we hadn't broken up, the most important person in my life wouldn't have been born." I mean, she had to keep the lie alive.

"That's true." Ares said, nodding. For a moment, he was quiet. Then he looked down at what she was wearing and raised his eyebrows. "You don't look like any mother I've ever seen."

"So I've been told." Krys replied.

"I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What?"

"How is it?"

"What?"

"How does it feel being a parent?" For a second, Krys didn't say anything. She just looked at him for a while, before she smiled.

"It feels like… okay, who's the one person that you thought you loved more than anything in the world?" For a minute, he looked like he was deciding on telling her…and then, by the look that he gave her, she knew what his answer was. And she knew that he wanted her to know even if he couldn't say it out loud.

"I'd rather not say." 'You.' Krys nodded.

"Okay, well it's like; you never thought that you could love someone so much. And even the love that you felt for the one person that you love the most feels close to nothing, because the love that you feel for your child is so strong that nothing else in the world matters."

"Wow. To love someone even when they're at their worst." Ares teased, making Krys laugh.

"Yeah, in a lot of cases. But, honestly, he's virtually no trouble at all. I mean, he's my joy. My heart and soul. He's actually- and this may seem weird…he's actually one of my best friends. Its creepy how much advice he actually gives me." Ares looked at her and smiled through his jealousy. Never in life did he imagine being jealous of a one year old.

"Yeah, he is a cool kid."

"I know. I raised him cool."

"I know you did, dammit." Krys looked at him and smiled, before shaking her head.

"I can't believe you're getting married, man."

"Me? I can't believe you're a mother."

"Eh."

"I can't believe we're grown up."

"Speak for yourself, I'm still small." Krys said.

"You really didn't grow at all, did you?" When he asked her that, she got into her deep thinking instead of her straight-faced answer thinking. Had she grown? She thought that she'd grown as a person. She was now able to see her wrong doing and choose, if that's what he meant. 

"You're getting married." Krys said, making Ares roll his eyes.

"Come on. You love her, she loves you- that's all that matters. Sure, she may be a bridezilla. But, soon that'll pass, and you'll have a great marriage." Krys said, looking down at their hands entwined.

"Truth be told, I'm not sure that she wants to marry me so much as she wants to be married."

"Yeah, but even more so, you're sexy, so she should have no problems being married to you."

"So, you would marry someone for their looks?"

"Well, that depends on who they are."

"Well, who would you marry for their looks?" Krys laughed and inhaled.

"Christian Kane, definitely- I mean no frigging questions asked, Christian Kane."

"Krys and Christian Kane… lovely."

"Um… Judd Nelson in the Breakfast Club, hell yes. Him and his earrings… yup."

"Krys and John Bender."

"Jason Eirson about 8 years ago."

"Krys and Jason Eirson, lovely."

"Ian Somerhalder, in his prime- God yes. And Mark Famiglietti, in his prime."

"Those two and Krys." Ares said, rolling his eyes.

"Jay Hernandez. The cast of the Brothers. Tyrese- God yes. Brian White. Gale Harold, yes, please. The Rock. Christian Keyes. Tony Grant. And… Ares Delgado."

"What people would you marry _despite_ their looks?"

"Um… well, um, I don't know a lot of people. I guess… of the people that I know, the ones that I'm not attracted to-… Jason. Well, that's not right, because I mean, Jason is… whoa, but I'm not attracted to him. There is no spark. And sometimes, I guess guys that are too good looking- you can't keep them real, so… _you_. Being too good-looking is a curse, man." The two were so immersed in their conversation that they didn't even notice that the waitress left their platter on the table.

"Huh- I guess I'll have to add that to my predicted list." Ares said.

"You don't have a list." Ares raised his eyebrows before pulling a piece of paper out of his wallet. When Krys opened the paper, she rolled her eyes and threw it back at him. He was right. He had a list… he knew. "You think you know me."

"I know everything about you."

"Really? Then what am I about to reach for? What pastry?"

"If you don't eat the apple tart, then you're gonna eat the cheesecake, and if there's no cheesecake, which there is, you're gonna eat a brownie, because you hate every other thing in this platter. You detest chocolate cheesecake, you loathe white chocolate cheesecake, these have walnuts, and you don't like the strawberry cheesecake, because the two being mixed with one another is an abomination unto treats. Kinda like peanut butter and banana and peanut butter and jelly."

"Excuse me, I could eat this thing of… fudginess with the walnuts."

"No you can't. You're allergic to walnuts. You get this disgusting rash and your throat swells up."

"No." Krys said, picking up the fudge nut… thing, and raised it to her lips.

"Krys, don't." Ares said, shaking his head.

"Why not?"

"Because, if your throat swells up, I'm not leaving my strudel to rush you to the hospital."

"Fine. Be that way. But, I'll have you know that I'm not gonna do it for you either."

"Fine. Don't. Eat your tart."

"No. I'm spontaneous and shocking."

"I'll bet you are." Ares said.

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After stopping at each store in the cluster and gaining 90 extra sugar-filled pounds, both Krys and Ares were ready to leave. But, the only way to leave without being rolled was to lean against one another and help the other walk. So Ares leaned against Krys and Krys leaning against Ares. After twenty minutes of walking, they were close enough to Krys' house to… be lazier than they had been, since it only took them 15 minutes to get to the cluster from Krys' house. As Krys saw the great row of houses, she gasped.

"Oh my goodness." She groaned, as they fell over themselves walking through the streets. "The houses are so pretty. This is the best sugar high _ever_." She was the worst possible person to have a sugar high with. She got crazy like a jumping bean. A lazy jumping bean that spoke really fast but didn't wanna move. Gotta love that girl.

"Yeah, it is." Ares said. He was great… calm sugar high. He was just lazy, and sultry and so sexy.

"You know what I've noticed?" Krys asked, looking up at Ares as he held her by his side, stabling her.

"What?"

"I am a hopeless romantic."

"No you're not." Ares said, as this comment snapped him out of his sugar high. As he said this, Krys looked at him and pouted.

"Excuse me, but I will have you know that I _am_ a hopeless romantic. I did tons of romantic things for you when we were together. I made you breakfast in bed."

"That was me."

"Yeah, well, I used to take you out on dates."

"Me. And we didn't go out on dates… we had outings."

"Well, I used to write you poems."

"Buy more ice cream, was a grocery list."

"Well, I used to give you massages."

"Very true, you did."

"And I cheered for you at your basketball games."

"Cheered? Well, sure. I'll give you that one."

"Hey- I don't need you to give it to me, it's mine." Ares looked at her and shook his head.

"You, my girl, have some real issues."

"I am not your girl… Emily is your girl. And excuse me, I cheered for you. Yay Ares, all the damn time. Even when you were losing."

"Hey! I never lose at basketball."

"You got your ass handed to you many times. It was not easy to love you when you were losing."

"Never lost. The Ice Man never lost at basketball, remember that."

"Anyway, I cheered."

"'Ares, win, or you're not sleeping inside.' That is not a cheer. That is… not a cheer."

"Hold on, hold on- that was fucking awesome. It was the best I could come up with."

"It didn't even rhyme!" For a minute, Krys and Ares just stared at each other. Then Krys let a giggle escape, and after a few seconds of her giggling, Ares started laughing with her- and before they knew it they were falling all over each other, laughing hysterically. And loudly. So loudly, in fact, that when they didn't stop after a few minutes, someone from one of the houses walked out and stared at Krys and Ares in shock. It was a little man sporting a white beard and a white Homer Simpson comb over. Donning the Hugh Heffner bed robe and a frown, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ms. Rodriguez?" he said, raising his eyebrows. Then he started rambling off in this foreign language that I'm not even sure he knew. When he stopped, Krys stood up and shrugged, before saying something incoherent, leaving Ares in the dark. When Krys finished mumbling, the short man looked at Ares, then at Krys again. Again, he said something, and Krys shook her head. Then, and you wont believe this… he said, "Good. Goodnight," in perfect frigging English, before walking back into his gate and leaving. When the two looked at each other, they broke out laughing again.

"What was that all about? What was he speaking?"

"Farsi. He's from Saudi. Mr. Coular. I used to fix his car for him all the time when I was younger. He has this crazy sick Ferrari from like '84, and he has this crazy house in Dubai. He's the coolest… but so frigging strict that it makes him seem scary. Crazy part is that he has about 90 girlfriends… all of them 22-26… no older, no younger."

"Come on, it's getting late."

"Yes, 10 o'clock is my bedtime. And we're pushing 30 minutes past that."

"Yeah."

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"She's not a whore, Krys." Ares said, fully standing behind his argument. She wasn't a whore. They were now at Ares' place. When they got back to Krys' house, they decided that she was entirely too lonely at the moment. That was confirmed after A.J told Krys that she was keeping Marcus.

"She is such a whore. They both are. Look how many she's had before. Both of them. And the fact that they lead them on. That's just the kind of women that they are." Krys argued back.

"Buffy and Willow are not whores. Buffy will eventually be with Angel… you know that they'll be together in the end. It's just the way it works. They'll cross paths again."

"Ares, she's dating the Immortal and he said that he was getting over her. I mean, I don't want to see her with anyone but Angel, but if she had to be with someone else, she should be with Spike. It's only the two- no Riley, no Immortal- what kind of shit is that? She told him that when she was done baking they would be together."

"She said if. And trust me, Krys, in the long run, if it was meant to be, it'll be. And like Angel said… theirs is a forever love… they'll end up together."

"Ares-"

"Stop being so bitter." Ares said, standing up and yawning. Then he looked around.

"What time is it?" Krys looked at her cell phone and jumped off of the couch. "Shit, shit, shit." She said, looking around for her clothes. "Where're my clothes?"

"They're in my bedroom. I'll get them." Ares said, walking out of the living room and into his bedroom.

"May I ask whose sweatpants I'm wearing?" Krys yelled. "Because, they're a female's and Emily is not really a sweatpants wearing kind of gal." Ares laughed from the bedroom and walked out with Krys' skinny jeans and top folded in his hands.

"Is that a need to know question?" he asked, handing them to her. Krys looked down at them and nodded. "Yes, it's need to know?"

"Yes."

"They're yours." Ares said, making Krys raise her eyebrows. "I, um, I… um…"

"Can't get creepier than what _I'm_ thinking." Krys teased.

"Stole your clothes. When I left, I didn't pack any of my stuff. I packed some of your stuff."

"Didn't that make it worse?" Krys asked looking at him questioningly. As much as it made her happy that he missed her, it saddened her that she was the one who put him through so much. She really didn't like being the girl that led him on. She hated even worse being the girl that drove him to slightly questionable actions. "I know it made it worse for me."

"Yeah, but you don't get to feel bad. You broke up with me." Ares said, making Krys roll her eyes. Not this again.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I wanted to break up. That kinda just means that I thought you had enough sense to know that when someone says 'get the fuck out of my house' they mean, 'finish school, and then we can pick up where we left off.' You're the dickhead that came back with a blonde girlfriend and an engagement ring."

"While you came back with a kid."

"What, you wouldn't marry me because I have a kid?" Ares looked thoughtful for a minute before he shook his head. "You wouldn't? I'm used goods now?"

"No, I still would. I didn't say that. But, how do I know you won't dump me this time around?"

"Third time is a charm, dude." Krys said, catching the white uptowns that Ares tossed to her. "Are these mine, too?" Ares nodded, making her laugh. "I'm kinda happy that you were my stalker." Ares rolled his eyes and sat back down on the couch before looking up at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I've been here for 13 hours, Ares. It's safe to say that we've spent enough time together."

"It's only because you only wanted to watch episodes of Buffy or Angel where it involved the other, or Willow and Xander. It's your fault." Ares said, pointing at her. This was good. They were back, and there was no awkwardness, jealousy, or… inappropriate behavior. They were back to where they started at age 11. Friends. Best friends.

"Tonight is our 'why we don't need guys' night. The plan is to get dressed and prettied, go out in the street for two hours and see how many guys we can reject, then go back to my place and gain weight with ice cream while watching the greatest love stories ever told."

"And those would be?"

"Hmmm… me and you?" Krys teased, making Ares laugh. And then, all that work for nothing. It got more and more awkward as they thought about it. Hmmm… maybe it was too soon to joke. "Maybe it was too soon to joke." Ares looked at her and nodded.

"Maybe." He agreed, before taking her hand and pulling her back onto the couch with him. "Okay, don't pick up any frat boys, jailbait, gang banger, bikers, or business men with wives."

"But frat boys are #1 on my list. I can change them." Ares looked at her and tapped her on the nose with his index finger.

"Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"What's tomorrow?"

"Saturday."

"Sorry, I have a meeting tomorrow."

"After your meeting?"

"Black tie event. Lewis."

"The crumpet."

"Yes, the toasted buttery crumpet. Supposedly his date fell through and he asked me to go with him."

"Oldest trick in the book. You don't remember how I finally got you?" Laughing, Krys punched him on the arm. But then she slowly realized that he did get her that way. He pretended that he needed a date. What kind of shit was that? "Okay, you have to go." Krys nodded.

"Yes, I have to go." She agreed, kissing his cheek. "I love you." Ares looked at her and nodded for a minute before responding.

"I love you too." A little too quiet and intimate for her liking. And so was the cheek kiss. Barely there, completely inaudible- that wasn't friendship cheek kiss. That was… too damn serious. But instead of being the smart girl that she is, she kept it going. She looked at him with her eyebrows raised slightly.

"Yeah." She said making Ares nod.

"Yeah."

"Okay. I still have to go. You know, like I've been saying for the past few minutes." Ares nodded again. What the hell was with the nodding? It was as if he knew what she was thinking and he was nodding in agreement. Or… that's what she hoped it was. Aw man, she really was the boyfriend stealer, and something told her that in this case, she was trying. Krys nodded to herself with that thought, making Ares nod too. Slowly as he leaned in. And even more slowly as he inched millimeters closer to her. As beautiful as their other kisses were, this was the perfect kiss because their lips were barely touching. If they met, it was briefly, but the less they touched the more serious and the more real it was. And when they pulled away after the four minute lips barely touching kissing session, they looked at one another awkwardly before leaning in again. With her hands playing at the nape of his neck, there was no awkwardness. They were now fully aware… and so screwed. "Okay, I reall- really have to go." Krys said, her mouth still attached to Ares'.

"Uh-uh." Ares said. "Don't go. Please, don't go." Krys shook her head.

"I have to. I have to go and… spend the day with your fiancée's best friend and redo our girls night." She said, before the look of realization crossed over her face. "Holy mother of Christ. This is why I don't have any friends." Ares shook his head and helped her up before kissing her forehead.

"It's not your fault. Plus, it was… innocent. It won't happen again."

"Really?" Krys asked, surprised as hell. She wanted it to happen again. She really wanted it to happen again. She couldn't stress how much she wanted it to happen again. It needed to happen again. Then again… didn't she have a crumpet? She could live with a crumpet. She didn't want to, but she could. Sure, why not? But this was Ares. Her buttery Ares. "It's not gonna happen again?" Ares looked down at her and dipped his head before he kissed the corner of her lip. And that was just…erotic as sin. And…you know what? She couldn't handle it. So…she did what she had to. She pulled him down and kissed him…and it wasn't just one of their romantic kisses…this was…sex disguised as kissing. After she'd pulled him down, she pulled away and they stared at one another.

"I'm in trouble." Ares breathed…not in a sexual way either. In a way that showed that he knew what he was doing and that he would deal with the consequences the next day.

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"Krys, wake up!!!" When Krys lifted her head off the desk, Hermione was standing in her doorway with her arms folded. "Why are you asleep? Mate, what's wrong with you?"

"Dude, nothing." Krys said, running her hand through her hair and zipping her hoodie up some more…covering the hickey on her neck. Hermione walked in and sat at Krys' desk before she looked at her friend.

"Krys, you came in late, you're wearing that, and you look like you haven't slept." She said, making Krys look at her and nod.

"I had a late night."

"You were home alone, and you wouldn't answer the phone when I was calling to ask you if you wanted to hang out. What were you doing last night?" A grin almost appeared on Krys' face, before she shook her head.

"Um…nothing. I just had a long night." She said, before she rubbed her eyes. Then she pressed the intercom. "Marly, can you get in here?" When Marly walked in, Krys looked at her. "What are you doing tonight?" Marly shook her head.

"Nothing really."

"Well…we're supposed to be having a sleepover at my place tonight, but…I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out."

"With you?" Krys laughed and shook her head.

"No actually. At my house with Thai. I don't want her to be alone tonight."

"Is Mark gonna be there?" Krys shook her head again.

"No…he'll be with his grandmother."

"Um…Thai is…." Marly said, making Krys nod.

"You know, you don't have to. Its not like I'm gonna fire you if you don't." Marly laughed and shook her head.

"No, no…it's not that. It's just that…Thai and I don't exactly run in the same circles." Well…Krys knew that. Thai and Marly were…way different. Actually…no, they weren't. They just looked like they were.

"Don't I know it?" Krys said, making Marly laugh.

"I mean, I hate her friends…her friends hate me and my friends. And…her friends are stupid."

"You're a Lionlynx, right?"

"Yeah. But…her friends are stupid." Krys laughed and shrugged.

"Be that as it may, Marly dearest…I'm not telling you to hang out with Thai. I'm just saying that…you may be surprised at what you find. I mean…you guys don't know anything about one another other than your names, sex, and house…maybe you should hang out. Plus…I hang out with you both…neither of you can be that bad." Marly looked thoughtful.

"Krys, I don't know. I mean…I…"

"You don't have to, Marly. I was just asking, it's cool." Krys said, before she started to blast 'Decode' by Paramore. "Dude, you can stay in here." That's when Marly and Hermione sat down. Marly started to sing along with the lyrics and bop her head, before Krys' office door opened and Thai walked in. When Thai walked in, she started to sing along also. Krys then took the opportunity to turn the music off and look at Thai.

"Yo." Thai said, sitting on Krys' desk before she gave her a pound.

"Sup." Krys responded.

"Well…I got my crap packed for your house. Mom and Dad are taking Angel and Jaime to Hershey."

"What for? He's not old enough to get on the rides."

"Just for the sights… you know how Jaime feels about chocolate." Thai said, making Krys and Hermione laugh. "The people of the international board for the children aren't as lonely and repressed as you think."

"Oh I know. It turns out that 1 of them is my age…and the oldest one is 70…but she's a sweetheart. But its still gonna be hard."

"No doubt…but, my darling…there is nothing that you cannot do." Thai said, kissing Krys' cheek, making Krys look at her.

"You're extremely happy…why?"

"Um…I'm just happy." Thai said, making Krys smile.

"You know…me too."

"Well…my life sucks. I have a ticket to the banquet tomorrow, as Allen asked me three months ago…and I do not have a date or an extra ticket for a date." Hermione said, making them all look at her.

"Well, I'm going with Lewis tomorrow." Krys said, making Hermione smile and nod.

"Told you he was a stud."

"Stud? Really?" Thai asked, making Krys laugh. "Guys are trouble."

"No, your guys are trouble." Marly said, making Krys and Hermione stand back and watch. Thai looked thoughtful for a moment before she nodded. Then she turned to Krys and Hermione.

"Point is…I'm done with it and them. Last night, Angel showed up in Brooklyn, drunk, on my fire escape telling me that he didn't wanna be with Jennifer anymore- and that he wanted to be with me." She said, making them look at her.

"Oh that makes you feel good, doesn't it?" Marly asked, making Thai look at her.

"I'm sorry, is there an issue here?" she asked, making Marly scoff.

"You stole your best friend's boyfriend and that makes you happy. Just like a popular girl."

"Wow…well, the broody, misunderstood girl has spoken. Hmmm…no one understands me. Hmmm…not enough people pay attention. Hmmm…guys don't notice me. I don't care about your problems Marly, just don't take them out on me." Marly stepped closer, issuing a challenge.

"You don't know anything about me."

"And you know _everything_ about me, don't you?" Thai said sarcastically, making Marly nod.

"Yeah, I do. You're daddy's little princess, with your rich family and your connections. You date guys in training that have amazing futures ahead of them, sleep with them, and then move onto the next. You cut ¾ of your classes, sit on tables with your short skirts, twirl your dyed hair and bat your fake ass lashes that accentuating your fake bitch contacts. You're fake, and you're nothing but an image. I bet you don't even recognize yourself when you wake up in the morning, and I bet it takes you three hours before you come to see someone that you like. All you want is to be looked up to by your stupid ass friends. And last year, you broke my cousin's heart when you stole the guy that she lost her virginity to." Thai stepped back at that and looked at Marly like she had ten heads. I mean, none of that was true…none of it, but the last part was something that Thai herself had honestly never done.

"What are you talking about?" Thai asked, shaking her head and backing away. Marly nodded.

"Jose Casseras. You dated Jose Casseras, and made him dump Michelle." Thai tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at Marly.

"I was assigned to _tutor_ Jose Casseras." Marly began to laugh cynically at this.

"He was a seventh year at the time."

"Yeah." Thai said as she nodded. "The Snailtrail head didn't want anyone to know that his Quidditch star was being tutored by a 5th year student, so he nixed my curfew and got us to the room of requirements. Problem is, Jose used our study time to have sex with Melanie Porter. The only day that me and Jose have even spoken or been near one another is the day that he escorted me out of the RoR, after I lugged my books around the school to tutor his dumb ass."

"I don't believe you."

"You don't have to." Thai said. "I got thrown under the fucking bus anyway. When Jose's grade didn't improve I got in trouble and I had to resign as prefect and serve 4 months detention."

"That's why you had to serve detention? That's why your grades dropped? That's why the dropped you as prefect?" Krys asked, making Thai nod.

"Yeah." Thai said, before she sat down. "And since my grades dropped and it took me a while to get back to Os, my chances at Head Girl are shot to hell." Krys stood up and looked at both of the girls.

"Assignment tonight, Marls. I need you and Thai to work together…getting to know the other." She said, making Marly and Thai look at her like she was stupid. "Listen, you both admitted to something extremely important. Neither of you know anything about the other…and I get that one of you is the funky chick that's a nonconformist and that one of you is half a step away from being a cheerleader, but…from what I know of you guys…you're the same person, when you're not being defined by who you hang out with." Marly looked at her.

"I'm nothing like this girl." She said, making Krys shrug.

"Well." Krys started. "That's something that we're gonna find out." Krys lifted a notepad off of her desk and handed it to them. "Here are things that you must find out…and you'll be camping out in my game room in a girls' sleepover. Marly, just write down whatever you spend any money on from your paycheck, and I'll pay you back." Krys ran her hand through her hair. "Girls listen to me… in your lives…you're gonna assume a lot of things about people. I really hope that you don't let what you assume about people dictate the relationships that you build. You guys are both so amazing…and Marly, you've seen how I treat some people…it doesn't change because they're family. Thai is magnificent, and I wouldn't hang out with her if any of what you said is true. And Thai…Marly is…she's amazing…and if any of what you said was true, I couldn't stomach her. If I was in high school again, I would hang out with both of you hardcore…think about that. Just think about it."

"Yeah." Hermione said, looking at the girls. "Listen to Krys. I can't even begin to stress to you how amazingly wrong you can be with first impressions." Marly and Thai looked at one another at the same time before they both rolled their eyes.

"Do we have to?" Marly asked, making Krys look at her.

"You don't have to get along with everyone that I bring here. You really don't. And I won't hold it against you at all, because you're a phenomenal assistant, and you can do your internship here- and I already told you that you have a definite spot in the St Eris Scholarship to Nemonara. But…know that Thai will also be doing her internship here, that she's going to Nemonora also…and that Hermione and I are in charge of the classes taught in the hospital. And to fuck with both of you, we're gonna put you together in everything that you do."

"Um…I'm interested in getting my advanced Healer's Stamp in intensive damage, and my regular magical maladies. All advanced classes." Marly said, looking at Thai. "What about you? Plastic surgery and beauty charms." Thai looked down and cursed under her breath, as Krys nodded. She knew what Thai wanted to study.

"I want my advanced healer stamps in cumulative intensive damage, and spell damage, with a regular stamp in miscellaneous medical maladies." Thai said monotonously, before they both looked at Krys, who was ticking off on her fingers.

"So, you'll have every single class together." Krys said. "The same classes here together. And…I'm pretty sure that because I paid for both of your educations…you'll be sharing an apartment together." Marly and Thai looked at her with their eyes wide.

"Krys, this is blackmail." Marly said. Krys shook her head and laughed.

"I would never do that. I just want you guys to try. But you will have almost all of your classes together. And, you're gonna be my assistant for the rest of the summer, and Thai's here every day…you guys should just suck it up and try. And if when you guys try and you really don't like one another…then I won't push this anymore." Then Krys looked at Thai and tossed her a set of keys. "Those are the keys to my minivan."

"What about the Mustang?" Thai asked, making Marly look at Krys.

"You have a Mustang?" she asked, with her eyes wide. Krys looked at Marly, then Thai.

"Same favorite car. Retro car… not the kinda thing preppy cheerleader types like. And…its so that when you guys go shopping, you have room. The spree is on me…so go get Justine."

"No, Justine sucks as an assistant." Hermione said, making Krys look at her. "Dude, she leaves early, she comes in late…she forgets my coffee, and she lets random people in my office." Hermione shook her head. "She the worst!"

"_Anyway_, relax, you don't have to try too hard to like one another. Just stop judging the other, and… have fun." Krys looked at Marly and Thai and smiled at them. "See you guys." She said, before she ran her hand through her hair.

When they all got the hell out of Krys' office and began to do their jobs again, Krys sat at her desk all giggly and happy. I mean, dammit, she was happy. Depressed at the same time, but she would deal with that when it came to her. I mean, she could still smell him on her…you know, because they showered together afterward... and then they laid on his couch together and made out for like another half hour, before they slowed down and cuddled for the next hour…point is…she loved the smell. It was like he marked her…which she would usually find offensive, but in this case…no, not really. And then…Lewis. Oh God, she was a whore…and a bad person. I mean, it was one thing to be a whore and sleep around with random people that didn't belong to others while you were unattached, but just a few days earlier, she gave Lewis some hope. And she really liked him, which was also a problem. What the hell was wrong with her? She was weaving a tangled web. An immensely tangled web. Then her office door opened, without the buzzing, and in walked Harry, who just stared at her for a minute before he shook his head. As their eyes connected, Krys furrowed her eyebrows, then closed her eyes. He knew. And he was ashamed. Then the door opened again, and Jason walked in and smiled at her, making Krys look at Harry, who broke out into a laugh.

"You suck!" Krys yelled, making Harry laugh even harder.

"Yeah, we planned that out. Harry did the look of shame so much better than me, though." Jason said, making Krys look at both of them and raise her eyebrows.

"Oh God, he's not bragging to people, is he?"

"Actually…we were at the apartment." Harry said, making Krys' face drop, before she wore a scandalized look.

"Don't worry, it wasn't like it was when you guys were doing it. No, I had to go get something from my room, and I popped in when you guys were in the shower and saw the sweatpants."

"Yeah, so then Jason came over and said Ares had some girl over. So both of us apparated back into the apartment. Then, we just looked around…and everything spelled 'Krys'." Jason said. Krys looked at them and raised her eyebrow. "Plus, we just came from there, and he's smiling way too much for it to have been Emily."

"Oh my God." Krys said, making Jason and Harry sit down on her couch and just grin at her. "This is creepy."

"Right now, I don't even see you as a brother, I see you as a sister in law." Harry said, making Krys look at him.

"Ares is not your brother."

"Yeah he is. Fight team says so." Krys looked around.

"Are you gonna do it again?" Jason asked, making Krys look up at him with wide eyes. "Girl talk. Girl talk. Are you guys together again?"

"No." Krys said, looking at Jason. "Ares and I discussed it afterwards…and…we both agreed that it could never happen again. It was like a goodbye hug."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jason and Harry screamed in one way or another.

Oy vey, Krys, what have you done? Maybe she shouldn't have told them this…but…she didn't wanna lie anymore. Why were they so mad?

"We're mad because we know that he didn't say that shit!" Harry said, making Krys look off to the side. They were right…it was her. She was the one that pushed him away.


	68. With a New Man

"Prongs, can you watch Mark tonight for me?" Krys asked, as she and Harry sat around doing work. Harry was sitting across from her on the other side of her desk, and the two were lounging while doing filling out paperwork. Krys was reviewing the files of Adrianne, Carina, and Luis, and Harry was looking through a simulation case study of a file. Jason had been there an hour before, working also, but now he was gone—and it was just Padfoot and Prongs. When he looked up, he shook his head.

"Can't tonight, Padfoot. I promised Gin that I would take her away for the weekend, and I've been postponing this since before I got out of training. Why don't you ask Jason?" Krys groaned and bit her lip. A.J had roped Jason into going to dinner with Brian and Jules somewhere, and they couldn't do it either. They probably would, but she didn't want to mess with anyone's plans. No one could do it. Everyone that she trusted was busy, and she didn't want to leave Mark in the orphanage like she would some other times, because he didn't like to sleep anywhere other than in his own beds. When she looked up, she realized that Harry was reading her mind, and on the phone already with a babysitter. When he got off the phone, he nodded. "Ares said he'll do it." As Krys cocked her head to the side to stare at Harry through squinted eyes, words could not express how she felt about him and how much she hated him. He obviously knew this and was laughing at her.

"Why would you call Ares?" she asked, making him laugh and shake his head.

"He'll take good care of him. He knows how to take care of him. He won't ask for anything in return. And…he's not pissed at you for having sex with him and leaving him there." Why were they talking about this? In what world was it appropriate for them to talk about this?

"He has no reason to be pissed at me. Prongs, I have a date tonight. Do I not deserve dinner and a movie with someone who isn't engaged to be married to a girl that wants me to be her maid of honor?" Point, Krys.

"Of course you deserve that. Padfoot, let me tell you something. You and Mark deserve the world…and you already own half of it. You've got a great job, you have a great son, and you're one of the most fun girls I've been around in my life. And if you really want to move on, then you can. But if you love Ares and you want to be with him, know that he loves you too." And that was it- Harry had spoken, big fucking whoop. Krys looked at him thoughtfully for a minute.

"Why're you telling me this?"

"Because you would do it for me." He said. Goddammit, point, Harry.

"Mommy! The door!" Mark yelled, making Krys run out of the bathroom in her robe and laugh, before hopping down the stairs with him. When she opened the door, Ares was standing there in stonewash jeans and a white hoodie, with a bookbag on his back. Before he said anything, he looked at her and smiled, before taking Mark from her.

"Hey." He said, giving Mark a high five. "So, what's up, little man, what're we doin' tonight?" Mark looked at Ares and smiled, making Krys smile too, before she beckoned Ares in and closed the door behind him. What had she been thinking? Why would she want to keep these two from each other? Mark had an amazing relationship with Harry, Jason, and even Brian, but…with he and Ares there was something amazingly special. It was like they both knew…or they hoped. And why would she want to be away from Ares at all? I mean, he was Ares. God Jesus, she was crazy. And this is what she should just do without thinking. This was why. When they got to Krys' room, Ares looked at her and sat on her couch. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing much. I'm going to this benefit with Lewis tonight."

"What for?"

"I like him- ugh. We've talked about this." Ares shook his head and smiled in obvious amusement, showing the semi soft fangs next to his incisors. He really did have amazing teeth- an amazing mouth. Very good everything.

"No, I meant, what's the benefit for?" he said, making Krys cover her face and laugh. That was embarrassing.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly, making him laugh and shake his head.

"No, you're right. We've talked about this." He said, smiling and making her nod. What was with this happy attitude that he had going one for him? I mean…come on, man. "So, what time can we expect you back?"

"I'm not really sure what time the benefit ends. It's this ball for investors, prominent ministry officials- crap like that. I have no clue what it's for, all I know is that I was asked by Lewis, and…that's about it." Ares nodded. "So, what are you two going to do tonight?" she asked, as she looked through dresses.

"You should wear that burgundy dress." Krys looked at him questioningly. "Welcome back ball, 7th year." After a minute of staring at him, Krys smiled and walked into her closet and into a shower. When she walked out, she was wearing a green babydoll gown. Silk forest green cut into an amazing gown that wasn't necessarily low cut, but definitely gave her boobage definition. As the front of the gown stopped at her ankles, the back of the gown trailed the floor. Krys' hair assumed its most natural position- curls that fell over her shoulders and down her back, parted on the right side with her bangs falling over and above her left eye. She wore a white gold and emerald choker with matching stud earrings and bracelet, while her shoes were matching open toed stilettos.

"So?" she asked, looking around. "Where's Mark?"

"He fell asleep." Ares said, making her nod.

"So? How do I look?" Ares nodded, making Krys raise her eyebrows questioningly. "That's very vague."

"You look unbelievable." Ares said, nodding his head, then looking at his watch as he clicked his jaw awkwardly. "But…that's not a surprise." Hmmm…okay- the smiling had stopped. Then Ares did something surprising. He stood up, walked over to her, and ran his hands through her hair, fashioning it into a horrible bun. Then just walked away and sat back down, making Krys look in the mirror and laugh. I mean, it was a terrible bun, but she almost loved it because he did it. It wasn't tight enough, not all the hair was pulled into it, and it was just bad.

"What was that about?" she asked through her laughter. Ares bit his lip and shrugged, and suddenly Krys understood what he was saying and doing, without his explanation, which he gave anyway.

"I don't want you to look your absolute best for anyone but me." He said softly, making her look at him and semi smile.

"I could say the same thing to you, and that you've never worn a tux for me." Krys said, before she turned to the mirror and shook out her hair, before running her hand through it and straightening it. Then she pulled it back into a tight bun with a right part. "Ares, what happened between us yesterday-" She didn't know when he got that close to her, but there he was, with her now in his arms and his mouth was covering hers. And just as quickly as he'd scooped her up, he placed down on her own bed and covered her mouth again, making her roll him over and get on top of him. When she pulled back, she bit her lip and brought him up to her again. And just as their lips touched, her doorbell rang, making her pull back and bite her lip as she caressed his jaw. When she got off of him, she looked in the mirror and fixed her lipgloss, picked up her purse, then spun around to look at him. There he was in all his Ares glory, looking gorgeous, smelling gorgeous, feeling gorgeous…and so, she did it. She pecked him on the lips and hugged him, then she walked downstairs with him in tow. Lewis stood at the door with a corsage case in his trembling hands, making Krys laugh and invite him in.

"You look beautiful." Lewis said, making Krys smile. Lewis had this look about him- very shy, but undoubtedly gorgeous. He had dark brown hair and very light green eyes- almost a mint that was more on the green spectrum than blue. His mouth was pouty- and he had the feature that Krys loved most. Gorgeous lashes. Krys smiled as he looked around, then looked at her again—that once over that people do when they're shocked, amazed and smitten, in this case at least.

"Thank you. So do you." she said. Lewis was wearing black dressrobes with a white bow tie, the classic look. And his light green eyes twinkled as he stared at her- this made Krys laugh before she turned to Ares. "Lewis, you've met Ares."

"Oh, yes." Lewis said, sticking his hand out and shaking Ares' hand. For a minute, Krys watched how they responded to one another, and developed a new level of respect for Ares. He was genuinely nice to Lewis in this respect, shaking his hand and smiling, sort of. No awkwardness there- well, yeah, the awkwardness was there, but in all honesty, it was miniscule. "It's good to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too." Ares said. "You guys have a great time. And, make sure you take care of her."

"Will do." Lewis said, looking at Krys and smiling. "Oh- before I forget, I got you something." Ares took this as his cue to leave, and disappeared up the stairs. When he was gone, Krys looked at Lewis and smiled.

"What'd you get me?" Lewis opened up the corsage case and put on the wrist corsage. A green and white orchid wrist corsage wrapped in pearls. Quite amazing, actually.

"I know this looks a bit like a graduation ball." He said, making Krys laugh and shrug.

"Doesn't mean I don't love it." She said, looping her arm with his.

When the two got to the ball, Lewis looked at her and smiled again. It was a cycle that made Krys feel happy rather than freaked. His smile was almost reassuring, and definitely cute.

"Thanks again for coming with me." He said, making Krys shake her head. "How are things going with you and Ares?" For a minute, Krys didn't say anything. And when she did, for some reason, truth poured out of her mouth.

"I don't know why, but…I can't really lie to you." she said, making Lewis smile. "He and I are confused about our relationship right now. I'm sleeping with him." Lewis looked at her and smiled as if he were on the verge of laughter, before he led her to their table. The entire place reminded her of the Great Hall in Hogwarts, except there were circular tables, and even lovelier place settings over a black table cloth. After Lewis sat down, he looked at her.

"That's a lot to handle." He said, nodding his head. "Before I forget, would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow at the club?"

"Anti conformist hell?" Lewis laughed and nodded, making Krys nod in response.

"You will?"

"Yeah, of course. So…how have you been?" Lewis nodded and smiled at her.

"I've been good. I haven't seen you since our date."

"I'm sorry about that. I mean, I really enjoyed every minute of it."

"I did too. You don't have to be sorry. I…I understand. And I meant what I said that night. I would still love to go out with you." Lewis said, making her look at him and smile. Goddammit- what was with the smiles as responses? There was almost nothing to say in certain situations.

"You realize and understand that I'm a horrible person, right? A horrible person to be friends with and an even worse person to be involved with." Krys said, making Lewis shake his head.

"You're not horrible, Krys. You are just in a weird situation. And I'm not judging you, because even while I do not completely understand it, I can somewhat understand it. You're wonderful." When the music started, Lewis stood up and held his hand out to Krys, making her look at his hand and smile, before she actually took it and began to dance with him. As the two danced, Lewis looked down at her and made her laugh.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" she asked. Lewis looked at her a little longer and shook his head before he touched her hair. And for the first time in a long time, another man's romantic touch didn't make her think of Ares.

"I can't believe you're here with me." He said, before he leaned down and kissed her, slowly, gently, and quite deliciously. When he pulled back, Krys touched the hand that was on her cheek and looked up at him with a smile.

"You know that you're making my life a whole lot harder, right?" Lewis smiled and kissed her again. This time was a bit more deliciously, and he held her at the small of her back. When he pulled back, he closed his eyes and smiled in contentment.

"I don't want to make your life harder, but I appreciate that you're conflicted." Lewis said, before he led her back to their table, where Allen was sitting with a woman with dark brown curls and a lovely green dress on. She actually looked a bit like Krys, which was scary. The scarier part was that…her eyes were Krys' color, which is not exactly a common color—considering her irises are split into different color sections. When he saw Lewis and Krys, he stood up instantly and licked his lips. Oh god- no, why? No.

"Krys. You look beautiful. What are you doing here?" he asked, making Krys look at Lewis, who looked shocked. This was not the time, and she wasn't ready for this. This is not what she wanted. I'm not sure anyone wanted this. "Lewis, you two are…here together?" Lewis held his hand out to Krys and pulled her chair out, ignoring Allen completely.

"Allen, please don't cause a scene." He said, before he sat down. When he looked at Krys, she smiled at him and leaned into him a bit, making him chuckle. The thing about Lewis that she loved was his shyness. It was something incredibly familiar. He was beautiful, there was no denying that, and his shyness just added to his appeal. But the best part about Lewis, was his ability to be exactly what she needed. That was really fucking familiar, and sadly she didn't know why—which is weird. He was Ares, with less attitude. She could probably work with that.

"So, how are you?" Allen asked Krys, making her look around and say nothing. "Please don't ignore me."

"Allen, please do not cause a scene." Lewis repeated, holding Krys' hand under the table and lightly stroking her knuckles- dude, this was very familiar. And for some reason, at the moment, Krys couldn't help it- she looked at Lewis and smiled, before she pulled him down and kissed him. It was soft and slow and very revealing- she liked him. And when she pulled back, she rested her head on his shoulder and did not even bother to open her eyes.

After the dinner, Krys scanned the room for Hermione, who was sitting with a few people that she knew from school, before their eyes met. Hermione's eyes widened in happy surprise, raising her eyebrows as she saw Krys' seating arrangement. Then she laughed, making Krys give her the finger and mouth 'whore.' Hermione smiled, shook her head and put an imaginary phone to her ear before saying, 'text me.' Krys laughed, shook her head and faked typing with a phone, mouthing, 'call you.'

"Do you need something?" Lewis asked, making Krys stand up and take his hand. The two then made their way over to the silent auction table, where Krys looked around to see what was going on. For a moment, she debated with herself about whether or not she should control her odds, and when the debate was over, she had won and a woman was walking over to her with her hand extended.

"Hello, my name is Imogene Frame." The older woman said, before she extended a glass of wine to Krys.

"I'm sorry, I don't drink." Krys said, making the woman smile and shake her head.

"Say no more." She said, before the wine changed to carrot juice. Krys smiled and took the glass, before taking a sip.

"This is pretty good, thank you. I'm Krystathaili Rodriguez. I run St. Eris' clinic and orphanage." Imogene's eyes widened and she nodded.

"Oh- yes, I know exactly who you are." She said, nodding her head.

"And this is my friend Lewis Grant." Krys said, making Lewis step forth and shake Imogene's hand.

"I have been meaning to send you an owl, Madam Rodriguez, about your case." Imogene said, making Krys raise her eyebrows. "I haven't seen one like this in years. Would you care to talk about it?" Imogene's young eyes made it almost impossible for one to believe the rest of her body and face. Her eyes were kind and innocent verging on naïve.

"I would love to, if Lewis doesn't mind." Krys said, making Lewis smile and shake his head, before kissing her cheek.

"No, of course I don't mind." He said, before he said his goodbyes to Imogene and then walked off. When Krys and Imogene sat down, Imogene looked at her and sipped on her wine.

"So, the little girl that you want to keep in your orphanage, what's the reason that you want to keep her there?" The bluntness of the question was welcomed, as Krys didn't necessarily want to beat around the bush and pretend that they were there to talk about something else. But, the question hit her—it hit her hard. She loved Adrianne. She knew she would love Carina…and she wanted Luis. She wanted these children in St. Eris, because it made sense.

"It's mostly her lack of comfort with the family. Adrianne is almost like a machine that can detect fine character- and if she's uncomfortable, she will not speak to a person for years, especially after how she lost her parents. Even more so, I find it unwise to release her to anyone without a very strong magical background. Adrianne is an extremely powerful combustion firewitch, and our facilities are helping her to control that through our resources, which she will not be offered until she's eleven years old. A lot can happen in four years. Lastly, after the observation of how she interacted with the Harris family, I don't know why anyone would approve said adoption. Which is why, I fully intend to undergo ministry certification to oversee each and every adoption in my orphanage myself."

"Well, what about Carina Castro? You would keep her out on the street as Adrianne has two homes, practically?"

"Carina Castro will only need room and board for 2-3 months out of a year. I've already expressed my want for Carina Castro in my orphanage, and I already have a sponsor for her the moment that I get her. I've already had the rooms built in the orphanage, expanding it by 2/3rds its capacity. And I already have a school for her. Same with Luis Vicente, all I need is the go sign."

"And what about Luis Vicente, what makes you think that your orphanage would be good for him?"

"My orphanage has top education and a wide variation of children that live there. I have muggleborn children like Adrianne that have lost their parents and now know about their power, I have half-blood children and I have pureblood children. And even more so, I have a multilingual staff. The only orphanage for magical children in Europe cannot house him because they do not have a regulator, so Luis Vicente is in ministry custody. Same with Carina Castro. They can both be happy with just a say so. Even more so, my orphanage has an impressive school acceptance record and amazing resources that these children may not get anywhere else. If there are any more children in Europe or any other continent, I'll happily take them, because I have a family. I don't just have a place to house children."

"Lastly, I got a message informing me that you have a very close relationship with Adrianne Vega. Is this true?" What's the right answer to that question? "You do." Imogene nodded and stood up. "Well, I'm sorry Madam Rodriguez, but I have to go. Have a nice evening." And with that, Imogene was gone, and Krys couldn't help but feel like she had just lost it all…and it was all her fault.

When she got to Lewis, he was having a glass of wine and sitting patiently.

"Mr. Grant, I believe you owe me another dance." Krys said, holding her hand out and taking Lewis to the dancefloor. When they got there, he took in her appearance and smiled again.

"You really are magnificent, you know." Lewis said, making Krys laugh and shrug. "I've been thinking."

"What about?"

"This situation." Lewis said, making Krys nod. "I think you should do whatever makes you happy until you no longer can. I just want to be with you. And get to know you and what makes you happy." Krys bit her lip and nodded. "So, if you have to keep this up to find out what you want, then I'm fine with that. And even if I weren't, it wouldn't matter anyway." Krys laughed and rested her hands on Lewis' shoulders.

"What brought this up?"

"Seeing you talk to that woman and smile…seeing you smile at all. It made me realize that I've been interested in you for over a year…I can only imagine how Ares must feel. He's a man that you've been with for most of your life. You two have a child together…it's only natural that he still have lingering feelings for you and you him. I just want to know if I have a chance."

"I said I would go to lunch with you tomorrow, didn't I?" Krys teased, making Lewis smile.

"So, tell me about yourself."

"There isn't much to tell. I'm incredibly boring."

"What are your healing specialties?"

"Everything." Krys said, making Lewis look at her. "Well- relatively everything. What I studied was a composition of all complex maladies and simple maladies, basically. So, I can heal any curse or malady. My real specialty though is cumulative magical damage as well as spell breaking magical damage. And I have a lot of extra stamps, because before I had my son, I was experimenting with a lot of different healing specialties- so…I have more specialties and qualifications than any healer my age. Dark magic, harsh magic, spell damage, poisons- shit like that." Luis looked down at her and smiled, before laughing.

"So, who do you heal?" he asked.

"Well, I heal everyone. I'm a miscellaneous medic as well as a call in surgeon. So, with surgeries, I mostly heal wolf bites, aurors and spell testers. I also run a women's group in my hospital- I can't always be there, because I'm usually on call, but, I do what I can."

"You're quite the busy woman. Do you ever get a break?"

"I only really live for two things. My job and my family, but they both understand that I have the other, so it's not that bad."

"So, you run a hospital and an orphanage. I was under the impression that you did mostly paperwork."

"I do paperwork in my free time. I'm usually in my office as a substitute for being home, so…when you see me in my office, it's in lieu of going home- and that's when I get my paperwork done."

"Well…what did you do for fun when you weren't working?"

"I used to hang out with my family. Now I host lectures for some of the kids at my orphanage that are older. I teach healing courses. My orphanage is one of the only non-schools in North America that has a license for underage students to use magic, so I use that to my advantage."

"And you said there wasn't a lot to tell. So…your childhood."

"Not on the second date." Krys teased, making Lewis nod respectfully. "What about you?"

"My childhood was full of nannies and not seeing my parents."

"My childhood also consisted of a nanny, but I loved her. I also very much loved my father."

"Loved? What happened? Falling out?"

"He died when I was seventeen."

"I'm sorry." Krys looked up at him and shook her head.

"It was really hard back then, but I had a lot of people around to help me get through it."

"Ares?" Lewis asked, making her nod. Was Ares there? Every waking moment. He even made it so that she forgot about her father and started to mourn other things like the demise of their relationship.

"Among other people."

"So, how did you guys meet?" Krys looked up at him and raised her eyebrows.

"School. When we were eleven years old. He's been my best friend since then."

"He seems like an amazing guy."

"He _is_ an amazing guy. What about you? What about your ex-girlfriends?"

"I have three serious ex-girlfriends. Rena Katherine, she was a muggle that I met at an art gallery for a friend of mine. She and I were together for a year, and we even thought about living together. She cheated on me with Leonard, my older brother. Then there was Kimberly Cossack, we lived together for about two months before I walked in on her cheating on me with a friend of-"

"Lewis…if we do actually go through with this and I've actually settled into an exclusive relationship with you, I won't cheat on you. Don't confuse that with the situation that we have now." Krys said, making Lewis smile.

"You really are magnificent." He said, before he hugged her. When he pulled back, she smiled and laughed.

"That's not amazing, Lewis."

"Well…you are. You're an amazing kisser, you smell amazing, you look amazing, and your voice is amazing." Lewis said, twirling Krys around playfully and making her smile. When Lewis pulled Krys back into him, she looked up at him and smiled.

"You know…me liking and dating someone other than Ares is…it doesn't happen." Krys said, making Lewis squint.

"I don't understand."

"You're special, Lewis. You're dating material." Krys said, before Lewis kissed her forehead.

"So, tell me more about you. Did you always want to be a healer?"

"Um…no. I wanted to be a boxer when I was younger. And while I was in school, I wanted to be an auror."

"So, what made you choose Healer?"

"My grandmother was a healer and after I got pregnant with Mark, I realized that healer training with Hermione would be easier on my pregnancy than auror training with all the guys. And, I already had something of a head start when I was younger and started advanced healing with scar tissue."

"I never understood any of that. I was always so stupid when it came to healing." Lewis said, touching Krys' cheek and staring at her mouth, before giving her a small kiss at the corner of her lips.

"Well, if you're interested in learning, I teach a class in my orphanage to adults on simple but important healing techniques."

"So, people get to stare at you while you speak passionately about what you love?" Lewis asked, making Krys nod her head and bite her bottom lip.

When the night was over, Lewis got Krys back home and stood with her at the doorstep to her house, before he looked down at her.

"Thank you so much for tonight." He said, touching her shoulder and making Krys laugh.

"No, thank you for tonight. I loved every minute of it." Krys said, puckering her lips cutely and pecking Lewis on the lips. When she pulled back, Lewis touched his heart, patting it.

"So…can I ask you out again?" Krys closed her eyes and locked her hands behind his neck, before staring up at him.

"You'd _better_ ask me out again. You know, if you don't want my fist in your eye."

"So…tomorrow night?"

"Yes."

"Goodnight."

"Night." Krys said, before she opened her door and walked in. It was impossible to believe that she could like him as much as she did. She never thought that she could like someone like that, considering how she'd always felt about Ares. However, when she snapped out of the realm of Lewis, she jumped back into the real world. Walking up the stairs to her room, she smiled when she saw that the door was open and that Ares and Mark were sleeping in her bed. Ares, wearing black and red plaid pajama bottoms and a white tee shirt and Mark sleeping on his chest wearing a white tee shirt and black and red plaid pajama bottoms. As soon as Krys walked through the door, her heart stopped and she saw it. It was on her bed and it was the most beautiful and frightening thing that she'd ever seen in her life.

On her bed was a piece of paper with adorable handwriting on it that said Marcus Alexander Rodriguez _Delgado_.


End file.
